[governance] GPS mandatory on all mobile phones to be manufactured in India.

Tue Apr 26 02:32:38 EDT 2016

Pardon my ignorance but unless the GPS chip also transmits data, where is the privacy concern?

As I understand it, and of course I stand to be corrected, the GPS chip is passive in the sense that it collects signals from satellites to triangulate its position. If the phone then does not transmit the data via other apps no one will know where the phone is.

If that is the case, it is the other apps that over-collects data, not the GPS chip. Already, there are many apps that, in over-enthusiastic collection of data, already violate privacy. The door has been open and the horse has long bolted.

Regards,
Ang Peng Hwa

From: <governance-request at lists.igcaucus.org<mailto:governance-request at lists.igcaucus.org>> on behalf of Sivasubramanian Muthusamy <isolatedn at gmail.com<mailto:isolatedn at gmail.com>>
Reply-To: "governance at lists.igcaucus.org<mailto:governance at lists.igcaucus.org>" <governance at lists.igcaucus.org<mailto:governance at lists.igcaucus.org>>, Sivasubramanian Muthusamy <isolatedn at gmail.com<mailto:isolatedn at gmail.com>>
Date: Tuesday, 26 April 2016 8:20 am
To: "Arsene TUNGALI (Yahoo)" <arsenebaguma at yahoo.fr<mailto:arsenebaguma at yahoo.fr>>
Cc: Said Zazai <saidsemail at gmail.com<mailto:saidsemail at gmail.com>>, "governance at lists.igcaucus.org<mailto:governance at lists.igcaucus.org>" <governance at lists.igcaucus.org<mailto:governance at lists.igcaucus.org>>, "Bits bestbits at lists.bestbits.net<mailto:bestbits at lists.bestbits.net>" <bestbits at lists.bestbits.net<mailto:bestbits at lists.bestbits.net>>
Subject: Re: [governance] GPS mandatory on all mobile phones to be manufactured in India.

Dear Arsene,

GPS makes navigation precise for the common man, and is of ample help in finding one's way even while walking in the streets. Parents could use GPS to ensure that their children are within safe bounds, and there are several such positive uses. Law and Order agencies would certainly find it easier to track the elusive criminals and other elements.

But the idea of surveillance over an entire population in order to enhance Law and Order capabilities over a just a few targets is a disturbing idea.  Besides raising privacy concerns for the common man, it causes a totally different kind of security problem for the average person, whose whereabouts are not only known to responsible officers of Law, but to a multitude of others who do find a way to access this data.

Sivasubramanian M

On Tue, Apr 26, 2016 at 2:29 AM, Arsene TUNGALI (Yahoo) <arsenebaguma at yahoo.fr<mailto:arsenebaguma at yahoo.fr>> wrote:
Dear Siva and Said,

Thanks for raising this issue and for sharing your thoughts and experience re: free wifi, surveilliance and gps chips.

Privacy is at stake here.

However, i would love to hear from you if there is any positivity that can be found in this practice. Is there any positive effect of having GPS in all phones?

I would love to hear from you and anyone else interested in this topic.

Thanks,
A

---------------------
Arsene Tungali,
IGC Co-coordinator
@arsenebaguma
+243 993810967<tel:+243%20993810967> (DRCongo)
Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone<https://yho.com/footer0> (excuse typos and brievity)

On Monday, April 25, 2016, 5:56 PM, Said Zazai <saidsemail at gmail.com<mailto:saidsemail at gmail.com>> wrote:

I was in Delhi last week and I was surprised to see that Free Wifi was given at the cost of giving away your mobile phone number which in turns is registered with a government ID usually. As a tourist with no active Indian number, wifi was not free for me. I understand that free wifi is not a mandatory thing to have but a general practice in non-military or non-surveillance states is that there is some level of free internet at airports, shopping malls, coffee shops etc., which makes life a lot easier.

The mandatory gps chip in phones is yet another method of monitoring general public. I believe the government must have a reason to monitor or track an individual. Imagine someone walking right behind you and make notes of what you buy, how much you buy them for, where you buy them, who you talk to and what you talk to them. As a child I would get highly uncomfortable when the bakery store owner would conclude that we had guests at home if i would buy more breads than usual and vice versa. The government does not need to monitor all its citizens but only criminals and those suspicious but in a transparent manner and within legal framework.

The enemy creation or exaggeration has allowed governments in India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and many others i'm sure, to invest in technology that allows them to invade our privacy and general public sell their privacy for national security. For as long as their is an "enemy" there will be government tracking us down to save us.

On Mon, Apr 25, 2016 at 7:25 PM, Sivasubramanian M <isolatedn at gmail.com> wrote:
The government of India today made it mandatory for all mobile phone makers to install GPS chip sets in handsets from 2018

<https://twitter.com/CNBCTV18News/status/724611179956436992>https://twitter.com/CNBCTV18News/status/724611179956436992

Is this right from a privacy point of view?  Also, while in enhances the ability of Governments to track the movements of its citizens, it exposes the mobile user to severe security risks, as the GPS data is accessible and usable by a multitude of mobile applications, so the whereabouts of a mobile phone user is easily tracked by criminals as well.

Sivasubramanian M

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