Privacy in the Wireless World

What is different about privacy in the wireless world? The wireless world, in surfing the Internet or viewing e-mail, has the same privacy concerns as the wired world. Wireless carriers, ISPs, phone manufacturers, and application providers alike have access to personal information about users that they must decide how to manage. The wireless industry has a combination of opt-in and opt-out policies for sharing phone numbers, calling patterns, and so on. The problems in the wireless world are a little different.

At the heart of the privacy debate is this: Who should have more control the user or the business? If users have too little control, they will be slow to adopt technology because of an inherent distrust of businesses. On the other hand, if users have too much control, business marketing opportunities will be limited, and business will not take interest in wireless technologies. The middle ground we are searching for will bring successful applications and will build trust and contentment in consumers.

Privacy policies are the first and perhaps most obvious issue at the heart of privacy discussions. These verbose, obscure, fine-print legalese statements are difficult to read on paper or on a PC and even more difficult to read on a limited display screen. This point may seem trite, but it bears mentioning. The industry should be very careful not to abuse this situation. The wireless industry tends to be sensitive to issues of connection speed, content-heavy transmissions, and compression of data. In the interest of maintaining a strong and happy customer base, wireless carriers will continue to seek readable, shorter privacy policies so that their consumers can remain informed, in control, and untaxed in time, battery cycles, and billing.

Another difference in wireless privacy is the surveillance issue. Yes, wireless users are concerned about government and private corporation surveillance of their call history, PDA Web surfing activity, or wireless laptop data exchange, but privacy concerns go far beyond this. Wireless devices transmit their locations with a certain degree of precision when powered on. Knowing what someone does is certainly an invasion of privacy but does not provide information as potentially dangerous as knowing where someone is. Knowing your location could place you near the scene of a crime, late for work, speeding on a highway. It could enable you to find a lost Alzheimer's patient, catch a teenager coming home past curfew, or get help when lost in a foreign city. There are pros and cons to being able to pinpoint someone's location simply by her possession of a wireless device.

Because the cons range from being invasive to being dangerous, this privacy issue should be taken very seriously.

California Ahead of the Privacy Curve

The State of California affords more protection of its constituents' privacy than federal laws and laws in most other states. In 1972, the state constitution was amended to include a California resident's explicit, inalienable right to privacy. This right to privacy is subject to legal interpretation in many areas (including communications) but is a big step ahead of its fellow states in the privacy movement.