Annual shipments of GPS-enabled phones will grow rapidly over the period 2008-2012. ARCchart predicts that by 2012, GPS phones will account for 37% of all shipments (535 million).The number of users of mobile location services accessed via GPS phones is also expected to grow strongly. ARCchart predicts that by 2012 the worldwide user base of the most popular location-enabled services, navigation and mobile social networking, will reach 150 and 127 million respectively. This growth in the availability of handset location information (LI) raises many questions about the degree to which users can be protected from potential abuses of their LI.
In this report, ARCchart examines the market for GPS phones, location finding techniques, legal and regulatory implications of GPS phones and technologies available for managing location privacy. ARCchart’s analysis of the emerging LBS market reveals that there is a potential for serious abuses of location privacy in cases where the use of location information has not been adequately regulated.
Topics of coverage include:
A review of positioning technologies that allow handsets to be located
Descriptions of the main types of LBS applications: personal security, navigation, education & gaming, enterprise, social networking, commerce and Government
Analysis of the legal, regulatory and technological mechanisms available for the protection of location privacy
Examination of existing government regulation in selected countries/regions
Discussion of various industry initiatives and codes of practice
Recommendations for regulators, operators and LBS providers to ensure protection of personal location information
Forecasts for annual GPS phone shipment and total installed base of GPS handsets
Forecast for user numbers of the main types of LBS applications
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