GPS in Mobile Phones

By: George Wood

GPS technology has been used to keep track of mobile phones. The use of GPS technology in cell phones is not new however the latest mobile phones have GPS devices loaded in them which has made it extremely easy to keep track of someones location all the time and that too with great accuracy.

The use of GPS in mobile phones has so many advantages. Any person who is caught in an emergency situation can use their mobile phones to find their way out. It can be used to provide information about your ETA to your family members. It is also of great help in finding elderly or children when they are lost.

The movement of vehicles can be accurately tracked by the fleet managers and business owners using GPS, thus helping in their business. GPS technology has also been used by hospitals and police when they need to reach a place in an emergency situation.

The use of GPS technology in mobile phones was not common earlier. The technology was not perfect as the broadcasting of the radio signal would continue even when they were not in use, and hence it was not used. Triangulation method was used by mobile companies to keep a track of users location. But it was of no use to the companies and it was also a very tedious process.

But with the development of an excellent technology, GPS in mobile phones became common. Along with the many advantages, its use in mobile phones has several drawbacks. Its biggest disadvantage is that it interferes with ones privacy. Anyone who carries a GPS mobile phone is always tracked even without his knowledge. No one likes to be tracked down like this all the time. The government and the courts have taken certain measures to make sure that everyones privacy is safeguarded. The courts have ordered law enforcement agencies not to obtain any GPS tracking information. Such information can only be obtained when the cell phone company claims the information to be extremely important or in the benefit of the country.

The benefits of GPS technology in mobile phones can be utilized in a proper way only if the rules and regulations made by the courts and the government are followed. The technology can then be used for all the right reasons without interfering with ones privacy.