De-centralized location management: minimizing privacy concerns for location based services

Abstract

For location-based services (LBS), security of location information (i.e. who has control) and user location privacy is a major concern. In this paper we investigate the risks associated with user's privacy- and location information-control, showing a peer-to-peer-based system framework as a possible approach. The focus is on peer-to-peer LBS relying on the IP multimedia subsystem (IMS), a future extension to GSM/UMTS core networks. A prototype peer-to-peer location-based instant messaging service has been implemented, demonstrating that such services can coexist with current cellular LBS system solutions. In addition to improving subscriber confidence about privacy and security issues in LBS, the proposed system has the potential of making location-service solutions more open and simple, thus leading to greater user acceptance hence prospective LBS market growth in the near future.