SEATTLE-Xypoint Corp. introduced a feature that will allow consumers to control whether their location is tracked when they access Internet services from their wireless phone.
Xypoint said it plans to build the privacy and security feature set into all of its location-based applications.
“The convergence of mobile telephony and Internet access has raised the specter that users of mobile commerce services will have their physical location tracked and mapped to their Web activities,” said Albert Gidari, president of G-Savvy.com and an expert on privacy and e-commerce. “For example, it may be beneficial to know the location of the nearest free ATM to a caller’s current location, but few people want their location and query sold, in real time, to a financial services company-without permission-so that company can send spam, or unwelcome e-mail or voice calls, to the consumer-who will not tolerate having their most personal information hijacked without notice or permission.”
