Kyle'->GetThoughts();



Disney's Child Tracker
6 April 2006 @ 12:49 AM MST
Current Music: Frank Sinatra - My Way
Current Mood: Depends on the hour
Disney is launching a new service that will tap into the required GPS coordinates tracking information on new cell phones. The target market being parents who want to be able to keep track of their kids, and call them at any time. I think this particular market has a lot of potential, if carefully balanced against the possibility of abuses of the system. It is a requirement that new cell phones keep track of their current GPS location based on information received from the cell towers. However, the owner of the phone can choose the level of availability of this information: none, emergency only, or all. In order for Disney's system to work these options would have to be disabled to prevent kids from simply turning it off. The real issue, though, is preventing unauthorized individuals from gaining access to the GPS information on other people's phones. The security of the system should be carefully scrutinized before being implemented. Unless I was sure of the security in a provable way, not just some 'guarantee', I wouldn't want to risk the danger to my children that could possibly occur. It is only too scary to think of the consequences of if the system were to be subject to any vulnerabilities. I hope these concerns are addressed by Disney before the launch date, and that parents demand the answers before signing up.

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