[privacy] People tracking via WiFi

[<rms () computerbytesman com>]

Via Slashdot:

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070318/aol_instant_messenger_location.html?.v=1

AOL Adds Location Capability for IM
Sunday March 18, 3:34 pm ET 
By Bruce Meyerson, AP Business Writer 

AOL Introduces Location Plug-In for Instant Messaging So Users Can See Where
Buddies Are 

NEW YORK (AP) -- AOL is offering users of its AIM instant messaging service
new capabilities to see where people on their buddy lists are physically
located. 

The first phase of this push is with an unusual software plug-in developed
by Skyhook Wireless, whose backers include Intel Corp. Skyhook tracks
locations by using the continuous wireless pulses emitted by all Wi-Fi
transmitters and Wi-Fi-enabled computers, rather than more common
satellite-based approach.

The Skyhook plug-in, available as a free download, adds a new grouping to
AIM's buddy list window called "Near Me." That group will feature the names
of any buddies who opt to share their locations and who are within a set
distance from the AIM user. The application also can display a buddy's
location on a map. For now, these capabilities will be available when using
AIM on a computer, but not on a cell phone.
 
AOL, a unit of Time Warner Inc., told The Associated Press the Skyhook
application was the first of several new location-aware capabilities it
plans to add to AIM in the next couple of months, but the company declined
to elaborate. 

"As we build these platforms for people to connect, we find that context is
very important," said Marcien Jenckes, who heads the AIM business. 

Jenckes said that when deciding whether to contact someone via phone, e-mail
or IM, "people think through what's the right mechanism. It might depend on
how much time I have to talk or how involved I want to be in the
conversation or what I'm doing. Proximity or location is another one of
those factors that will play an increasing role." 

AIM's new features are being introduced at a time when cell phone companies
are launching an array of location-based services to provide driving
directions, help parents keep tabs on the whereabouts of a child, or to show
when friends and family are in the vicinity. 

While both Jenckes and Ted Morgan, founder and chief executive of Skyhook,
said they expect to see the new location capabilities integrated with the
AIM clients now found on cell phones, that means they will need to persuade
wireless carriers to facilitate the competition with their own
location-based offerings. 

Notably, where those cellular services rely on the Global Positioning
Satellite capabilities built into a growing number of mobile handsets, the
Skyhook system was developed through a seemingly oddball, laborious process:


The company has spent the past few years driving a fleet of 200 trucks up
and down the streets of 2,500 cities and towns across the United States and
Canada. These trucks scan for the pulse given off at least once a second by
every home wireless router or commercial hotspot, recording the unique
identifying code for that piece of Wi-Fi equipment. That code is correlated
with the exact physical location where it was captured using GPS in the
trucks, which cruise the streets at 15 to 50 miles per hour as they collect
this information. 

The resulting database consists of 16 million Wi-Fi access points covering
an area where Skyhook says 70 percent of the U.S. population lives and six
Canadian markets where the majority of that nation's people live. 

When an AIM user installs Skyhook, the application gathers the identifying
codes for all access points that are detected by the Wi-Fi card in the
computer, then compares those with the database to identify the person's
location. When connected via a non-Wi-Fi computer, a user can manually input
a location. 

"I am a big admirer of the logistics and effort that goes into creating the
kind of database that Skyhook has built," Jenckes said.

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