GPS Data is Huge for Business, the IoT – and Surveillance

Try typing Internet of Things (IoT) into any search engine. With Google, I get 721 million results. With Bing, over 62 million. The internet is buzzing about a term some people think is just a buzzword.

The US now has around 24.9 internet-connected devices per every 100 inhabitants. Were moving ever-closer to an internet-dependent approach to our everyday lives.

Around the world, the IoT is the end-all-be-all of data tech for one primary reason: synthesis. This new internet combines multiple forms of technology and manipulates data to revolutionize the way you interact with the things around youand how things interact with you.

Its a massively complex system of sensors exchanging massive amounts of data. The data inform decisions, such as when a thermostat should alter the temperature. Or, in the future your autonomous car will be able to take an alternate route when theres a traffic jam ahead. And thats where an integral form of technology, one we sometimes take for granted, comes in: GPS tracking.     

The US government started the GPS project in 1973. It has enabled a variety of innovations that are precursors to the IoT. In turn, the IoT may enable a whole new level of government surveillance.

What the IoT promises is an innovative approach on the level of the commonplaceanything can become part of a smart network. In that case, anything can become part of a surveillance network.

GPS

The idea of GPS is essentially a web of satellites that transmit data to monitors, antennae, and receivers. Satellites communicate with a Control Segment, which consists of several master control stations, four antennae, and six monitor stations. The Control Segment sends data to the User Segment, which consists of hundreds of thousands of receivers in the hands of military, scientific, commercial, and civil personnel worldwide. Finally, the civilian segment employs the accurate locational and chronological data for everything from astronomy to automotive navigation.

GPS, Autos and the Cloud

Cloud computing is integral to the IoT because theres no better place than the cloud to store and sift through big data. Autonomous vehicles integrate the cloud, sensors, and GPS. Some big farms use automated tractors for standard crop operations. But we wont see autonomous cars on the road until around 2020.

Heres an example of how GPS is already integrating with the cloud and cars: TSheets Time Tracking is a startup with a cloud-based app. The app doesnt just allow employees to clock in and out of work on their computerGPS integration allows managers to view where their mobile employees are the entire time theyre on the clock. The data goes to the cloud so that managers, as well as employees, can view it on the apps interface in real time. Once the employee clocks out, the GPS shuts off.

This is the same type of platform employed by the biggest driving app company out there right now: Uber. If youve ever taken an Uber before, you know you can watch the driver on your screen via GPS.

Fleet management is another automotive application for GPS. Coca-Cola uses GPS to truck 160 million cases of Coke annually, through which theyve shaved off 20% from fleet operation costs. Tiny receivers can even tell a fleet manager if a truckers seatbelt isnt buckled.

In Finland, Volvo is using GPS to warn drivers about the location of herds of elk. The warning system incorporates GPS tracking, animal-vehicle collision statistics, and analysis of wildlife movement patterns. If and when the roads become smart roads, as would be the case with the IoT, sensors in the road and other locations could relay data about elk to the cloud, where it would then be analyzed in combination with GPS data to provide an alert to the driver, or to the autonomous vehicle.

GPS and Humans    

One of the interesting points in the OECDs study of the IoT is that, if we want to be accurate, we should call it the Internet of Everything. Proponents envision humans as part of the IoTits not just a web of objects. Is it discomforting to think of yourself as a blip on a strangers screen? Depends on how you want to look at it.

Mobile technology is facilitating the Internet of Everything. In Canada, theres a smartphone app called Need an Accountant. (They must really need accountants in Canada!) Need an Accountant is an example of the Internet of Everything. Thanks to GPS, the locations of accountants appear as points on a map, relative to the users location.

GPS also comes into play for tracking your activity levels and fitness. You can turn your smartphone into a bio-monitoring device because of a range of sensors, including accelerometer, gyro, video, proximity, compass, and GPS. Your smartphone then sends data about your bio-activity to a database, where its weighed against your past levels as well as the healthy averages of others. No doubt, because of the Patriot Act the government has this information.

Theres an upside. The implications are huge for the world of medicine. Without an actual checkup, doctors could monitor patients who are at risk. If someone has a stroke or a heart attack, sensors can alert the physician or caregiver. Then, GPS tracking can help first-responders get to the scene faster to potentially save a life.

GPS and Commerce

According to RetailPro, the Macys flagship store in New York City and American Eagle Outfitters are both using in-store GPS. Through an app and a Wi-Fi connection, they track shoppers movements. Then, based on location, the app gives you special promotions and deals. Youre looking at a stroller and you look down at your phone and it offers you a discount or other type of deal if you buy that stroller.

Intrusive? Well, you choose to download the app so you know what youre getting into.

GPS and Privacy

The Guardian just published an article on how the IoT will be a tool for government surveillance. This wouldnt be possible without the GPS network the US government pioneered in 73. Intelligence Chief James Clapper frames this as a weapon in the war against terror. Is that claim a red herring? How many of us will be monitored without our knowledge? How many terrorists would buy smart devices when its obvious theyre a government surveillance tool?

Due to the convenience, its far easier to enable GPS on your smartphone. Doing so diminishes your privacy. In an Internet of Everything future, there may not be such a thing as privacy. You will be dependent on the decisions big data dictates. Whether or not thats a future you want, technologies such as GPS are prime enablers for what is more than just a buzzword. Its a reality.