Location Based-Services

Merylene Naidoo, Senior Survey Technician Ethekwini Municipality, Engineering Unit, Surveying and Land Information Department

June 2018

Using the yellow pages to find a reputable electrician,

relying on street maps at a new destination, collecting

coupons from your local newspaper for items that are

not relevant to you, these are just a few methods of “old

school” location services.

Technological advancements has allowed our

generation to apply effective and efficient methods to

acquire such services from our mobile devices on the

go. We can now easily track and locate a service

provider using mobile applications that allows for

customer reviews, live quotations, proximity marketing,

point-of-interest and so much more. This technology is

called Location Based-Services (LBS).

In this article we take you through the evolution of

location based-services, devices, services, techniques,

accuracies and constraints. We also look at privacy

issues that our generation is faced with as well as some

of the trending location based-services applications on

the market.

What is Location Based-Services?

Location-based services (LBS) use real-time geo-data

from a mobile device or smartphone to provide

information, entertainment or security. Some services

allow consumers to "check in" at restaurants, coffee

shops, stores, concerts, and other places or events.

Often, businesses offer a reward, prizes, coupons or

discounts to people who check in.

Google Maps, and Facebook Places are among the

more popular services. Location-based services uses

the smartphone's GPS technology to track a person's

location, if that person has opted-in to allow the service

to do that. After a smartphone user opts-in, the service

can identify his or her location down to a street address

without the need for manual data entry.

Location Based-Services can be divided into two parts:

1. Technology

Positioning: A users location can be obtained by

Global Positioning Systems (GPS)

Geographic Information Systems (GIS): A system

for capturing, storing and analysing location data

and associated attributes which are spatially

referenced to the earth, it provides tools to

administer point-of-interest data such as the location

of a restaurant or cinema.

Location management functions for LBS

applications: This acts as a gateway and a mediator

between positioning equipment and LBS

infrastructures.

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2. Products and applications

Store locators. Using location-based intelligence,

retail customers can quickly find the nearest store

location.

Proximity-based marketing. Local companies can

push ads only to individuals within the same

geographic location. Location-based mobile

marketing delivers ads to potential customers within

that city who might actually act on the information.

Travel information. An LBS can deliver real-time

information, such as traffic updates or weather

reports, to the smartphone so the user can plan

accordingly.

Roadside assistance. In

the event of a blown tyre

or accident, many

roadside assistance

companies provide an

app that allows them to

track your exact location

without the need for

giving directions.

Mobile workforce management. For logistics

dependent companies that employ individuals out in

the field or at multiple locations, an LBS allows

employees to check in at a location using their

mobile device.

Fraud prevention. An LBS creates another level of

security by matching a customer’s location through

the smartphone to a credit card transaction. Tying

the smartphone’s location to a credit card allows you

to flag transactions made across several geographic

locations over a short time.

Evolution of Location Based-Services Location services have a long tradition. The genesis of

LBS is in the global positioning system (GPS), which

was developed and used by the U.S. military in 1970s.

But soon after, it was made available for commercial

use and what followed was rapid innovation in satellite

technology. In 1996, things took an interesting turn

when the US government made it mandatory for mobile

network operators to find a way to accurately pin point

the location of emergency callers. This led to the

commercialization of LBS, primarily in the form of finder

services to locate nearby points of interest. However, it

was not as wildly successful as anticipated and

therefore, these offerings were phased out for a while.

Then in the year 2005, LBS saw a resurgence. It was a

consequence of some favourable factors coming

together, the primary ones being the rise of the

smartphone, Web 2.0, and 3G broadband services.

With the ensuing commercial success rose a new

generation of LBS that paved the way for location-

based technologies as we know them today.

Evolution of technologies

Smoke Signals

were used not only to

locate places, but

also to exchange messages.

Celestial Navigation Navigators were using

mathematics to determine

their coordinates by measuring the angle of the sun or stars.

Homing Pigeons were bred to be able to find their

homes from

extremely long

distances away.

Magnetic Compass

allowed navigators to

finally determine their heading latitude and longitude.

Satellite GPS 30

satellites orbited the earth and were used

to trilaterate

the position of a

receiver.

Automotive GPS

Navigation became the first dedicated GPS device to target

consumers.

GPS Smartphones The debut of

iPhone brought the most notable

change to industry, allowing the developers to create apps that

use the GPS technology.

Location Based Social

Networks

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Devices

The types of LBS services and applications are

constantly evolving, and are limited only by the location

technologies they rely on. LBS rely on location-enabled

devices such as GPS devices, smart phones, and even

wearable technology. Mobile phones are a promising

platform for LBS delivery because of their variety of

location and other sensors, internet connectivity, and the

widespread availability of wireless networks. For this

reason, mobile network operators are well positioned in

the LBS market. In fact, the biggest drivers of LBS in

South Africa are the wide-scale adoption of smart

phones and social networking trends. This market is

expected to grow further due to the availability of low-

cost GPS devices and the deployment of 4G, as well as

companies’ growing interest in user location information.

Services

Location services are categorised into three groups:

push, pull and tracking services.

Push services are services initiated by the service

provider, such as sending you an SMS with specials

from the shop you have just walked into.

Pull services are services in which the user initiates the

request, for example, when searching for a fuel station

en route to a meeting.

Tracking services, which are usually integrated into push

and pull services, take your usual routes and habits into

account and can take on many forms. Think of the

restaurant suggestions delivered via your navigation

app, which take into account your previous visits to

Mexican restaurants

In South Africa the uptake of LBS has been slow due to

the considerable financial risk attached to its

implementation (initial investment), and also because of

technology issues such as cellular networks operating

on disparate software, hardware and connectivity

components.

Constraints

Besides accuracy, there are other technical constraints

that limit LBS, such as the limited battery life of mobile

phones, which is further strained by the use of GPS on

the device. The biggest concerns, particularly in mobile

LBS applications, are users’ privacy and security, and

rightly so. The location data of regular LBS users can be

used to profile those users, and can easily divulge

personal and private information such as their habits

and health conditions.

As with most fast-changing technology, legislation lags

behind. Privacy and other laws that regulate the LBS

market also vary according to country. In South Africa

the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPI) aims

to protect users’ right to privacy. Established standards,

however, are more universal for reasons of

interoperability. Some standards have basic privacy built

into them, and specify how location information is

captured, anonymised, transmitted and stored.

Even though anonymised identifiers are used so as not

to reveal a user’s personal data, aggregation techniques

make it possible to identify individuals. There are also

concerns surrounding the murky terms and conditions of

some services, which have seen third parties collect and

sell users’ data, or LBS providers selling user data to

third parties. Stalking and other security risks related to

LBS are common, particularly on social networks.

There is even an active backlash movement opposing

LBS with apps such as Cloak, which obfuscates users’

location to make it possible for them to “steer clear of

unwanted contacts” on LBS-driven social networks.

Aside from device and network challenges, there is also

the user acceptance of technology. We see that

advertisers still opt for the use of SMS to ensure that the

message is received. The education of users to accept,

trust and use the data is the next obstacle to be

overcome.

There are countless applications and competitions that

have steered in the technology and have introduced

users to various aspects of LBS. However, users do not

necessarily understand that they are using LBS, what it

means, or how it can be used to their advantage.

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Techniques and accuracy

The quality of LBS, including the types of services possible, depends on the accuracy of the technologies and

positioning techniques LBS is based on. Not forgetting the many highly accurate datasets used in business

intelligence, a large part of general consumer LBS takes place on smart phones over cellular networks. Mobile LBS

technologies comprise chipset providers (e.g. Intel), software providers (e.g. MapQuest), system providers (e.g.

TomTom), platform providers (e.g. Esri, deCarta), service providers (e.g. network operators and other companies),

and handset manufacturers (e.g. Sony). Some companies perform several roles, e.g. Nokia, which is a software and

service provider. Below is a comparison of location based technologies.

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By its nature, LBS also relies on interoperability between

technologies and different networks (which often have

their own positioning technologies). Different positioning

technologies and techniques offer different levels of

accuracy.

For mobile phone LBS, there are three categories of

positioning techniques:

Basic methods, such as dead reckoning,

triangulation, trilateration (signal strength analysis)

and proximity sensing.

Satellite positioning (GPS and Assisted-GPS)

Mobile positioning (on GSM (2G), UMTS (3G) and

LTE (4G) networks), which comprise mobile-based

(using cell ID, time advance, RTT), mobile-assisted,

and network-based technologies.

Privacy issues

POPI refers to South Africa’s Protection of Personal

Information Act, which seeks to regulate the processing

of personal information. Personal information broadly

means any information relating to an identifiable, living

natural person or juristic person (companies, CCs etc.)

and includes, but is not limited to contact details (email,

telephone, address etc.); demographic information;

history (employment, financial, educational, criminal,

medical); biometric information (blood type etc.),

opinions of and about the person; and private

correspondence, etc.

Processing broadly means anything done with the

personal information, including collection, usage,

storage, dissemination, modification or destruction

(whether such processing is automated or not). Some of

the obligations under POPI include only collecting

information that you need for a specific purpose;

applying reasonable security measures to protect it;

ensuring it is relevant and up-to-date; only holding as

much as you need, and only for as long as you need it;

and allowing the subject of the information to see it upon

request.

POPI, in a nutshell, governs the storage of person

information. In terms of LBS, it restricts that gathering

and storage of personal information linked to a specific

location.

Data gathered through LBS can be summarised and

used for analyses and interpretation. The WASPA Code

of Conduct was adopted on 30 June 2005, and has

been revised several times since. The primary objective

of the WASPA Code of Conduct is to ensure that

members of the public can use mobile services with

confidence, assured that they will be provided with

accurate information about all services and the pricing

associated with those services.

The WASPA requirements in terms of LBS are:

The privacy of the customer must be protected at all

times, and under no circumstances may the

customer’s location or details be provided to any

third party, entity or application without that

customer’s specific and express consent.

The customer’s location may not be used or

divulged to third parties, unless the customer gives

their prior specific authorisation/consent, either in

writing (subscription services) or electronically (via

website, SMS, IVR, USSD etc.) subject to the

condition that the customer can be successfully

authenticated.

Consent always needs to be specific in that the

customer has to know exactly what they are

consenting to. Consent must be on a service-by-

service basis.

In the case of active LBS and passive LBS, discrete

authorisations can be done each time a LBS is

requested and there is no issue with an on-going

consent, as in the case of tracking services. In the

case of certain proposed emergency LBS (which

display a combination of features of active LBS and

tracking LBS), discrete authorisations can be

obtained using an interactive voice system so as to

fall within the Electronic Communications and

Transactions Act, 2002.

In order for consent to be extended an “opt-out”

reminder must be sent on a 30-day basis to the

target/B-party.

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This has serious implications for business and

specifically service delivery via LBS. In accordance with

the aforementioned terms, an individual has to give

consent in order to be located. This in terms of

emergency situations can mean the difference between

life and death. The moment a cellular call is made the

nearest tower can immediately translate the estimated

location of the caller. However, the caller has to give

permission in order to legally locate the caller and

dispatch the service required.

Without permission, the person or caller may not legally

be located. There are, however, certain pathways which

remain in accordance to the requirements but still

provide the relevant services. By calling the number, the

caller is automatically informed that the usage of the

number will result in the location of the caller, but some

form of consent still needs to be given, for instance by

selecting the option to “agree”.

Trending Applications

Health and fitness application

The geolocation functionality collaborates well with

health & fitness apps to track the sporting activities such

as cycling, running, swimming, etc.

Gaming application

When it comes to smartphone games, most people think

that there is no use of GPS in smartphone games. But,

don’t rush to conclusions so fast. Remember Pokemon

Go?

Travel application

Today, mobile apps are not just for entertainment, but

they also help us in our everyday lives. Take Uber for

example. If a person is booking a cab from a certain

location to any destination, he uses the geolocation

services without knowledge. The geolocation obtains

user’s location and refers it as the pickup location. The

same procedure is followed in the case of destination,

which is called drop-off location. In addition, the fare

generated for the journey is based on geolocation

feature.

Destination and accommodation application

Some people like to go to random places, but majority

prefers to have their holiday thought out and well

planned. Where they will stay, what they will see, and

which places they will visit, the majority decide

everything before starting their journey. Therefore, if you

are planning to travel, applications like TripAdvisor or a

community platform like Airbnb, with the geolocation

feature could help with place recommendations near

your current location and provide driving directions

within the app.

Navigation application

Navigation and mapping apps can also suggest different

venues to its users depending on the place they want to

go. It also provides review of those places and always

tells users the right path to choose while on the go.

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Without a shred of doubt, emerging technologies will

keep evolving the LBS space. In fact, we can already

see it happening in the retail industry. While Wi-Fi and

iBeacons are still increasingly making their presence

felt in the retail arena, new-age technologies such as

magnetic field and sensor fusion are already beginning

to emerge.

While optical and location-aware sensors are being

extensively used in smartphones, climate and

temperature based sensors are set to add to the data

points that marketers will have access to when

targeting customers.

The potent combination of the IoT (Internet of Things)

and location-based technologies will completely

radicalize the future and maximize business

opportunities. Add to this the rise of AR (augmented

reality) and AI (artificial intelligence), and you have the

blueprint for a fully digitized advertising strategy being

deployed by marketers. What is also in store is the rise

of personal shoppers or concierges that know the

customer and can show them in-store items they know

they will like or offer them discounts on things they

know they want to buy. Businesses in all industries can

benefit from this, provided they realize the undeniable

power of location data.

The future

Indoor technology

It’s been demonstrated that LED

-lighting-based indoor

positioning that uses both visual

light for line-of-site

communications and RF

technology like Bluetooth Low

Energy for out-of-site

communications offers the best

performing indoor positioning

platform, with precision location

capabilities no other retail

beacon technology can match.

Indoor location technologies

clearly have an opportunity to

improve the customer

experience and mobile

engagement.

Navigating outdoors is easy with GPS and when

augmented by WiFi the accuracy and availability of

geolocation increase significantly until you step inside a

building. Once you’re inside and there’s no GPS signal

WiFi geo-location might give you a rough fix though

usually you’re effectively “off the grid.” But knowing

where you are inside a structure can be crucial in large

factories or office buildings. It may also be crucial for

others to be able to locate you. If you want to build an

app that’s capable for geo-location within a building you

should take a look at Indoor Atlas, an SDK for iOS and

Android, which uses magnetometer data from your

smartphone and cloud-based mapping data to locate you

to within 2 meters or less in real time.

The idea behind Indoor Atlas is that buildings have predictable magnetic fields caused by structural

steel, wiring, machinery, ductwork, etc., and by recording the variations and filtering out magnetic

noise, you can characterize an entire building and use that data to figure out where the device might

be within that environment. WiFi and Bluetooth data can also be used to improve accuracy.

References

Goodrich, R. 2013. Location-Based Services: Definition & Examples. Available: https://

www.businessnewsdaily.com/5386-location-based-services.html (Accessed 24 June 2018)

Potgieter, P. 2015. Location-based services: business insights and basic functions. PositionIT. Available: http://

www.ee.co.za/article/location-based-services-business-insights-basic-functions.html (Accessed 24 June 2018).

Roos, M. et al. 2016. Obstacles faced by location-based services in South Africa. PositionIT. Available: http://

www.ee.co.za/article/obstacles-faced-by-location-based-services-in-south-africa.html (Accessed 24 June 2018).

The comments and views contained in this article are that of the author only. They do not necessarily

represent the views of the Surveying and Land Information Department.