By Samuel Holmes and Camilla Sutton
GPS Background and Development
GPS is a space-based radio navigation system consisting of 30 satellites that provide precise position, velocity, and timing information to receivers on the ground that can simultaneously obtain the signal of four or more satellites (Iqbal and Lim 2008). It was developed by the United States Department of Defense primarily for military use. The technology played a major role in the 1991 Gulf War, as U.S troops used it for navigation on land, sea, and in the air for targeting of bombs and for on board missile guidance (Pham 2011).
In 1987, as a result of the Korean Airline disaster, President Reagan announced that it would be available for civilian use once the system was fully operational (Pham 2011). It became fully integrated and available for civilian use after President Clinton announced it permanent end of intentional degradation of GPS signal to the public (Pham 2011). GPS consists of several components. The space operating component consists of 30 satellites that transmit one-way signal that give the GPS satellites position and time. The control component consists of worldwide monitor and control stations, and the user component consists of GPS receiver equipment that receives the signals from the GPS satellites and uses the transmitted information to calculate the user’s three-dimensional position and time (Pham 2011). The U.S. military still uses GPS, but the commercial use has been widely adopted by civilian for recreational, navigation, construction, tracking, illegal activities, etc. Today, GPS devices have gone from larger-size to pocket-size, from exclusive military use to commercial usage, and from most expensive to cost effective.
Negative GPS Social Issues Affecting Society
Even though GPS technology has had tremendous impacts on society since it released for civilian use, there are some major issues surrounding the use of GPS devices. Issues such as privacy, warfare, criminal use of the device, and driving distractions are current controversies surrounding the use of GPS devices.
Privacy
Privacy is one of the major issues of GPS technology. The ability to accurately locate or track one’s location has led some people to question the use of GPS. Law enforcement officers, for example, use the device to track and collect data about a person without permission. The U.S. Supreme decision this past January held that Americans have constitutional protections against GPS surveillance by law enforcement. In Jones v. USA case, the court ruled that GPS tracking is a “search,” thus long term GPS surveillance of a suspect’s car violated the Fourth Amendment (Friedman 2012). According to the case, FBI agents mounted a GPS tracking device on a car and then tracked the position of the vehicle every ten seconds for a full month without court oversight. “If police are allowed to plant GPS devices wherever they please, that’s essentially blanket permission for widespread, ongoing police surveillance without any court supervision,” noted Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) Legal Director Cindy Cohn (EFF.org 2012).
Additionally, in another case several years ago, a suspicious wife placed a GPS device in her husband’s vehicle to monitor his routes. Data obtained by the device led to filling of murder charges by the police in the death of the couple’s twelve year old baby sitter (Iqbal and Lim 2008). The wife placed the device on her husband’s truck a few days earlier before the incident because she suspected him of having an affair. He was initially charged with felony count of reckless endangerment, however based on the data obtained from the GPS unit the charges were raised to second degree murder as the data revealed that the defendant did not take the girl to see horses at all. He drove around other roads instead and spent more than three hours with her behind an abandoned home (Iqbal and Lim 2008). The use of GPS device in the case might have been helpful to the outcome of the case, but the wife’s act of monitoring her husband’s routes using GPS was a violation of his privacy even though they are legally married. These cases are typical examples of some of the privacy issues surrounding the use of GPS and the power of the technology to track and collect data on a person’s movement without his or her permission.
Warfare:
GPS enabled bombs and missiles are some of the most deadly weapons used in modern warfare. These weapons have taken away human lives and have also destroyed property, causing billion of dollars for aftermath reconstruction, family losing love ones and creating animosity between nations. The results from the Gulf war and other most recent wars fought by the United States and other developed nations with well-equipped military are clear evidences. It is estimated that about 1000 GPS receivers were issued during the Gulf war, and by the end of the war 9000 were in use (Baijal and Arora). Modern weapons such as Cruise missiles and the Multi Lunched Rocket System (MLRS) are designed to use GPS data as input for targeting and guidance. For instance, the Cruise missile accurately hit it targets from large standoff distances using multichannel GPS receivers to precisely determine their location while constantly in flight (Baijal and Arora). Additionally, the U.S. Army through the Exploitation of DGPS (Differential Global Positioning System) for Guidance Enhancement (EDGE) program developed a 2000 lb glide bomb, which uses GPS—enabling it to accurately hit its target 11 miles from its drop point guided by four DGPS based stations about 1000 nautical miles away (Baijal and Arora). Though GPS is widely available to civilians, it stated that the U.S. government still has full control over the technology. As a result, the government has the authority to disable or intentionally degrade certain features.
The Abuses of GPS Use by Drug Dealers and Pirates
Another social issue is criminals’ use of GPS technology to transact illegal business. Drug dealers or cartels are using GPS devices to transact business. For instance, drug dealer’s use GPS to drop the drugs on a specific location and record the location on a GPS device .They inform business partners that have their own GPS device where to pick up the drugs (Norman 1998). It is also possible that sex offenders or stalkers use GPS to know a victim’s location at all times by hidden GPS units under the victim’s vehicle.
GPS has also gotten in the hands of pirates. With continuous attacks on vessels on the Gulf of Aden, which is the southern gateway to the heavily traffic Suez Canal; Somali pirates have become more sophisticated by using GPS to track and navigate to vessels. “The most important things for Somali pirates are getting relevant information regarding merchant vessel that they wish to hijack...they use navigational technologies in their daily operation”, said Andrew Mwangura of East African Seafarers Assistance Program (Underleider 2012). The Oceans Beyond Piracy cited in a study that the global economic impact of piracy attacks for marine vessels is estimated between $7 to $12 billion dollars annually, of which security equipment consists of $2 million and a regional economic cost of $1.25 million (OBP 2011). Additionally, with the aid of GPS and other hi-tech devices, attacks on vessels have also led to severe humanitarian crisis in the region and prolonged civil unrest. Ransom collected from hijacked vessels is helping to finance wars in the region (Middleton 2008). As of January 2012, Somali pirates currently have 10 vessels and 159 people under hostage (ICC-CCS 2012).
Driving distractions is another social issue of GPS technology inn society. Like cell phones, using the GPS while driving could lead to an accident especially when inputting address data or using a sophisticated one to search for nearby food or gas stations. In 2008, a survey found that GPS devices contributed to 30,000 crashes in the United Kingdom (Schulman 2011). It also cited that over million drivers change directions dangerously while following GPS directions. Additionally, a Dutch study found that GPS devices increased traffic accident casualties and “purposely put the driver in to a situation of unacceptable social behavior” (Schulman 2011). GPS could be used for positive purposes, but once such devices get in the hands of bad guys, it becomes a serious problem.
Future GPS Issues
There is an ongoing debate about a proposed technology that would have the potential to disrupt GPS signals, affecting its reliability and functionality. The debate suggests that if the technology is deployed, it is likely that all GPS signals-receiving equipment will suffer signal degradation ranging from mild to severe (Pham 2011). Lightsquared, a technology company, is planning to build a nationwide 4G-LTE wireless broadband utilizing spectrum allocated for mobile satellite service, which will transmit signals in a radio band immediately adjacent to GPS frequencies (Pham 2011). “The downstream industries that rely on professional and high precision GPS technology for their own business operations would face serious disruption to their operations should interference occur, and U.S. leadership and innovation would suffer“, cited Nam Pham of NDP Consulting (Pham 2011). The US GPS Council, Lightsquared Company, and other key stakeholders are currently conducting a test of GPS equipment under different scenarios. Lightsquared is claiming that it has bought the right to operate at the controversial bandwidth.
Positive Impacts of GPS on Society
Although there are some negative issues of GPS, the technology has also impacted society positively. GPS has completely revolutionized many industries and necessities such as our agriculture, aviation, environment, marine, public safety and disaster relief, rail industry, recreation, roads/highways and space. Overall, some of the most common positive impacts that Global Positioning Systems (GPS) have had on our society range from transportation, navigation, tracking, rescue facility management construction and cost economic benefits has been phenomenal.
Transportation and Navigation
With regards to transportation, since its conception, GPS has made planning road trips and family vacations much more easy and enjoyable. Compared to 10 years ago, most people would not even think of purchasing a vehicle, or much less taking a family vacation without GPS. Whether you are travelling locally, across country, or globally, you will get accurate directions and constant monitoring of your current position.
Planning a road trip is much easier with GPS system because the device can determine the distance from starting location to destination, telling a user exactly how much time should be planned for reaching a desired destination. It is more convenient and can save time and money because it eliminates the need for paper maps that were previously used to navigate from state to state. The GPS system can also prevent the likelihood that a traveler will get lost because a missed turn can be corrected by re-routing a driver to an alternate route to reach the desired destination (Written 2E 2005). When traveling on a family vacation, GPS can provide points of interest information to help locate family favorites such as restaurants, malls, parks and movie theaters. In addition to other safety features, in case of an accident or an emergency, a GPS can direct a driver to the nearest hospital. Furthermore, to add to the convenience of a family transportation, GPS navigation systems available on the market today are portable and can be used outside of vehicles for locating other points of interest or transferred for use between family vehicles (Pham 2011).
Family Benefits: Tracking and Rescue
In addition to safer transportation, the tracking of a particular person or object utilizing GPS is a feature that can be integrated for human safety concerns. This form of tracking has become extremely common in recent years and the possibilities of using GPS for this feature are infinite. You can track vehicles, children, pets, valuables, elderly people, cargo, etc. Global Tracking Technologies, a web-based GPS technology company, provides innovative location based services and tracking to vulnerable members of our society such as children and the elderly. Today, with the help of GPS, parents and family members have peace of mind knowing they can locate loved ones at all times. The small lightweight GPS personal tracking devices can fit almost anywhere—in a backpack, purse, coat pocket and in a family car. A similar GPS device called Tagg, produced by The Pet Tracker by Snaptracs, Inc. can be attached to the collar of a pet to keep track in case it is missing (Becker 2011).
Moreover, GPS also benefits people with disabilities. Assistive GPS technology devices offer benefits to persons who travel that are disabled, hard of hearing or visually impaired. The GPS Ranger® multimedia tour guide device introduced in July 2008, is just one example of GPS technology currently being utilized on public lands to assist persons with disabilities (Writing 2E 2005). Interpretive content can be delivered in sign language and captioning so that the deaf visitors can benefit from the same independent, high-tech tour experience that other visitors enjoy. Audio description and audio directional cues can be programmed for the visually impaired as well (Pham 2011).
Commercial Benefits: Tracking and Business Analysis
GPS can become an important business tool in improving the productivity, and eventually the profitability of a business enterprise. For instance, Kentucky Fried Chicken uses GPS to analyze their competition and decide where to build new restaurants (Writing 2E). Business across the economic spectrum from mid-sized manufactures to large service providers own or lease vehicles used to carry out various functions of companies’ operations. Companies with large fleets of vehicles and distribution and sales network use GPS to dispatch trucks for deliveries using shorter routes, which provide savings on fuel costs and on time delivery. GPS also provides real-time supply chain visibility by enabling both the customer and the transportation service provider to track and trace the location of freight or packages at all times (Pham 2011). Vehicle tracking, which is one of the fastest growing applications for GPS technology, helps increase mobile productivity and safety while enabling enterprises to reduce labor and fuel expenses.
GPS Economic Benefits
The GPS industry creates jobs and economic activities which spur economic growth. In fact, the advent of GPS and its commercialization has delivered enormous benefits to society and the U.S. economy overall. Today, there are more than 3.3 million jobs that rely on GPS technology. GPS technology creates direct and indirect positive spillover effects such as emissions reductions from fuel savings, health and safety gains, time savings and improved public safety including national defense (Pham 2011).
In addition to being vital to our U.S. National Security and logistics supply chain management, two examples of how GPS applications have improved business operations and best practices in farming and engineering construction are below:
Precision Agriculture: The GPS application is used for farm planning, field mapping, soil sampling, tractor guidance, crop scouting, and variable rate applications of seeds, fertilizer and pesticides. The GPS guidance equipment enables more precise application of chemicals during critical planting and harvesting months. GPS technology provides crop farming with cost savings on labor, capitol and raw materials.
Engineering Construction (Heavy Civil Surveying and Mapping): GPS equipment increased productivity in the construction industries by providing accurate machine guidance and measurement technology. The technology improves accuracy and increases efficiency in related functions such as surveying, excavating, grading, sub-grading, urban planning, and jobsite safety.
Conclusion
Like many other technologies that have impacted society, there are always positive and negative issues. The paper discussed the origin of GPS, which was exclusively developed for military use and later released to the public. It also discussed in detail some of the major issues surrounding the use of GPS such as privacy and driving distractions. Lastly, it discussed some future issues that might lead to the disruption of GPS functionality and concluded with some of the positive impacts of GPS technology in our society today.
References
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