Evaluating location based privacy in wireless networks

Research into the use of Location Based Services (LBS) that can pinpoint the exact
location of users using wireless networks is the fastest growing area in Information Technology (IT)
today. This is because of the need to transform the radio waves which act as a wireless networks
data’s transmission medium into a private location. Contemporary research on LBS suggests that
indoor location can be difficult as the geo positional satellites (GPS) cannot give an accurate positional
computation due to insulation provided by physical barriers like the walls and furniture of a house.
Previous research however suggests a way around this by making use of wireless fidelity (WiFi)
cards
signal strength but acknowledges limitations on the range which doesn’t exceed 50 meters. Other
researchers have suggested that using LBS technology would allow hackers to track the user’s
movement over time and so proposed that the user identity be kept secret by disposing the identifiers.
Against this backdrop, some researchers have championed the call for a framework in LBS privacy in
order to curtail the security risks that come with using wireless networks and suggested using a
transactionbased
wireless communication system in which transactions were unlinkable. This would
in effect camouflage the movement of users as their location would not be able to be tracked. This
paper aims to review contemporary issues on location based privacy in wireless technology and proposes
a model for optimising LBS privacy and describes the initial stages of a research project aimed at
filling the research void through the application of a hybrid research methodology

Citation:
Ijeh, A.C., Preston, D.S., Imafidon, C. (2009) ‘Evaluating location based privacy in wireless networks’ Proceedings of Advances in Computing and Technology, (AC&T) The School of Computing and Technology 4th Annual Conference, University of East London, pp.142-150.