How Location Tracking Works:

As children playing hide and seek, there seemed to be so many places where we could hide and never be found. With the world bec¬oming ever smaller through technology, hiding is increasingly difficult. Cameras peer down on us at red lights, in our workplace, in stores and even at home. Now, those cameras are being augmented by new technologies that track our cars, cell phones and possibly any product we buy.
This location-tracking technology also is being used to streamline supply chains for corporations, seeking to move products to the market faster, and to monitor assets and prevent inventory loss.
¬Soon, companies also will be able to track your location. Imagine walking through your local supermarkets, and as you pass through the aisle, an electronic coupon for your favorite cereal is beamed to your phone.
Current technologies being used to create location-tracking and location-based systems include:
• Geographic Information Systems (GIS) - For large-scale location-tracking systems, it is necessary to capture and store geographic information. Geographic information systems can capture, store, analyze and report geographic information.

• Global Positioning System (GPS) - A constellation of 27 Earth-orbiting satellites (24 in operation and three extras in case one fails). A GPS receiver, like the one in your mobile phone, can locate four or more of these satellites, figure out the distance to each, and deduce your location through trilateration. For trilateration to work, it must have a clear line of sight to these four or more satellites. GPS is ideal for outdoor positioning, such as surveying, farming, transportation or military use.

• Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) - Small, battery-less microchips that can be attached to consumer goods, cattle, vehicles and other objects to track their movements. RFID tags are passive and only transmit data if prompted by a reader. The reader transmits radio waves that activate the RFID tag. The tag then transmits information via a pre-determined radio frequency. This information is captured and transmitted to a central database. Among possible uses for RFID tags are a replacement for traditional UPC bar codes.

• Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) - Network of devices that connect via radio frequency, such as 802.11b. These devices pass data over radio waves and provide users with a network with a range of 70 to 300 feet

Any location tracking or location-based service system will use one or a combination of these technologies.

The words location tracking can lead many to worry about privacy. Some may worry about the government knowing t¬heir whereabouts, stalkers spying on them or even a spouse monitoring their movements. Although the technology could allow anyone to find you at any given moment, measures are being taken to prevent this kind of abuse.