Humancentric applications of precise location based services

Abstract

This paper focuses on the growing need to consider the implications of humancentric applications of precise location based services (LBS). As newer positioning technologies are introduced into the market with a greater level of location accuracy, and existing technologies are utilized in an integrated fashion to overcome limitations, issues pertaining to the use and potential misuse of location information rise to the fore. The scenario planning methodology provides a robust approach within which to consider future possibilities based on current market developments. To this end, document and content analysis play an important role in the collection of facts used to illustrate a given set of scenarios. The contribution of this paper is in providing adequate evidence toward precise LBS and in identifying those attributes that will guide the formation of the narrative descriptions in future research. The preliminary results of the study indicate that societal, ethical and legal implications need to be given greater attention as precise LBS applications will be increasingly used in the tagging, tracking and tracing of humans