[Opinion] GPS Cell Phone

The Global Positioning System receives electric waves from 24 satellites orbiting at 20,200 kilometers above the Earth`s surface in order to locate objects on earth. Developed by the U.S. Department of Defense in the 1960s, GPS has been in use for inducing missiles and deploying troops. In the wake of KAL 007 blown up in USSR air in 1983, then U.S. President Ronald Reagan allowed GPS to be used for civilian purposes. Today, GPS technology is more widely used for non-military purposes such as in mobile phones, navigations, measurements and mapping.

Announcing countermeasures against missing children and housewives, the police said they are considering a mandatory installation of GPS module needed for tracking in mobile handsets. When people in emergencies (missing or abducted) call 112, GPS module shows the location of them. A 20 percent of mobile phones in use have the module.

The problem is that it could cost about 600 billion up till three trillion won to install the module in all cell phones, a huge burden on the public. What is more, if and when that happens, police can violate people’s privacy and human rights. The police say that they put GPS in use only when they receive 112 calls, but what they say is not that reassuring.

The law on location information and its protection stipulates that only the National Emergency Management Agency and the Korea Coast Guard can use the information on individuals` location. That means the information can be read without their consent only in the case of distress and disaster situations such as typhoon, heavy rain, fire and maritime accidents. Police maintain that the law should be revised to cover 112 reports of abduction and disappearance. However, three amendments to the laws on location information are pending in the National Assembly and one of the reasons is the possible abuse of such information by police. GPS module is better to be installed first in the mobile phones of people who feel the need of doing so for safety reasons, and police need to prove their claim with specific case studies.

Editorial Writer Gwon Sun-taek (maypole@donga.com)