← Autodidact Archive · Original Dissent · Hilaire Belloc
Thread ID: 10577 | Posts: 4 | Started: 2003-10-18
2003-10-18 05:02 | User Profile
[url]http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=569&ncid=738&e=1&u=/nm/20031017/tc_nm/finland_cellphones_dc[/url]
Finns Ready Law for Tracking Young Cellphone Users
HELSINKI (Reuters) - Finland has proposed a new law that would let parents track the movements of their young children via mobile phone, even without their consent, in a move that could set an EU benchmark in privacy and handset use.
The proposal is part of new law on privacy in electronic communications and could still be changed in parliament hearings, although the Nordic country's coalition government accepted it unanimously this week.
Parliament will likely start discussing the proposal early in November, but state officials and politicians said it was too early to estimate when the law could be passed.
"Roughly similar legislation will be a reality in the European Union (news - web sites) area in the near future," said Juhapekka Ristola, an official at the transport and communications ministry.
He said other countries may follow the example of Finland, home to the world's largest mobile phone maker Nokia (news - web sites), because the proposal is based on the EU's directive on privacy and electronic communications.
According to the draft, individuals aged 15 or older could only be tracked after giving their consent, but for children under 15 such consent could also be given by their parents or guardians.
In emergency situations people can still be tracked without their consent regardless of their age.
Finland's top two mobile operators, TeliaSonera and Elisa, currently offer positioning services which locate the phone user based on the mobile base station he or she is nearest to.
TeliaSonera says the positioning works from between 100 meters (yards) in congested areas to 20 km (12 miles) in less populated areas.
Finland is a world leader in mobile technology, and last February topped the World Economic Forum (news - web sites)'s list as the most tech-savvy country in the world.
2003-10-18 08:03 | User Profile
perun1201,
A US law passed is going to make all new Cellphones have GPS hardware built in to them. They claim this is so you can be found when you call 911. But I do not think that was the main reason why they passed such law. :taz: :furious: :taz:
2003-10-18 18:14 | User Profile
[QUOTE=Faust]perun1201,
A US law passed is going to make all new Cellphones have GPS hardware built in to them. They claim this is so you can be found when you call 911. But I do not think that was the main reason why they passed such law. :taz: :furious: :taz:[/QUOTE]
Yeah just like the "Patriot Act" was meant to fight terrorism. :furious:
2003-10-19 05:53 | User Profile
I am a bit surprised to hear of about something like this coming from the Finns. Pretty much everything else I've heard about Finland has led me to believe that it's the freest developed country in the world. For example, recent press releases from international watchdog groups (e.g., Reporters Without Borders) have put Finland at the top of the list for freedom of the press and at the bottom of the list for corruption among public officials. The US did not place nearly as favorably. Most important of all, Finnish gun laws are supposed to be much more lax than those in the US (even silencers are supposedly legal).
If the Finns are really only intending to use cell-phone surveillance on children, and only for the benefit of the parents, then that's not such a big deal in and of itself. But then there's this little detail:
In emergency situations people can still be tracked without their consent regardless of their age. "Emergency situations"? What does that mean, exactly? And what safeguards would be in place to prevent government abuse?