Information Privacy and Mobile Phones

Renewed concerns about information privacy and mobile phones have surfaced with the early deployment of location-based services in North America, and specifically with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) led public safety initiative known as Wireless E9-1-1. Initial scholarly research in this area has focussed on the use and disclosure of geographic location information of mobile phone subscribers and on the terms and conditions by which this information can be made available for lawful access or commercial purposes. This paper refers to this body of research as the 'first domain' of information privacy research, and describes some of the key findings and contributions for policy research on customer proprietary information and customer consent. The paper then turns to introduce and describe an emerging 'second domain' of information privacy concerned with the popular adoption of anonymous prepaid mobile phone services. The distinguishing characteristic of this second domain of research is its focus on debates about the legitimacy of regulatory requirements to collect and verify customer details at the point of purchase. This paper draws on findings from an empirical study undertaken in Canada to identify some initial parameters of this second domain of information privacy research with the intent of informing a wider debate about the entitlement to anonymity for customers who elect to use prepaid services over commercial networks.