Title: MOBILE IDENTITY AND LOCATION BASED SERVICES

Mobile identity and Location Based Services

Author(s):  

1. Els Soenens (VUB) 

Abstract: 

In my presentation on ‘Mobile Identity and Location based services’, I present the concepts of Identity, Mobility, Mobile technologies and locational data from a social science point of view. Following P. Ricoeur (1990), I believe that the concept of Identity must be understood both as idem (sameness) and ipse identity (sense of self). I stress that technocratic paradigms do influence the understanding of the concept Mobile Identity. In presenting an alternative conceptualization, I want to explicate the implications of the use of mobile devices and the use of locational data on people’s identities in everyday life.  

The emergence of Location Based Services Industry must be seen as the result of the interplay of various stakeholders. Location based services do have the ability to enhance your life. But at the same time, they have the ability to influence people’s behaviour, their wishes, their interactions and positions. LBS create implications on peoples self - awareness and their autonomy. As such, LBS affect people beyond data protection and privacy protection. There is a tendency of governmental and commercial services to track people through locational information gathering but do we want to live in a ‘geoslavery’ (Dudson and Fisher 2003).