Databases Reference
In-Depth Information
(LBS), is very promising. LBS is to request usable, personalized information
delivered at the point of need, which includes information about new or inter-
esting products and services, promotions, and targeting of customers based on
more advanced knowledge of customer profiles and preferences, automatic up-
dates of travel reservations, etc. For example, a LBS provider can be designed
to present users with targeted content such as clothing items on sale, based
on prior knowledge of their profile, preferences and/or knowledge of their cur-
rent location, such as proximity to a shopping mall [13]. Additionally, LBS
can provide nearby points of interests based on the real-time location of the
mobile customer, advising of current conditions such as trac and weather,
deliver personalized, location-aware, and context-sensitive advertising, again
based on the mobile customer profiles and preferences.
Whether such LBS is delivered in a “push” or “pull” fashion, customization
and personalization based on the location information, customer profiles and
preferences, and vendor offerings are required. This is because, to be effective,
targeted advertising should not overwhelm the mobile consumers and must
push information only to a certain segment of mobile consumers based on their
preferences and profiles, and based on certain marketing criteria. Obviously,
these consumers should be targeted only if they are in the location where the
advertisement is applicable at the time of the offer. As such, service providers
require access to customers' preference profiles either through a proprietary
database or use an arrangement with an LBS provider, who matches customer
profiles to vendor offerings [2].
By definition, delivery of LBS requires knowledge of a mobile customer's
location. Along with the location information, their preference profiles must
also be maintained. Effective delivery requires ecient processing of access
requests on this data to find the
past, present
and
future
status of the mobile
customers (or moving objects) that match a certain profile.
However, this creates significant challenges. Since effective delivery of LBS
may need to locate and track a mobile customer, and gain access to his/her
profile, a number of security and privacy concerns are raised. Location infor-
mation has the potential to allow an adversary to physically locate a person.
As such, wireless subscribers carrying mobile devices have legitimate concerns
about their personal safety, if such information should fall into the wrong
hands.
Services such as targeted advertising may deliver the service based on
the mobile customers' profile and preferences. It is important to note here
that user profile information may include both sensitive and non-sensitive at-
tributes such as name, address, linguistic preference, age group, income level,
marital status, education level, etc. However, certain segment of mobile con-
sumers are willing to trade-off privacy by sharing such sensitive data with
selective merchants, either to benefit from personalization or to receive in-
centives offered by the merchants. For example, a security policy may specify
that a customer is willing to reveal his age in order to enjoy a 20% discount
coupon offered on sports clothing. But he is willing to do this only during
