Overview | Agenda | Speakers | Video | Resources
On Wednesday, April 25, 2007, leading location-service providers, social networking sites, advertising service providers, wireless carriers, government officials and privacy advocates came together to start discussing the range of issues, policies and opportunities presented by this emerging marketplace. The event began with a continental breakfast at 8:00 am in the Grand Ballroom North of the Renaissance Hotel, 999 Ninth Street, NW (Gallery Place/Chinatown or Metro Center stops).
Speakers included ...
- Mike Altschul, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, CTIA
- Anne Collier, co-director ConnectSafely.com
- James X. Dempsey, Center for Democracy & Technology
- Gerald Hewes, VeriSign/m-Qube
- Patrick Halley, National Emergency Number Association
- Mark Jacobstein, Executive Vice President, loopt Inc.
- Larry Magid, co-director ConnectSafely.org, founder SafeKids.com, analyst CBS News
- Jed Rice, SkyHook Wireless/LOKI
- Jeremy Rossen, General Counsel, Helio
- Norman M. Sadeh, Associate Professor, Carnegie Mellon University
- Heidi Salow, Of Counsel, DLA Piper
- Peter Swire, Ohio State University/Center for American Progress
More Information
Due to a confluence of factors, mobile social networking and social mapping are poised to hit the mainstream. First, federal law has primed the marketplace by requiring e911 location-based capability in mobile handsets. Second, contextual advertising will subsidize new and innovative location-based applications using the ultimate contextual information - where you are at any given moment in time. The major social networks are now available on phones, and a variety of "social mapping" services that leverage the ubiquity of mobile phones and the growing availability of location-based information have recently launched. These services use technologies like GPS, cell tower triangulation, WiFi triangulation, self-disclosure etc. to let consumers communicate their location to others and vice versa.
While the technologies may be new, the notion of interacting with friends based on their location and proximity is timeless. Like other exciting and useful technologies, mobile-based location-enabled social networking has its risks, and these privacy, security and safety issues must be responsibly explored. The "Wireless Location Meets Social Networking: A Policy & Practices Dialogue" started probing the issues, implications, and responsible practices needed as we enter this new phase of social networking.
Agenda and Topics
Keynotes: The conference will included presentations from experts familiar with location-based technology and who understand its policy implications. Experts will laid out the various location-based applications on the horizon and others detailed the regulatory and policy framework for location-based information.
Panel Topics: The panels will be designed to educate and illuminate the issues. We aim to first illuminate the technological underpinnings that will enable these applications. Next, the conference will explore and highlight the policy implications. Last, leaders in this space will offer suggestions on best practices to ensure consumer and youth privacy, safety and security.
The Dialogue Covered:
- Social Mapping Safety Issues
- Legal / Regulatory Framework: From CPNI to VoIP
- Protecting Teens In Geo-Location Social Networking
- Mobile Social Networking Industry Best Practices
- Technology Underpinnings and Enablers
- Advertising for Location-Based Services: Implications
- Interoperability and Ecosystem Controls
- Lessons Learned Overseas: A Look at Asia/Europe
- Location-Based Dating: Safety Issues
- Government Access to Location-Based Information and 4th Amendment Protections
* This is a widely attended event hosted by the Advisory Committee to the Congressional Internet Caucus (ICAC), part of a 501 (c)(3) charitable organization.