Location privacy and national security

Abstract

Location based services (LBS) potentially put the privacy of individuals at risk. The increased possibility to know people’s whereabouts is posing the question of possibility versus desirability with regard to location privacy. The central question that this article aims to answer is how location privacy needs of cell phone users may be balanced with national security needs of society? Through a study of literature and rulings of the European Court of Human Rights a balancing framework was developed. The framework allowed for the assessment of the situation in the Netherlands, Germany and Canada with respect to the location data from mobile devices used by intelligence and security agencies to protect the national security. The research shows that the balancing should account for the totality of the circumstances. A true balancing should be accomplished on a case-by-case basis. It is not a priori to be determined whether and to what extent location privacy is at stake. A proper balancing strongly builds on the balancing process, especially when balancing is very context-sensitive. This process should be just with adequate safeguards against abuse.