Location Logging on the Platform Level

[Mike Lissner]

Hi all,

I'm working with the Center for Democracy and Technology (http://
www.cdt.org) to enhance location privacy on the Android OS. We are
working on creating a location log at the platform level that users
can monitor to determine when and where an application determines
their location. By turning on and monitoring the log, users can learn
which applications are accessing their location information, and can
take action to protect their privacy, if they so chose.

We've written up a spec that we're planning to use while implementing
this, and we've posted it here (PDF): http://cdt.org/android/Location_history_spec.pdf

We would be very appreciative if the developers and engineers on this
list could take a look at the spec, and let us know:
- if this sort of idea would be supported on the Android platform
- any feedback about how things should be done differently from the
spec.
- any other thoughts or feedback

We believe that this log will enable users to become more aware of how
their location is being used by the phone, and will help them monitor
how and when applications request their location data. Initially, we
will likely be running our own verion of Android to test the extent of
location requests, but long-term we would like to get this code folded
into the platform itself.

Also, if there are people that are interested in helping with this
project, we would love to hear from you - just email me off list!

Thanks,

Mike