Location, location, location

My last blog posting pointed to a recently-filed wireless patent from Apple for the use of GPS location tracking on the iPhone to serve up onscreen menus from establishments in your immediate vicinity. Fancy a coffee but don't have time to stand inline? Simply whip out your phone and select your order from the nearest Starbucks while you walk down the street.

Apple isn't the only company with big plans for mobile GPS. At the moment the technology is reserved for the more expensive handsets. But with satellite-positioning chips becoming more ubiquitous, it won't be long before location-based services become a standard feature on even the cheapest handsets. In fact, mobile market leader Nokia intends to ship 35 million GPS-enabled phones in 2008.

This points up a number of intriguing possibilities for consumer banking, not least the ability to verify the user location for ATM withdrawals, mobile payments and online banking log-in. Earlier this month Seattle's Puget Sound Business Journal reported a $10 million funding round for Bellevue technology start-up Finsphere.  The company is currently operating in stealth mode, but word on the street has it that the investment will fund development of a location-based transaction security service.

Any such intrusion into individual user freedoms will require delicate handling. Many will be turned off by the creepy surveillance aspect of the technology. It's bad enough having your every movement tracked by CCTV screens without broadcasting your exact location to all and sundry. And how long before targetted location-based advertising becomes a major irritant to consumers, as the big business spam machine whirls into action?