Geofencing Warrant Policing

Had not heard the term 'Geofence' in law before, passed this along to lawyers I know to get their opinion on the current uses of this idea.

Google location data led police to investigate an innocent cyclist
The incident shows the very real problems with geofence warrants.
Jon Fingas, @jonfingas   in  Engadget
1h ago  ... ' 

Commercial Uses of Geofencing

Have not looked at this recently, but was brought up when looking at autonomous Drone applications.  Good example list in the article.

Geofencing: 7 commercial and industrial use cases  by Matias Wolff   In Prey. 

Geofencing technology is a recurring subject in our blog because it’s so useful and flexible.

So far we have put greater focus on managing geofenced devices. But some commercial and industrial applications offer benefits beyond data and hardware security.  A virtual, dymanic fence

Since a geofence is an area or perimeter on a virtual map, GPS tracking tells us in real time when a device goes in or out.  .... " 

Geofencing External Spaces

 Thomson Reuters Takes Over Grand Central Station
'Hyper-Mega' Campaign Targets Business Commuters
By Kate Maddox

In an effort to reach its target audience of influential business executives in New York City, Thomson Reuters is taking over Grand Central Station with a month-long campaign.

The takeover, which begins today, includes billboards, videos, mobile and social, and is part of Thomson Reuters' "The Answer Company" campaign, which launched last year. The push was created by TBWA/Chiat/Day, New York.

"The Grand Central Station takeover is the first execution we have developed, in conjunction with TBWA, that we call 'hyper-mega,'" said Stephen Sonnenfeld, VP-advertising and brand integration at Thomson Reuters.

"We are delivering a very concentrated message to a very targeted group of people within a very specific geographic environment," he said. "This makes the best use of our media budget and puts our presence directly in front of the people who are most important to us."

Those people are business professionals who work in the four core industries Thomson Reuters serves: legal, risk management, tax and accounting, and media.

"The core of our brand challenge is to really get people to understand the scope of what we do as a company," Mr. Sonnenfeld said. "We have a fair amount of people who may know us well in a particular industry, but may not know what we do in other industries."

Thomson Reuters is taking over all of Grand Central Station's ad inventory for the month of September, and will blanket the terminal, tunnels and train station with billboards that ask questions "that are keeping our target up at night," Mr. Sonnenfeld said. .... " 

Qualcomm Gimbal Developer Network

Includes technical specifications and explanatory video:

Context Aware (Gimbal)

The Gimbal™ context aware and proximity platform utilizes geofencing, micro-location, interest sensing, beacons enabled with Bluetooth® Smart technology and consumer privacy controls. It allows developers to design mobile apps that drive consumer engagement, sales, and loyalty by providing real-time context and location awareness in apps for brands, retailers, and venues. ... " 

How iPads are Transforming Retail

In TheNextWeb:  Nothing very revolutionary here.  The examples work for all tablets. Still a good reminder of the basics of what can be done.  I don't see enough about how strategic problems by management in retail can be solved using tablets.  How can management in retail use tablets creatively?   I note of interest, the last example, which is a touch of novelty for IOS7:   " ... iBeacons  ... Apple has included a feature called iBeacons within iOS 7. They enhance location services by using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) which has been included in iOS devices since the iPhone 4S. Using BLE devices can be set up to introduce a new range of geofencing and location capabilities..... " 

Geofencing

Geofencing is a kind of virtual alert system based on a geographical line or lines drawn on a map. So if you wanted to determine if a person entered a particular supermarket aisle, you would outline that aisle with a geofence, and as a person with a location-enabled smart device entered they could be tracked or credited with a visit. A loyalty count, but you don't need to check-in to anything. A big plus.

It's about more than just getting close to something, its about crossing boundaries. Much more about the concept and recent thoughts about it in a recent Readwriteweb post. An simple but important concept in location based systems and geographical information systems.