This document provides background information on privacy requests which are sent to LBS to obtain permission to send the device location to another party.
A privacy request is a request for permission to obtain the mobile device's location. A request is sent from an agent known as the requester. A request that requires a response is called a privacy verification request. A request that does not require a response is called a privacy notification request.
A location request follows a privacy request. In the case where a privacy verification request was sent, a location request follows only if the privacy request was accepted. The location request causes the LBS subsystem to calculate a position and send it to the requester.
Note that privacy requests from local applications are supported in the Standalone Privacy Mode configuration only.
This document explains the concepts of LBS privacy requests and the methods that the LBS subsystem can use to handle and process the requests.
When a request for a mobile device's location is received it is important to protect the user's privacy. Users of LBS-enabled mobile devices need to be able to decide to whom their location can be sent and when it can be sent.
Users may want to control access to their location on a per-request basis or by defining a set of rules to allow a response to be sent automatically without manual intervention.
The requester can be:
An address book contact sending the request via a network service
An emergency services network-based application that requests location when the user makes an emergency services call
A non-emergency network service
An application installed on the mobile device (in the Standalone Privacy Mode configuration only)
The special case of emergency services requests is very important. When a user makes an emergency services call a network operator may respond by sending an emergency services location request to the mobile device. The LBS subsystem must be capable of responding to such requests even in low memory conditions.
The privacy request handling mechanisms of LBS process privacy requests in ways that both protect a user's privacy but also allow the user's location to be sent quickly to emergency services.
How LBS handles privacy and location requests is one of the main differentiators between the Full LBS configuration and the Standalone Privacy Mode configuration. See LBS integration and configuration guide for more information.
MO-LR
Mobile Originated Location Request. A request for location that may be received by the LBS subsystem from a local application.
MT-LR
Mobile Terminated Location Request. A request for location received from the network. MT-LRs are classified as emergency or non-emergency requests depending on the originator of the request. Emergency MT-LRs may be sent to a mobile device as part of an emergency services call and are given priority by the LBS subsystem.
Note however that only the Full LBS configuration supports guaranteed handling of emergency MT-LRs. The Standalone Privacy Mode configuration does not support guaranteed handling of the requests.
An MT-LR consists of two parts: the privacy request and the location request. The two parts of the request are sent as separate requests from the network to the mobile device. The privacy request is processed first followed by the location request (if the privacy request is approved).
The choice of whether emergency MT-LR or emergency NI-LR (see below) are sent from the network depends on the network operator.
In the Standalone Privacy Mode, a privacy request may be received as part of an MT-LR or it may be sent from an application installed on the mobile device.
NI-LR
Network Induced Location Request. A location request sent from the network without first sending a network privacy request. An NI-LR can be sent for emergency or non-emergency location requests. Emergency NI-LRs may be sent to a mobile device as part of an emergency services call and are given priority by the LBS subsystem.
The choice of whether emergency NI-LR or emergency MT-LR (see above) are sent from the network depends on the network operator.
Network privacy request
A privacy request received from the network
Local privacy request
A privacy request received from a local application. Note that this is only supported in the Standalone Privacy Mode configuration and this is not the same as requesting location via the Location Acquisition API.
Privacy verification request
A privacy request that requires a user response. The user can choose to either accept or reject the privacy request.
Privacy notification request
A privacy request that does not require a user response. Typically generated for an emergency services request. It is not a request in the true sense of the word, since the user cannot reject it.
Privacy response
The response to a privacy verification request. It is specified either by the user accepting or rejecting the request or automatically by a Privacy Controller configured to respond automatically to privacy requests.
Privacy Controller
An application that implements the LBS Privacy Controller API to receive privacy requests, process them and respond to them. A Privacy Controller is typically used to handle privacy requests when an automated response is required based on a set of privacy rules.
Privacy Notifier
A Symbian notifier that can be used by the LBS subsystem to handle privacy and location requests. Privacy Notifiers are used to display privacy verification and privacy notification dialogs (see below) to the device user.
A privacy request sent from the network (or from a local application for the Standalone Privacy Mode configuration) can be of one of two types:
A privacy verification request must be authorised by the mobile device user. Privacy verification is the process of accepting or rejecting a privacy verification request.
Privacy verification may be performed either:
On a per-request basis by the device user by responding to privacy verification dialogs launched by LBS Privacy Notifiers.
Automatically if a Privacy Controller configured with privacy rules is installed and configured by a Symbian licensee/device manufacturer. A Privacy Controller can also use privacy verification dialogs for per-request processing.
A typical scenario requiring privacy verification for a network privacy request follows:
A remote requester wants to get a mobile device user's location. The requester may be a user contact or a network service (but not an emergency services request which does not require privacy verification).
The request for the mobile device location is made via some type of network service. The exact method by which requests are routed to the mobile device is outside of the scope of this documentation and is not relevant to the way in which such requests are handled by the LBS subsystem.
The network generates a non-emergency MT-LR that is sent to the mobile device.
The LBS subsystem receives the MT-LR and processes the privacy request. As the privacy request is a non-emergency request the LBS subsystem requests verification either from the user via Privacy Notifiers or from a Privacy Controller (which may handle the request itself or display dialogs to the user).
The choice of which method of verification is used depends on the LBS administration settings for privacy.
When the privacy request has been processed (accepted or rejected), the LBS subsystem returns a privacy response to the network. The response indicates if the privacy request was accepted or rejected.
If the privacy request is accepted, the location request part of the MT-LR can be processed.
The network sends a location request to the device (although in practice the network may not wait to receive the privacy response before it sends the location request - the exact behaviour is specific to the network operator).
Handling of the location request depends on the LBS configuration built by the Symbian licensee.
The location request can be handled either:
In the Symbian LBS subsystem itself when the licensee has built LBS in the Full LBS configuration.
In the mobile device's domestic OS when the licensee has built a Standalone Privacy Mode configuration.
The choice of where to handle the location request part of an MT-LR or an NI-LR is a fundamental design and implementation decision that must be made by the Symbian licensee manufacturer before the LBS subsystem ROM image is built. The LBS Integration and Configuration guide gives details.
For detailed privacy request verification sequence diagrams see Privacy Notifiers and Privacy Controller documentation.
A privacy notification request does not require authorisation by the mobile device user. A privacy notification request is typically received as part of an emergency services request for location.
A typical scenario involving privacy notification is as follows:
An MT-LR containing a privacy notification request is received and the LBS subsystem notifies the user. The associated location request may be sent at the same time as the privacy request or as a separate request. The main point to note is that the network does not wait for a privacy response before sending the location request.
The LBS subsystem either starts a Privacy Notifier or sends the notification to a Privacy Controller.
The LBS subsystem either processes the location request or it is handled in the licensee domestic OS. Where the location request is processed depends on whether the LBS subsystem is configured in the Full LBS configuration or the Standalone Privacy Mode configuration.
For detailed privacy notification request sequence diagrams see Privacy Notifiers and Privacy Controller documentation.
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