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2024: Russia has developed a technology for accelerating geolocation services
On February 15, 2024, the Russian technological and research group of Kryptonit companies announced the development of a new technology for optimizing geolocation services. The solution is said to be able to significantly reduce query processing time and save computing resources.
We are talking about the use of H-curves in geohashing. Technically, all geolocation services operate at approximate coordinates due to floating location accuracy. Trying to use the most accurate coordinates can "confuse" the systems that determine the user's location. Geohesh eliminates this problem by allowing you to set the size of the geographic search area and the desired coordinate accuracy through the length of the matching part (prefix) of the nine-digit hash. If only the first digit coincides with the two geocheshes, then the coordinates corresponding to them are in the same hemisphere. If all nine characters match, the specified points lie within a square side of several meters.
For the effective use of geoheshes, it is important that their hashes differ little for close coordinates. To this end, the indices of the coordinate points are renumbered using a fractal space-filling curve. One of the most popular curves is the Z-curve, by which the value of any point is given by alternating binary digits corresponding to its coordinates. Igor Netai, a specialist in the Kryptonite Advanced Research Department, has developed a new type of noticeable curves - H-curves. Compared to Z-curves, they are easier to build and require much less computing resources, providing the same or better practical properties.
It has been found that if you place the reference angle indices of the H-curve in the processor cache, you can save about 16 ns and get an implementation even faster than in the case of the Z-curve. From the point of view of clustering, the H-curve is similar to the Hilbert curve, but gives a gain in the speed of calculations. So, in indexing and deindexing operations, the use of the H-curve provides a performance increase of 4-8 times.
In addition, the differences of close-point geohashes in the Levenstein metric were compared. It reflects the difference in the number of insert, replace, and delete operations to obtain one bit sequence from another. This metric is more applicable for estimating traffic minimization. As the tests showed, for this property, the Hilbert curve turned out to be better than the Z-curve in 51.8% of cases. At the same time, the H-curve in 74% of cases exceeds both the Hilbert curve and the Z-curve simultaneously.[1]
2023
US Border Protection implements system for determining the location of Americans by geolocation of smartphones
In mid-November 2023, it became known that the US Border Customs Service (USCBP) entered into a cooperation agreement with the American data broker LexisNexis. This company provides USCBP with services to organize mass surveillance of citizens, including determining the location of Americans by geolocation of smartphones. Read more here.
Roskomnadzor creates its own geolocation database to block content in certain regions
The Center for Monitoring and Management of the Public Communications Network (CMU SSOP), subordinate to Roskomnadzor, is developing a system for recording the geographical affiliation of IP addresses (GeoIP), which will replace foreign databases. The director of the center, Sergei Khutortsev, spoke about the new project at the end of October 2023. Read more here.
Russia has developed an algorithm that increases the accuracy of determining the geoposition of buses
In early June 2023, the Perm National Research Polytechnic University announced the creation of an algorithm that can be used in applications to improve the accuracy of determining the geographical location of buses and other types of public transport. Read more here.
Companies in Russia are switching to alternative geolocation methods after serious GPS and GLONASS interference
Moscow services, whose business is associated with the need for geo-positioning, are forced to use alternative methods of determining location. As Kommersant writes on May 19, 2023, this is due to the interference in the work of GPS and GLONASS in the center of the capital, which appeared after the drone attack on the Kremlin.
The publication notes that some users of such services had to contact technical support to determine the position of the car "manually." In addition, the services were forced to start using alternative geolocation methods based on information about connections to cell towers and nearby devices. Problems with navigation were also noted in logistics services, but they said that they also use alternative technologies, and drivers know the areas in which they work well.
One of the users car-sharing of "" Sitidrive told the publication that in the first days of large-scale failures, technical support, apparently, manually adjusted the location of cars.
 | The car stood opposite me on Pushkinskaya Square, but was not displayed in the application. I clarified by phone in the technical support of the service that in their system the car was on Yauza. The operator was able to manually "transfer" the car to the square, and when it appeared on the map, it was possible to book, he said. |  |
MTS The company, which develops fleet and traveling personnel management systems, in 30% of cases relies on geopositioning methods, alternative GPS and GLONASS, the company said. Devices with radio modules that support multiple satellite navigation systems "give more correct coordinates compared to GPS-only devices," the company noted.
Interviewed experts and market participants agreed that the most understandable and affordable alternative to GPS by May 2023 could be the services of mobile companies.[2]
2021
Putin allowed the security forces to quickly search for missing people by geolocation
The President Russia Vladimir Putin signed a law giving law enforcement agencies the right to receive data on the location of mobile phones of missing citizens to search for them. The corresponding document on the official portal of legal information was published on July 1, 2021.
The law allows the bodies carrying out operational-search activities to request information from telecom operators about the location of the phone or computer of the missing person, as well as billing calls. These operators will have to provide within 24 hours, the security forces are obliged to notify the court about the request for such information. And if after that the court's permission is not received within 48 hours, stop using access to this information.
right to promptly search for missing people by geolocation]]
According to TASS, the Information Agency of Russia, citing the head of the Federation Council Committee on Constitutional Legislation and State Construction Andrei Klishas, the law separately regulates the procedure for finding incapacitated or limited capable people, similar to the procedure for finding minors established now. In this case, law enforcement officers will receive information about the location of geolocation after the written consent of the legal representative of the missing person.
The law was developed by a group of deputies and senators led by Speaker of the Federation Council Valentina Matvienko in pursuance of the instructions of the President of the Russian Federation. The document amends Article 8 of the Law "On Operational-Search Activities" and clarifies the information that the telecom operator must transmit when a person disappeared.
| | The earlier the possibility of a search appears, the more chances to find a person alive, - said Valentina Matvienko earlier. | |
The initiative was previously supported by the coordinator of the Lisa Alert detachment Oleg Leonov. He noted that "about six thousand people die with mobile turned on every year."[3]
Bill Ministry of Digital Development: withdrawal of geolocation of smartphones from the secret of communication
In early February 2021, it became known about the draft law developed by the Ministry of Digital Development, which gives the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the FSB and the FSO the right to receive data from mobile operators on the volume of services, their cost and geolocation of subscribers without a court decision.
By February 2021, data on the location of the device fall under the protection of Article 63 of the Federal Law "On Communications." It says that this information can be issued to third parties only by a court decision.
As Kommersant writes with reference to the explanatory note to the new bill, the information listed there does not relate to the secrecy of communication, in order to receive them, a request from the bodies conducting operational-search activities to the telecom operator must be sufficient.
The Ministry of Digital Development noted that the bill was prepared as part of the order of Russian President Vladimir Putin, which the Russian leader made following a meeting with public figures. We are talking about ensuring the revision of legislation for the prompt search for missing people, as well as within the framework of the federal project "Regulatory Regulation of the Digital Environment," which is part of the national program "Digital Economy."
| | Tens of thousands of people are lost in the country every year. To search for them, both the resources of federal bodies carrying out ORDs and search public organizations and telecom operators are involved, says Deputy Head of the Ministry of Digital Development Oleg Ivanov (quoted by Vedomosti). - Telecom operators can provide service information of communication means, including coordinates of subscriber devices of missing citizens. However, at present, the coordinates of subscriber devices are a secret, the observance of which operators are obliged to ensure. | |
Law enforcers could previously request such data without a court decision, Dmitry Lipin, a member of the commission on legal support of the digital economy of the Moscow branch of the Russian Bar Association, told Kommersant newspaper. But formally, this issue was in a legally gray zone, and now Ministry of Digital Development wants to eliminate the regulatory gap, the expert added.[4][5]
2019: Operators in Russia will be obliged to disclose the geolocation of missing people without a court decision
On September 25, 2019, the State Duma adopted in the first reading amendments to the laws on communications on operational-search activities, which should simplify access to geolocation data from devices of people missing.
If the innovations come into force, then the authorized bodies that carry out operational-search activities can receive information from the telecom operator about the location of the subscriber's mobile phone without a court decision. For this, a motivated decision of one of the heads of the internal affairs bodies is enough.
In such a case, mobile operators will take permission from customers to use their personal data: this will help the police conduct searches faster and more accurately.
By the end of September 2019, to determine the location of the subscriber, the court sanction is mandatory, but the wait for such paper can stretch for hours, if not for a day. This precious time could be spent successfully searching for the missing. So the authors of the bill argued the need to adopt a new norm, among whom are famous senators Lyudmila Bokova and Andrei Klishas.
The authors of the amendments note that in the first two or three days the mobile phone of a lost person still works - this is a good opportunity to find it quickly using geodata.
Earlier, the State Duma adopted amendments that simplified the search for missing children using data from their mobile devices. In case of loss of the child, his parents (or one of them, or legal representatives) can contact the police with a written statement, and they must start searching within 24 hours, including using the geolocation data of the child's mobile devices.
According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, about 120 thousand people disappear in Russia every year, of which 45 thousand are children.[6]
Notes
- ↑ How math improves geoservices and helps you navigate faster
- ↑ We will go without satellites
- ↑ Putin signed a law on free broadcast on the Internet 20 TV channels
- ↑ Access to data on the location of subscribers will make it easier
- ↑ for Subscribers to hang up on towers. They want to disclose data on the location of smartphones without trial
- ↑ Amendments to the laws on communications on operational-search activities
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