Leader: Permission the key to Bluespamming and GSM tracking

Bluejacking became flavour of the month not so long ago when the mainstream media picked up on the phrase. The idea was that we'd soon all be 'surprised' by strangers flashing up messages on our phones or PDAs in a quiet moment on the train or in a café.

Only it won't just be geeky strangers having a laugh, we've been told today, but marketing types trying to get us to buy stuff or pay a visit to an establishment we're just passing.

See how that might be annoying - at least for those with Bluetooth-enabled devices turned on - in the same vein as spam? Not for nothing it's been dubbed 'Bluespamming'.

Ironically, it's a sign that device shipments are hitting a level where such guerrilla marketing is worthwhile. However, we doubt it will prove a major irritant or have users questioning the standard's security. Today's white paper on the subject points out the same type of people who run nightclubs and project giant images of semi-naked celebrities onto the side of buildings might see the potential. True - but them and few others.

How strangers push information to our most personal devices is a touchy subject. silicon.com readers have in the past spoken out against spam texted to mobile phones over SMS (Bluejacking could also be termed texting, we've been told) and use of PDAs and laptops - perhaps over public wireless LANs - to distribute messages has been frowned upon.

However, the answer may simply lie in permission. Other news this week sees services enabling the tracking of mobile phones - and invariably their owners. When rumours of such a thing circulated a few months back there was whispered outrage. (Come on, this is the UK.) How could we allow a web page that allowed the entering of a mobile phone number to see the placing of a signal on a map?

Of course, the services - while are at least as intrusive as Bluejacking and Bluespamming - are mainly aimed at sectors with mobile workers, or at least families wanting to know the whereabouts of 13-year-old Jonny. Pinpointing the location of your 10 delivery drivers is extremely valuable. And in the case of tracking employees, they have to know they are being watched - just as with email monitoring software on the office LAN.