With the further development of mobile network technology, location information is regarded as an essential factor for developing and providing mobile users with various value-added services. However, while making full use of users’ location information, location privacy has become more and more important. The existing application may pose a potential threat to users due to the misuse of location information without any protection, which would prevent the new technology from being widely applied. Compared to wired network, wireless network is more vulnerable to be eavesdropped. Therefore, location privacy and hidden identity play a crucial role in wireless network. Unauthorized entity can acquire the mobile history through location of mobile nodes and exposure to identity so that to know more about personal information, which violates personal privacy severely. Location privacy has not been clearly pointed out in GSM system. As for 3G system adopting IP technology widely, how to solve the problem of location privacy is still unknown. Even though location privacy has been pointed out in the mobile IP standard, there is still no effective solution up to now.
In all, as modern internet communication technology develops, the global information network environment has formed. Internet is a global open distribution mechanism. On the one hand, location information enables user to acquire more advanced personalized service and application as well as helps business find more potential customers, which promotes the booming development of location business. On the other hand, the knowledge of user’s location can generate profits for supermarket, sales organization and vender, but cheaters and criminals also make use of this safety loophole to seek illegal gains or cause serious loss to users directly. Given the consideration of users themselves and law, more attention to the privacy protection of location information is required, and at the same time, corresponding protection service of location privacy should be provided for users technically. The operating efficiency of these plans remains to be improved in real application. In the existing mobile network system structure, the proposal of new protection plan in relation to location privacy also need take the efficiency of the plan into consideration. The status of communication technology’s development makes it more and more pressing to put forward a safe and efficient plan.
