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6.9 Implementation Issues in Mobile Commerce: From Security and Privacy to Barriers to M-Commerce 191

theft apps that can help you find your phone and keep your companies that collapse. It is important to anticipate and plan
personal data safe from identity theft. For securing the IoT, see for possible failures and to learn from those failures.
Hu (2016).

Ethical, Legal, Privacy, and Health Issues
Privacy
in M-Commerce
Invasion of privacy is one of the major issues related to the The increasing use of mobile devices in business and society
use of mobile computing technologies, especially LBS, track-
raises new ethical, legal, and health issues that individuals,
ing, RFID, and context aware applications (see Chapter 10 for organizations, and society will have to resolve.
a discussion of privacy issues).
One workplace issue is the isolation that mobile devices
Related to this is the issue of security and especially com-
bating fraud, see presentation in Chapter 10. can impose on a workforce. Some workers have had difficulty
adjusting to the m-commerce environment since there is less
need for face-to-face interactions that some people prefer.
The personal nature of mobile devices also raises ethical
Technological Barriers to M-Commerce and legal issues. Most employees have desktop computers both
at home and at work, and they can easily separate business and
The navigation systems for mobile applications have to be personal work accordingly. However, it is not so easy to sepa-
fast in order to enable rapid and easy search and shopping. rate work and personal life on a cell phone, unless one carries
Similarly, the information content needs to meet the user’s two phones. The concept of “bring your own device” (BYOD)
needs. Other technical barriers related to mobile computing is spreading rapidly, introducing issues of management, moni-
technology include limited battery life and transmission toring, and security. For example, if an organization has the
interference with home appliances. These barriers and others right to monitor e-mail communications on its own network,
are listed in Table 6.1. Note that with the passage of time the does it also have the right to monitor voice communications on
technological barriers are decreasing. a company-owned or on a BYOD smartphone?
A widely publicized but unproven potential risk is the
potential health problems (e.g., cancer) from cellular radio
Failures in Mobile Computing frequency emissions. Cell phone addiction also is a problem.
and M-Commerce Other ethical, legal, and health issues include the ethics of
monitoring staff movements. Finally, there is the issue of
As with many new technologies, there have been many fail- privacy infringement and protection while implementing
ures of m-commerce initiatives as there are entire m- commerce some m-commerce applications.

Table 6.1 Technical limitations of mobile computing
Limitation Description
Insufficient bandwidth Sufficient bandwidth is necessary for widespread mobile computing, and it must be inexpensive. It
will take a few years until 4G and LTE are the norm in many places. Wi-Fi solves some of the
problems for short-range connections
Security standards Universal standards are still under development. It may take few more years for sufficient standards
to be in place
Power consumption The longer the life of a battery, the better the devices are (constantly improving)
Transmission interferences Weather and terrain, including tall buildings, can limit reception. 2.4 GHz range may interfere with
Bluetooth and Wi-Fi 802.11b transmissions
GPS accuracy Tall buildings may limit the use of location-based m-commerce
Potential health hazards Potential health damages (e.g., cancer) from cellular radio frequency emission are under
investigation. Known health hazards include cell phone addiction, thumb- overuse syndrome, and
accidents caused by people using cell phones (e.g., texting) while driving
Human–computer interface Some people, especially the elderly or those with vision problems, may have difficulty using a small
monitor and keypad in cell phones
Complexity Many add-ons and features may make the device difficult to use