Privacy-aware location dependent services over wireless internet with anycast

With the spread of mobile communication in recent years, location dependent services become important. Along with it, the privacy protection of mobile subscribers, too, becomes important. This paper describes anycast-based architecture of location dependent services in wide areas with short-range wireless access technologies such as wireless LAN. As an application, it discusses a WWW implementation used in ISP's access network using anycast and mechanisms that subscribers can apply to enforce their privacy policies by themselves before they disclose personal location information to each WWW server out of the access network. A field trial is being performed at MIAKO.net, a public wireless ISP in Kyoto, JAPAN, to provide location dependent tourist information.