FAQ Fridays

GPS Spoofing. What’s happening, and why it’s manageable.

If you’ve looked at https://gpsjam.org/ recently, you’ll have seen how GPS interference and spoofing are lighting up the maps particularly across the Middle East and Ukraine.

Ships, aircraft, and travellers in those regions have reported unreliable positioning, with some devices suddenly appearing hundreds of miles from their true location. It sounds alarming but for most organisations and travellers, GPS spoofing is detectable, explainable, and manageable when you know what to look for.

Firstly, what is GPS spoofing?
It’s when false satellite signals or manipulated data make a device believe it’s somewhere else.

Why is it in the news now?
Military-grade jamming and spoofing from conflict zones are starting to affect civilian systems especially around the eastern Mediterranean, Red Sea, and Ukraine.

How Vismo helps?
Vismo automatically surfaces accuracy and timestamps every location fix and highlights impossible jumps in breadcrumb trails. Vismo also includes notifications when a user changes country allowing for verification of country change before any action is taken.

In short: when a location doesn’t make sense, you can see it and act accordingly.

Q: How does the Vismo App take a location?

We often open a map app and instantly see a blue dot, but behind that simple dot is some fascinating technology.

A: Your phone talks to at least four GPS satellites to calculate where you are, usually with 5–10 metre accuracy outdoors. When GPS is weak, mobile networks step in (not through triangulation as many believe) by using the single cell tower your phone is connected to. Each tower has a latitude and longitude assigned to it, allowing your location to be estimated to within a few hundred metres which you can see on this screen shot of the Vismo Portal. Indoors, your phone quietly scans nearby Wi-Fi signals even without connecting and compares them with global databases to narrow your position to around 10–30 metres.

Clever algorithms fuse all these signals to give one precise location while keeping battery drain low. Our patent (GB2470376) "Method and system for obtaining and communicating the location of a mobile device" underpins this capability, optimising how location data is gathered and sent to preserve accuracy and battery life.

It’s also a common misconception that Vismo itself determines the accuracy or creates location fixes. Vismo never makes up locations, we can only display what the phone’s own location services provide. We are not told whether the fix was derived from GPS, a cell tower, Wi-Fi, or a blend of methods; we simply show the accuracy level that comes with the fix.

Crucially, this isn’t unique to Vismo. Every app that uses a phone’s location services, from navigation to fitness trackers, is limited in exactly the same way. All can only be as accurate as the mobile phone’s own location services allow.

Q: How do I monitor the safety of my team when I’m on the move?

A: It’s something clients often ask and with the Vismo Monitor App, you can.

It puts all the power of Vismo in the palm of your hand. Whether you’re waiting to board a flight, sat on a train, or just relaxing on the sofa with a drink evening, you can see live locations, manage and escalate alerts, or send a mass notification if something crops up.

The feedback from clients has been that it’s a great addition to the Vismo line-up giving you the same power of the Vismo Portal when you’re on the move.
It’s all about keeping things simple and letting you act straight away, wherever you are.

If you’d like to see how it works in practice book a demo here

Q: How does Vismo respect employee privacy while keeping them safe?

A: This is one we get asked a lot and we completely understand the desire to have a level of privacy. That’s why our Privacy Mode gives you control over when your live location is shared. You can switch it on during your personal time evenings, weekends, or holidays so your movements aren’t visible while you’re off the clock.

But here’s the important part: when something goes wrong, isn’t it better that those who can provide support know exactly where you are so they can help? That’s why, if a Panic Alert is raised Privacy Mode is automatically overridden. The Vismo App instantly restarts live tracking and sends your location with the alert and an updated location so assistance can reach you without delay and importantly can be sent to the right place.

This not only ensures a rapid response in an emergency but also reassures your family and friends that your company has your back and they can be reassured that assistance will be directed to the right location.

In summary, the Vismo App Privacy Mode:

·      Protects employee privacy
·      Ensures rapid response in emergencies
·      Balances Duty of Care with respect for personal boundaries

At Vismo, we believe safety and security shouldn’t come at the cost of trust.

Q: How does mobile phone tracking work?

A: The Vismo App, available for both iOS and Android devices, uses your phone’s built-in location services combining GPS, Wi-Fi, and Cell Tower IDs to determine your position anywhere in the world with an accuracy typically within 5 metres.

Once a location is fixed, it is sent to the Vismo Portal via your mobile data connection. If your mobile device is out of coverage, the Vismo App automatically stores the location fixes securely and transmits them as soon as a connection is restored. This ensures that a complete, continuous history of your movements is retained even in areas with no mobile signal.

Vismo uses the same GPS satellite constellation employed by services such as Google Maps to calculate your location. However, it’s important to note that while GPS satellites provide location coordinates, they do not transmit your location back to the Vismo Portal.

A common misconception is that a mobile device can “send” location data back to the Vismo Portal via the GPS satellites themselves. In reality, GPS is a one-way system: satellites send latitude and longitude coordinates down to your mobile device, which calculates its position locally. The Vismo App then interprets these coordinates and transmits them securely to the Vismo Portal via either cellular data or Wi-Fi.

In situations where no mobile coverage is available and real-time location reporting is still required, Vismo supports a range of Garmin and Iridium satellite devices. These can transmit locations directly over the satellite network, ensuring constant visibility of travellers in remote or high-risk areas.

For an indication of mobile coverage by country, you can visit the GSMA coverage maps. This information is provided by mobile network operators, who are responsible for keeping it up to date. Vismo accepts no responsibility for its accuracy, but it will generally provide a reasonable guide to coverage in a given area.