Cell phone advertising has the potential to plague consumers in ways similar to "spam" on the Internet, according to a new study by an Oregon State University researcher.

In a recent issue of the Federal Communication Law Journal, Nancy King, an associate professor of business law in the College of Business, lays out the case for privacy practices along with government regulations needed to protect consumers in the upcoming world of mobile advertising.

King recently was awarded a Fulbright fellowship to conduct European Union/U.S. comparative law research on privacy issues relating to emergent technologies associated with mobile commerce.

According to King, advertisers soon will be able to target messages directly to consumers' cell phones. In addition, with the use of radio frequency identification technology and global positioning systems, companies will be able to know the location of consumers at particular times. A person could be on the way to grab coffee, walk by a major department store and have that store send a pop-up message regarding a sale.

"The idea that location tracking technologies associated with your cell phone alerts the advertiser where you are, rather than you using your phone as a convenience to find information that you want - that's a privacy issue," King said.