[ARDF] Smart phones and stupid cheaters

[Charles Scharlau]

The idea of using a smart phone as an ARDF competition receiving device has
always carried with it the concern that such a device would necessarily be
banned in competitions. Having developed an app, I conclude that although
current rules would ban communication-capable devices in competitions, an
exception SHOULD be made for smart phones. Furthermore, doing so could
actually PREVENT cheating by the competitor carrying the smart phone, and
others participating in the competition.

The last two sentences above probably sound outlandish, and the explanation
will take a few paragraphs to explain. Please bear with me as I lay out the
essential points.

1. It is very easy to create a smart phone app with the following
characteristics:
a. It records the place, date and time when it is launched.
b. It detects and records whenever it is closed, or it gets put into the
background in a multitasking OS.
c. It provides the above information when queried by an external device.

2. Rules could be put into place allowing (even encouraging) competitors to
register their smart phones for carrying in the competition, provided that
they agree to run a program described in (1) during the entire time that
they are competing. (Perhaps their smart phones would also be impounded with
their receive equipment. But even that might not be necessary.)

3. Anyone found to possess an unregistered cell phone, or one not running a
"certified" app, would be disqualified under the same rules as today.

4. At the end of the competition, all competitors with registered smart
phones would be required to download their app's data to the official
database for analysis. Failing to do so, or if the data shows that their
phone exited the monitoring app at any point during the competition, could
get the competitor (and perhaps their team)  disqualified from the
competition.

A very simple app as described above, then, could allow smart phones to be
carried in ARDF competitions, and in any other competition in which they are
currently banned due to cheating concerns. The main sticking point is how to
certify, and verify, the apps that monitor the phone's use. But I don't
think that is an insurmountable obstacle.

If smart phones continuously running an appropriate app are allowed in
competition, then that opens up the possibility of using them to enhance
rules enforcement. Consider that a monitoring app might also support camera
function, and sending photos along with GPS location and time of photo
directly to an official competition monitoring e-mail address? In that case,
all competitors armed with smart phones could potentially provide evidence
of cheating while on the course, but could not utilize their cell phones for
other purposes without being disqualified.

There are many other possibilities this concept opens up. I think it is
definitely time to start the discussion.

73,
Charles
NZ0I