With a plethora of location-based services hitting the market, GPS appears to be an essential feature in today's digitally driven world.

But Global Positioning System data can be used to create serious problems — even life-threatening ones — if control falls into the wrong hands, an expert warns.

"From car navigation systems to 'Pokemon Go' ... too many things today use GPS as a reliable source of location information," Dinesh Manandhar, a project associate professor at the University of Tokyo, said in a recent interview. "People trust the location information from GPS satellites like God."