There’s been a bit of fuss, recently, in the world of mobile phones, thanks to the launch of the new Google Latitude service, questioning whether it’s going to infringe on people’s privacy. If you haven’t heard about Latitude, it’s a new service for Google Maps that publishes your location, so your friends know where you are, either by using Cell ID to find you (through the cell towers dotted about round you), or using GPS on phones what ‘ave got it.
That’s the bit some privacy experts are shouting about, pointing out that whilst there are opt-in (opt-in being a far more favourable option to opt-out) controls to hide your location, there is a potential problem is someone else sets you up with Latitude without your knowing, like a jealous spouse, or a boss who doesn’t trust his employees.
Say, for example, your work buys you a T-Mobile G1 (unlikely, I know, unless you work for a generous company, but go with it). They get hold of the phone before you, and don’t tell you they’ve enabled it.
They are then, effectively, spying on you without your knowledge. Say you work for a bed shop, but you go and buy your bed from a rival bed shop, because it’s cheaper. They’d be able to see you’re in a rival bed shop on Google Maps, and be difficult with you, because of it. The problem, as groups such as Privacy International see it, is that once activated, Latitude doesn’t tell you it’s beaming out your location. Well, ok, to be fair, it does on some mobile phones, like the Blackberry Storm, but even then it only alerts you if you’ve not used Latitude for a while. That’s the big issue Privacy International wanted to highlight.
To me, that highlights the big problem with the system, the same problem that an article on the Mobile Industry Review elegantly points out. The problem isn’t necessarily Latitude itself, although it can and most likely will help clear up a lot of privacy concerns. The big problem is the people using Google Latitude. The jealous spouses. The controlling, vindictive bosses. Google will very likely iron out any security issues with Latitude, but the problem is, the people using it are going to be the same devious, sneaky, distrustful, nosey little dangleberries they’ve always been. I genuinely commend Google for making Latitude as privacy friendly as it is (although it has a little bit of a way still to go), but as far as I’m concerned, my friends don’t need to know where I am, unless I’m upside down in a ditch with a broken back.
And I do reckon Latitude has some real potential, I’ve gotta be honest. Equip it with a “help, the extreme ironing’s gone wrong, and I’m upside down in a ditch with a broken back” button, so the emergency services can find you and either save you, or at least give you a decent burial along with your Toshiba TG01, or whatever, and it’d be brilliant. And I can think of a situation where seeing your friend’s location would be useful, like if they get lost in your hometown, and have no clue where they are (other than it being ‘a street, somewhere‘), so that you can direct them. Fire up Latitude, and you’ll not have to worry about not finding them.
It’s just that, along with these genuine uses, I can see bunny-boiling stalkers finding it useful, too…
Do you reckon Google Latitude is a good thing? Or do you reckon it will infringe on your privacy? Leave us a comment and have your say!