New Phone Uses GPS To Locate Your Contacts

Salvance writes "Palo Alto-based Loopt Inc. has announced an agreement with Sprint Nextel to immediately begin offering their cell phone mapping service to all 3.8 Million Sprint Boost subscribers (Sprint Boost is a service specifically targeting the under-25 market). This service will notify users when another subscriber in their contact list is within 25 miles, providing a real-time map displaying their contacts' locations. According to the article, the only apparent privacy safeguard is to provide users the option to 'temporarily cut out from being spotted by their friends.' Given a retailer's propensity to package together extra services, and the average user's lack of knowledge regarding their phone's capabilities, this new service seems ripe for abuse."

Comments

What about stalkers?

[chaboud]

Does one agree to be located in general, or on a per-person basis? If it's in general, how can I know who's tracking me once my number is available to them?

I'm not worried about stalkers, personally, but this is the sort of thing that you might see being handed out to girls on college campuses or boys on grade-school ones.

Married couples could see this causing trouble.

Tony: "You shut tracking off for a few hours there. Where were you?"
Toni: "You're a freak. I'm leaving you."
Tony: "For the guy/girl/goat that you were off with when you went off the radar?!" ...

Honestly, though, it's kind of a cool feature.

I can't fib on my whereabouts :(

[us7892]

So when I tell one friend I'm staying in because I'm tired, and go out with another friend for some beers, and tell yet another I was working late, I'm gonna get screwed when they all locate me nearby.

How about they work on dropped calls and poor coverage first.

Unless you have something to hide...

[gillbates]

you have nothing to worry about.

But I think the government is very happy about this service. I'm sure the phone company would be more than happy to provide this information to the government, if requested, regardless of whether or not you agree to be tracked. Remember, if you irritate the government, you could lose your license to the radio spectrum on which your revenue depends.

After all, if you have nothing to hide why would you object to the government knowing where you are at all times? Don't you realize that this is for the safety of the children? Are you really going to object to technology that could help solve a kidnapping?

It is optional today. But not for long. As soon as the government figures out that this can be used to track everyone, in real time, it will become mandatory. They'll pass the law in the name of "protecting the children", or "fighting terrorism", etc...