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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."
I'd think that'd be the bigger news. They're so tiny! And now I will never lose them.
Hmm? Oh, pardom me guys, it's a mesasge on my phone...
ted from acctg is shaggin ur gf lol
Thanks, Sprint!
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FTFA: "The real-time tracking would only occur for those who have agreed to be located and had given the user their mobile phone numbers." So you have to agree to be tracked in the first place.
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.
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.
Welcome, young Skywalker. [Looking at cell phone] I have been expecting you.
Overuse of the Pumping Lemma causes blindness
When I call someone on a land line, I know exactly where they are.
No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
Alright, when Jim walks in the door, everyone turn on their phones !
Wanna fight ? Bend over, stick your head up your ass, and fight for air.
A different approach might really work.
Imagine opt-in GPS tracking instead of opt-out. Eg: Bob requests tracking of Alice within $distance for $duration, Alice might agree or not, but default is OFF.
Some phone pairs, like mom-child might have tracking ON and not possible to switch off (it might go into cell service plan).
Definitely something I would love to have....
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...
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