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New Phone Uses GPS To Locate Your Contacts

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the oh-crap-here-comes-ted dept.

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."

6 of 147 comments (clear)

  1. *chime* by Rob+T+Firefly · · Score: 5, Funny

    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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    Slashdot Burying Stories About Slashdot Media Owned
  2. Not really a privacy invasion: by adamstew · · Score: 4, Informative

    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.

  3. What about stalkers? by chaboud · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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.

  4. I can't fib on my whereabouts :( by us7892 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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.

  5. I felt him by jeepee · · Score: 5, Funny

    Welcome, young Skywalker. [Looking at cell phone] I have been expecting you.

    --
    Overuse of the Pumping Lemma causes blindness
  6. Re:wow, that's every stalkers wet dream by frakir · · Score: 4, Interesting

    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....