Google Maps To Add 'Friend' GPS Tracking

Henway writes "Google is adding the option to Google Maps to place your whereabouts either via cell phone towers or GPS. Think 'locator beacon.' Paraphrased: This would be good for people wanting to let their friends know where they are or for parents wanting to know where their children are at all times."

Comments

Don't need it

[Sax Maniac]

Sorry, I already have this. I just log into my bank account's website, look at the recent charges, and that tells me where my wife is.

Re:Don't need it

[von_rick]

But does it tell you who she is with? Now if you were tracking your best friend AND your wife, you'd know why those things listed in your account statement never show up at your house.

Re:Don't need it

[ani23]

i don't charge her for the services man. so ur outta luck

Re:Don't need it

[kheldan]

But does it tell you who she is with?

If she's spending money at a hotel, then you can make a fairly accurate guess who she's with..

Re:Don't need it

[Anonymous Coward]

That doesn't tell you where she *is*, just where she was last night. Oh snap!

I don't think it means what they think it means...

[mnslinky]

How the article reads:

This would be good for people wanting to let their friends know where they are or for parents wanting to know where their children are at all times.

What it really means:
This would be good for girlfriends wanting to know where their boyfriends are or for parents wanting to know where their children are at all times.

So, kind of like Britekite?

[Anonymous Coward]

Sounds remarkably similar to the services offered by Brightkite.

Re:So, kind of like Britekite?

[scubamage]

And Loopt.

Re:So, kind of like Britekite?

[bigman2003]

This is something I have been looking for on my phone. Integrated with Google Maps would be great.

Re:So, kind of like Britekite?

[BlueOtto]

And Mologogo.

Re:So, kind of like Britekite?

[caluml]

Write your own. http://calum.org/location/. I worked for a mobile telco until recently, so had access to the location info direct, but now I just run a GPS app on my phone, and it's much the same.

Re:So, kind of like Britekite?

[sexconker]

No guys! This is GOOGLE! It's new and innovative!!

Re:So, kind of like Britekite?

[lethalp1mpslapper]

This was possible back in 2006 or so with Mologogo

Re:So, kind of like Britekite?

[Dahamma]

And Heroes!

Re:So, kind of like Britekite?

[Missing_dc]

You appear to be standing in a field near a castle(cary) in sw england, or maybe you dropped your phone in the park.

Re:So, kind of like Britekite?

[spdt]

And InstaMapper

Re:So, kind of like Britekite?

[molo]

gogo!

-molo

Re:So, kind of like Britekite?

[Anonymous Coward]

and gmap track

Re:So, kind of like Britekite?

[bigman2003]

I thought about doing something like that. But then I thought of the hundreds of hours it would take for me to get it right.

I realized I'd rather go places than just have my phone tell people I'm at home...still.

Re:So, kind of like Britekite?

[caluml]

I realized I'd rather go places than just have my phone tell people I'm at home...still.

That's what we sensible people call a false dichotomy. You can do both, you know. (Although I have never remembered to take it other than to the Netherlands one time.)

Re:So, kind of like Britekite?

[Anonymous Coward]

or the more rudimentary seemywhere.com, run off Xtify which just presented at the NY Tech meetup in NYC.

Re:So, kind of like Britekite?

[moeffju]

And Buddycloud, except they don't think map views make sense.

Re:So, kind of like Britekite?

[Anonymous Coward]

Or Woophoo, that also saves the tracks and puts it on a map with velocity, photos if you want to, also drawing a traffic map having enough users...

Sweet!

[eln]

Oh man, I hope my girlfriend gets on this! It will make it SO much easier to track her. I am so sick of hiding in the bushes across the street from her house for three hours just to find out she wasn't even home! And this is going to save me a fortune on text messages...I won't need to text her every 3 minutes asking where she is if I have Google Maps to tell me!

Seriously, this is going to revolutionize our relationship. I know we're going to be so happy with this new tracking technology! The restraining order says no, but your Google Maps icon says yes!

Re:Sweet!

[Theaetetus]

Oh man, I hope my girlfriend gets on this! It will make it SO much easier to track her.

Funny, but you raise an important point... This could be used by abusive spouses to keep tabs on the other person, particularly because there doesn't seem to be a "keep my location here no matter where I go" - so turning it off or setting it to the city-location mode could trigger angry accusations.

Re:Sweet!

[fracai]

Because clearly there wouldn't have been any pre-existing problems in such a relationship.

It's like Science Fiction. It's not really about the technology; the tech just provides an interesting framework to examine the real issues.

Re:Sweet!

[gharris]

According to the privacy settings help page, you can do just that:
http://www.google.com/support/mobile/bin/answer.py?answer=136650

Set your location. Manually select a location on the map that will be shared with friends

Doesn't look like you can do that per-contact though.

Re:Sweet!

[Anonymous Coward]

Except for the fact that you can set your location via the PC to say "I am HERE", and then simply not run the app on your phone.

Re:Sweet!

[Constantine XVI]

It is possible to set your location by hand, and tell Maps to never update automatically. I'm not sure if it allows you to set separate locations for different people, but there's nothing stopping you from making a "safe" account and a "real" account

Re:Sweet!

[makapuf]

leave your phone to a friend/leave it at home.
don't answer phone or redirect line to your secret phone. solved. (in a "geekier than you" way, that is)

Re:Sweet!

[KlaymenDK]

It's like Science Fiction. It's not really about the technology; the tech just provides an interesting framework to examine the real issues.

That would make a great signature for email, or for the issue tracker at work for that matter.

Re:Sweet!

[RAGEAngel9]

Funny, but you raise an important point... This could be used by abusive spouses to keep tabs on the other person, particularly because there doesn't seem to be a "keep my location here no matter where I go" - so turning it off or setting it to the city-location mode could trigger angry accusations.

You mean other than the various options allowing you to manually set your location, or hide your location.
Yes, some malicious person could force you to set it how they want. But at that point, you have bigger problems.

Re:Sweet!

[cayenne8]

"leave your phone to a friend/leave it at home."

How about don't install it on your phone.

That should work just fine....until the govt. decides that it is mandatory, but, hopefully that is a few years off.

Re:Sweet!

[plague3106]

The fact that there's a problem is irrelevent. The issue here is that it becomes an order of magnitude easier for the nutjob to find the person of his / her obsession. Yes, real time tracking IS more of a problem becaues the technology makes it easier.

Re:Sweet!

[Anonymous Coward]

It's also about some people being Just Plain Dim.

I've heard about people on Facebook who listed themselves as "single", left their profiles 100% public, and then were actually *surprised* when their spouses noticed this and had something to say about it.

Re:Sweet!

[VisceralLogic]

Funny, but you raise an important point... This could be used by abusive spouses to keep tabs on the other person, particularly because there doesn't seem to be a "keep my location here no matter where I go" - so turning it off or setting it to the city-location mode could trigger angry accusations.

You have to actively allow someone to view your location... it isn't just publicly broadcast.

Re:Sweet!

[triffid_98]

The goverment can already get this information quite easily. They don't even need a court order, police just call your provider and ask for the records. If you're using a company phone, they have access to that information too. Just FYI

"leave your phone to a friend/leave it at home."

How about don't install it on your phone.

That should work just fine....until the govt. decides that it is mandatory, but, hopefully that is a few years off.

Re:Sweet!

[treeves]

That was in the context of an abusive relationship. Clearly, you need to get out of the basement and into an abusive relationship so you'll understand what it's all about.

Re:Sweet!

[cayenne8]

"That was in the context of an abusive relationship. Clearly, you need to get out of the basement and into an abusive relationship so you'll understand what it's all about."

I try to never stay with one chick too long really....never long enough for the fun to wear off...and her get psycho, or abusive or whatever.

There's always a 'new' model around the corner...

:)

Big brother knows where you are

[RoCKeTKaT]

What prevents Big Brother from knowing where you are at all times ? eh, children ?

Re:Big brother knows where you are

[scubamage]

Sadly I think most of today's generation has forgotten why 1984 is scary. Especially if you wrap it up in pretty colors and throw a 2.0 and a medallion that says "BETA" on it.

Re:Big brother knows where you are

[ByOhTek]

Big Brother can't already track you, and somehow, Google adding this stalking system, will allow Big Brother to do track you?

Can I live in your fantasy world? It's better than my real world, where Big Brother tracks me easily without any help from Google.

Re:Big brother knows where you are

[amRadioHed]

Get back to us when Google sends you to Room 101 for refusing to use there service. Until then the comparison falls a wee bit short.

Re:Big brother knows where you are

[blueg3]

Except on Slashdot, where 1984 has to be referenced regardless of whether or not it's applicable. (For the record, I don't recall it being the case in 1984 that the whereabouts of citizens were tracked at all times.)

I'm not entirely sure what the concern is here? Is grandparent poster thinking that the government will be circumventing the requirement that people enable the "Track Me" service? That Google will allow them access to or retain the data contrary to their policies? (That at least seems more likely.)

You are aware this is already quite possible on the individual level, yes? The technology is not such that it's convenient to track the movements of everyone, unless with this new service, Google gave them that information.

Re:Big brother knows where you are

[Klaus_1250]

Big Brother can already track you through with cell-phone triangulation.

I'm wondering more when Google will add all the cars to the roads. Where I live (Netherlands), they're planning to equip all cars with GPS-units so they can tax drivers by the mile (kilometer).

Re:Big brother knows where you are

[BeerCat]

Except on Slashdot, where 1984 has to be referenced regardless of whether or not it's applicable. (For the record, I don't recall it being the case in 1984 that the whereabouts of citizens were tracked at all times.)

"BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU"

Seems to me like they were tracking everyone at all times

Re:Big brother knows where you are

[scubamage]

Just wait til Megan's Law 2.0, when all babies are chipped at birth with RFID GPS chips! *tinfoilhat*

Re:Big brother knows where you are

[blueg3]

See, I would recommend actually reading 1984, rather than quoting a single line from it and saying, "Seems to me...".

Re:Big brother knows where you are

[KlaymenDK]

Does it really, now? Is *wanting* to give away your freedom, as it were, really better than having it taken from you?

I think not.

Re:Big brother knows where you are

[Vectronic]

No, but it could make it *really* easy for them to do so, no more triangulating cell phones, or the GPS in your car, just a simple web browser and a name/id, the secretary hired earlier in the morning is capable of doing that.

Plus, unlike [most] other methods, you are agreeing to be tracked, and there is/will probably be various clauses in the agreement allowing for in-roads for X group/agency/org.

Re:Big brother knows where you are

[rbf2000]

The government could always see where you were whether or not you wanted them to.

Having Google Latitude at least makes people aware that, even without GPS, it is possible to see where you are as long as your phone is on. The difference is that now, in addition to the government being able to see you, a select group of friends that you opt-in can also see where you are.

Re:Big brother knows where you are

[Anonymous Coward]

Sadly I think most of today's generation has forgotten why 1984 is scary. Especially if you wrap it up in pretty colors and throw a 2.0 and a medallion that says "BETA" on it.

Indeed! Google forces you to do physical exercise in front of a camera everyday, changes every book, newspaper and website, creates fake wars, tortures and kills anybody who opposes it.

Re:Big brother knows where you are

[amRadioHed]

Well yeah, it's a lot better since it allows people to chose not to give away their freedom. Sure for those who chose to give it away it doesn't make any difference, but you wouldn't do that, right?

Re:Big brother knows where you are

[Anonymous Coward]

big bother touches me when i sleep...

Re:Big brother knows where you are

[ByOhTek]

> No, but it could make it *really* easy for them
> to do so, no more triangulating cell phones, or
> the GPS in your car, just a simple web browser
> and a name/id

I'm sure the NSA could pull off a system like that in a week or two if they don't have it already.

> Plus, unlike [most] other methods, you are
> agreeing to be tracked, and there is/will
> probably be various clauses in the agreement
> allowing for in-roads for X group/agency/org.

So, don't agree to it, but that doesn't mean you should stop others who don't care from agreeing to it.

Re:Big brother knows where you are

[Pentavirate]

Wouldn't it be cheaper and easier to simply take an odometer reading each year when you register your car and do a quick subtraction? Why in the world would they need a GPS? They could even make a check for odometer tampering part of the safety check.

Or, of course, they can simply tax the gasoline which essentially does the same thing, or maybe they already do that :).

Leave it to government to find a more complicated way to do exactly what they're already doing.

Re:Big brother knows where you are

[Klaus_1250]

Why in the world would they need a GPS?

They want to tax people on a per-road and time basis, to combat high way traffic jams in peak hours. Odometers won't work for that, plus, they can be tampered with. With a GPS-signal, you can crosscheck it with license plate registration camera's (they use them for speed checks). Difficult to fool the system, plus, they're going to put insane fines/jail time on tampering.

Or, of course, they can simply tax the gasoline which essentially does the same thing, or maybe they already do that :).

They already do that. In fact, I think we have the third highest gasoline prices in the world (diesel is cheaper). And that is next to the annual road tax and a special car tax on top of the sales tax.

Re:Big brother knows where you are

[Anonymous Coward]

You like it. Admit it.

Re:Big brother knows where you are

[Pentavirate]

It makes sense, in a way, I guess. I assume they've done studies to see if all of that will actually cost less than what they plan on saving with the improved traffic control. I've heard of plans in some places to toll certain roads during rush hour the same way they toll carpool lanes if you're not in a carpool. In this way, it encourages people to drive during off-peak hours. It sounds like a similar solution.

Re:Big brother knows where you are

[kiddygrinder]

Are you really more free if you are not allowed to give up your freedom?

Re:Big brother knows where you are

[KlaymenDK]

I guess not! Good answer.

I just hope (but don't really believe) that people do so *knowingly*...

Re:Big brother knows where you are

[geekgirlandrea]

Leave it to government to find a more complicated way to do exactly what they're already doing.

Well, if you're gullible enough to believe that's the real purpose and being able to track everyone's movements is just a coincidence that they would never, ever take advantage of.

Re:Big brother knows where you are

[iron spartan]

There's talk of adding GPS to cars in the US too. Seems that we aren't making enough money in gas taxes. Yeah Hybrids!

Re:Big brother knows where you are

[Thiez]

> Difficult to fool the system, plus, they're going to put insane fines/jail time on tampering.

That alone should be a reason not to implement it. If a system requires threatening everyone with insane fines and jail time just to function, it's probably a bad system.

Which country are you from that you have the third highest gasoline prices?

Re:Big brother knows where you are

[BeerCat]

See, I would recommend actually reading 1984, rather than quoting a single line from it and saying, "Seems to me...".

Let's see:

Original claim - 1984 didn't advocate tracking the whereabouts of the citizens at all times.
Single line quote - refutes claim.

More proof (contained in the link)

"The telescreen received and transmitted simultaneously. Any sound that Winston made, above the level of a very low whisper, would be picked up by it, moreover, so long as he remained within the field of vision which the metal plaque commanded, he could be seen as well as heard. There was of course no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment. How often, or on what system, the Thought Police plugged in on any individual wire was guesswork. It was even conceivable that they watched everybody all the time. "

Re:Big brother knows where you are

[Ironica]

Or, of course, they can simply tax the gasoline which essentially does the same thing, or maybe they already do that :).

Gasoline taxes are a fairly poor proxy for travel volume. First of all, there's a huge range of fuel efficiency, and it doesn't correspond perfectly with other impacts of car use; a Prius on the road a rush hour has a very similar effect on total congestion as an Explorer.

Furthermore, average fuel efficiency improves over time, so to keep taxes per mile at a more or less constant rate, you have to continually raise the gas tax.

Finally, as the poster mentioned, they're also disincentivizing peak-period Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT), which is totally impossible with aggregate readings.

Re:Big brother knows where you are

[Ironica]

It works beautifully where they've implemented it. The 91 Express Lanes in Orange County, CA have a toll system that reflects the peak usage; tolls are highest when usage is highest, and lowest when it's lowest. Between this and live camera surveillance so that obstructions can be cleared immediately, these two lanes carry 50% of the traffic in each direction... even though there are FOUR free lanes alongside. IOW, half the lane-miles carry the same amount of traffic, because dynamic tolls and improved hazard clearance keep traffic free-flowing 95% of the time.

Re:Big brother knows where you are

[Pentavirate]

You are correct that their main effort is to reduce congestion as the poster clarified in response to my post. I do think, though, that having automatic tolls during congested time periods would be a more economical model to persue in getting the desired effect.

Gas taxes are a poor proxy for travel volume but are very good for road wear and tear since the weight of vehicles tend to correlate with gas consumption. It's not perfect, but it's a straight way of spreading the costs of road maintenance to those who cause their proportion of road damage.

I just think that the most high-tech method of solving the problem isn't always the most efficient. That was my only point.

Re:Big brother knows where you are

[Anonymous Coward]

(For the record, I don't recall it being the case in 1984 that the whereabouts of citizens were tracked at all times.)

They weren't, but if GPS technology had been around in 1948 I wouldn't be surprised if Orwell had included it in some form. There's a lot of technology available now that would fit very well in that sort of totalitarian world.

That said, I don't think the 1984 comparisons are appropriate quite yet. The government's not requiring anybody to install this software or turn on the tracking option (yes, it's opt-in, not opt-out).

Re:Big brother knows where you are

[Night64]

Sadly I think most of today's generation has forgotten why 1984 is scary. Especially if you wrap it up in pretty colors and throw a 2.0 and a medallion that says "BETA" on it.

Ok, that guy is REALLY overrated. Insightful? He really thinks that only Google can track him? Hey, did you ever heard about cell towers? Your phone company can track you down anytime! "But they would not do that without a court order... Oh, wait!"

Re:Big brother knows where you are

[ion.simon.c]

Having Google Latitude at least makes people aware that...

Aye! This is very much like Facebook's switch to the "All-Seeing-Eye" style of feed that aggregated all of the public info about your friends and presented it to you.

Re:Big brother knows where you are

[blueg3]

No, all the single line says is "Big Brother is watching you". Not, "Big Brother is watching everyone at every time".

Had you read 1984, you'd know that the telescreens could not, in fact, track everyone at all times. Telescreens were present only in public spaces and the homes of Party members. The Proles, which made up the majority of the population, generally did not have telescreens and were not monitored in their private spaces. In fact, this was taken advantage of in the novel.

Re:Big brother knows where you are

[scubamage]

I believe you missed the ending, when Winston gets captured. And how exactly it is that he gets captured.

Re:Big brother knows where you are

[blueg3]

The Prole he's been renting a room from is actually a Thought Police spy?

Yes, that has everything to do with universal monitoring.

Re:Big brother knows where you are

[Atario]

Original claim - 1984 didn't advocate tracking the whereabouts of the citizens at all times.

Um...? I thought 1984 advocated not tracking us.

Perhaps you mean "depicted"?

Re:Big brother knows where you are

[tompaulco]

Is *wanting* to give away your freedom, as it were, really better than having it taken from you?
This is something that has always fascinated me about the cutting edge gotta-have-it gadget seekers. Often the same people who speak out loudly about privacy, government observation and the necessity of tin foil hats, are the same people who absolutely have to have the latest toy of convenience, where convenience usually means storing your information for you, knowing where to find you, etc., etc.
Must be a challenge for marketing.

Re:Big brother knows where you are

[clone53421]

That alone should be a reason not to implement it. If a system requires threatening everyone with insane fines and jail time just to function, it's probably a bad system.

I reject that argument. If you decide to give some supporting details, I'll reconsider it.

Which country are you from that you have the third highest gasoline prices?

He already answered that.

Re:Big brother knows where you are

[Ironica]

You are correct that their main effort is to reduce congestion as the poster clarified in response to my post. I do think, though, that having automatic tolls during congested time periods would be a more economical model to persue in getting the desired effect.

In what way would it be more economical? Tolls require either access control (toll booths with gates) or an automated transponder-based payment system (i.e. Fastpass). Installing access control everywhere would be a huge infrastructure burden, would increase congestion (due to lines), and would encourage people to cut through areas not designed for high volumes of traffic. So you're left with a transponder-based system... now, you put a transponder in every vehicle, and you charge people automatically for their toll road usage. If you have tolls on *all* the major roads, and you charge people based on the miles of road they've used, you've done almost exactly the same thing as what they're doing.

Gas taxes are a poor proxy for travel volume but are very good for road wear and tear since the weight of vehicles tend to correlate with gas consumption.

It does tend to correlate, but not all that well. There are hybrid SUVs, and very lightweight sports cars that are gas hogs. People who do most of their driving for short trips around their neighborhood will have lower gas mileage in the same type of vehicle as people who commute on relatively uncongested freeways, but are not having as great an impact on the infrastructure.

Also, there are enormous problems with the way gas taxes are implemented in the US. Currently they are a specific tax, meaning that the tax rate is set at a number of dollars per barrel (of oil... the tax is not actually on consumer gasoline; it's just passed on that way very explicitly by the oil companies). That level cannot be changed without an Act of Congress (and State taxes generally need the State Legislature's vote). The taxation levels often stay the same for a decade or two at a time, while the value of that set amount of money falls due to normal inflation. Meanwhile, average fuel economy improves, lowering the dollar amount of taxes collected per mile driven.

An ad valorem tax where the percentage automatically adjusts as average fuel economy increases would address these issues, but given the enormous difficulty states have had in switching their own gas taxes from specific to ad valorem, it doesn't seem likely that we'll see this anytime in the near future.

It's not perfect, but it's a straight way of spreading the costs of road maintenance to those who cause their proportion of road damage.

Another way to do that is to charge registration fees based on vehicle weight and number of tires, as they do in the UK. There are actually three-wheeled cars, because they have lower registration fees.

I just think that the most high-tech method of solving the problem isn't always the most efficient. That was my only point.

I would agree with that as a general statement, but in this case, by the time you adjust a lower-tech system to the point that it gives you a reasonable approximation, you're not that far removed from the higher-tech system that gives you a much better metering system.

Abuse

[Anonymous Coward]

Does anyone see the irony in allowing a 3rd party to keep sophisticated data on your and your friends' whereabouts? Given the government's predilection for snooping and the current lack of openness in government, it seems somewhat frightening to allow even the overly-beloved Google this sort of power over your friends.

Re:Abuse

[zappepcs]

I'm not sure about the irony, but for $15/week, I'll feed and care for your phone, take it everywhere with me. I even promise not to take it to any meetings of subversive groups, or atheist meetups.

The government will be happy that you are an active social part of society, and you can rest assured that your privacy is perfectly secure.

In fact, your tracking data will look exactly like that of 17 other lucky folks who have signed up before all the openings are gone. I just have one space left, so hurry. If you call in the next 10 minutes, you'll also receive photo frame skin for your other phone that holds a picture of the tracked phone so that you'll never miss it, normally a $29.99 value, but you'll get it absolutely free.

Sign up now, hurry, available spots are going fast.

Re:Abuse

[Bearhouse]

You may be joking, but you should probably patent that idea fast!

Re:Abuse

[mdm-adph]

If you're looking for employees in about 15 years, give me a call.

Re:Abuse

[Archangel Michael]

so, your time is only worth $270/wk??

Re:Abuse

[clone53421]

No, that's just all he could fit in his briefcase and still carry actual work in it.

Re:Abuse

[quaero_notitia]

In 15 years that business model will be extinct because the tracking mechanisms will have evolved using embedded technologies and improved visual and auditory recognition.

Re:Abuse

[zappepcs]

In this era of economic bizarreness, I'm trying to offer value for money - sound money. I'm not trying to pay for a 65 foot yacht, just few other nice-to-have things, like the electric bill.

Despite my views of financial planning, if you feel so inclined to pay me more; to pay an amount which you feel appropriate for your privacy. Please do so. Gratuity is always appreciated.

Re:Abuse

[zappepcs]

Yes!! This is my plan to artificially create scarcity of the service I provide. :) The free market does work. My hope is that soon the service will be worth $300/week. I won't have to buy a bigger briefcase, and my profits will go up. I expect there will be a cell phone babysitting bubble and that it will burst. My plan is to make my money as quick as possible and move into manufacturing wearable RFID falsification systems, IR LED bombs, and finally a stylish line of unbugable clothing, including tin foil hats, shoes, belts, and a full line of privacy wardrobe accessories. I'm thinking that Priv-Threads will be the name of the company. Or just PThreads for short. It's sure to be a hit with geeks.

Re:I don't think it means what they think it means

[pm_rat_poison]

Don't kid yourself. The women who know where their men are are called widows.

So that means

[Bruiser80]

when I get a phone call or text message from my wife, I have to drive back to work before answering it and giving her my location? Awesome. The bar won't be happy :-)

Re:So that means

[Bruiser80]

Well, looks like I'm saved - I don't have a new enough phone.

They work on a bunch of blackberries and other high-end phones, but they're still a bit dodgey with phones that only run java for apps.

Here's to a few more weeks of drinking!

Re:So that means

[Constantine XVI]

They're working on it (J2ME and Blackberry programming isn't too far apart), but most J2ME phones can't run apps in the background anyway

Re:So that means

[GenP]

Which Blackberry doesn't only do Java?

Re:So that means

[Achoi77]

You can set your location manually via the browser. Just set it to the homeless shelter every friday and you're all set! Oh and don't forget to update your status to "Doing volunteer work."

wife's location?

[Ritz_Just_Ritz]

As long as my wife doesn't use it to track my girlfriend. Then I'd be really f00ked.

Re:wife's location?

[whoever57]

As long as my wife doesn't use it to track my girlfriend. Then I'd be really f00ked.

In which case, the girlfriend will be redundant, so it's all good, right?

Bubblin

[Anonymous Coward]

There's already an app on the iStore for this, it's called Bubblin, and you can invite people into your space and see where they are, and they can see where you are. I've used it a few times to get hold of friends, but it isn't made by Google, so I for one welcome my Googlin overlords! Their app looks sweet

My hobby

[godrik]

drawing smiley on google maps with my friends and our GPS

Re:My hobby

[Anonymous Coward]

drawing smiley on google maps with my friends and our GPS

http://youtube.com/watch?v=mCQvqUlMe4g

Re:My hobby

[21mhz]

The idea has been used for an ad.

It's Stalkerriffic!

[wiredog]

Now I just gotta get that Cute Girl who thinks I'm creepy to turn it on so I'll always know where she is. Maybe I can call her from inside the house.

Skip the Fox 'news' link, and go to the source

[Bearhouse]

Here:

http://www.google.com/mobile/default/latitude.html

Could be useful for companies who are looking for cheap geolocation of, say, their truck, service engineers...

Google maps works well for me with GPS and surprisingly well just using tower triangulation...just wish it had 'turn by turn' voice direction for when I'm driving.

I'm sure others here will discuss the privacy concerns better than I could.

I'd like the opposite please

[spaceman375]

Can I have my location copywritten? I want NO ONE to have access or the right to use my location in any manner without my explicit approval. Feds and local law enforcement included.

Re:I'd like the opposite please

[mcgrew]

Can I have my location copywritten?

Well, you can write a copy of your location but you can't have it copyrighted any more than you can copyright your phone number. So, no. Sorry.

Re:I'd like the opposite please

[makapuf]

however, it can be noted that copy detection will be quite easy. "Why are you following me?"

My generation was lucky

[mcgrew]

We didn't even have cell phones when I was a teeneger. Of course, there were no child molesters or terrorists. All we had to fear was Russia throwing nukes at us.

Yes, there were probably as many pederasts as today, and anyone in Great Britain knows there were terrorists then, but the media didn't hype them like they do today. I'd bet kids are SAFER now than we were then, but you wouldn't know it from the mainstream media.

Re:My generation was lucky

[Chabo]

I'd bet kids are SAFER now than we were then

You're very right.

Re:My generation was lucky

[blueg3]

Penn and Teller: a reliable source of statistical information!

Re:My generation was lucky

[Anonymous Coward]

>> Of course, there were no child molesters or terrorists.

If you honestly believe that statement you should move out of the rock you live under and take a shower. Just because its in the media NOW doesn't mean it never happened before.

Re:My generation was lucky

[Chabo]

They hardly ever give statistics themselves, they leave that to the experts who come on the show. :)

As Penn says -- "We may be biased as fuck, but we're fair."

If you want more information, it's up to you to do more research; they have to squeeze all that into a 1/2 hour show.

Re:My generation was lucky

[Anonymous Coward]

if you honestly believe he was being serious you should hit yourself in the head with the rock he lives under ;)

Re:My generation was lucky

[mcgrew]

Rock? I'll have you know I live in a two story basement!

Re:My generation was lucky

[Endo13]

I know this is slashdot and you're an anonymous coward, but even so this is a new low. If you had bothered using even 10 seconds of your "valuable" time reading any of his second paragraph, you would know that he already said the same thing.

This is like not even reading the whole title on slashdot, never mind the summary or TFA.

Re:My generation was lucky

[thetoadwarrior]

So where's your proof it's not true?

Considering how much the media loves pedo stories you sure don't see too many in the news.

Secondly it's statistically more likely to be a family member or someone close to the kid that molests them. So the last thing you should be doing is locking the kid up in the house around its family members.

Re:My generation was lucky

[blueg3]

I didn't say it wasn't true. Whether or not the final conclusion is correct or not is independent of the quality of statistics from a comedy duo.

Re:My generation was lucky

[RiotingPacifist]

You mean Great Britain already faced terrorists and it ended without having to sign away all our rights a mandatory 28 day lock-up when your reach 18? And you best not be trying to suggest that the gps-tag i got for my child wont protect him as most child molesters are known family & friends! LIES ALL LIES

Re:My generation was lucky

[JWSmythe]

    At any moment, the reds will try to invade us, and this will become the Soviet State of Amerika!

Re:My generation was lucky

[mcgrew]

You might want to finish reading the comment before you... HEY! PAY ATTENTION!

Re:My generation was lucky

[linzeal]

I doubt that would extend globally. The amount of children sold into sex slavery is increasing in places like SE asia as dire economic gloom hits not decreasing. What an americentric way to look at a global problem.

Re:My generation was lucky

[Chabo]

I doubt too many of those children have cell phones, either.

mcgrew was postulating that maybe the Mass Media hype of "Your kids aren't safe!" is pure hype, and nothing else.

What ever happened to "Think Globally, Act Locally"? Can't we worry about problems in our hometown, like whether we're smothering our kids with the bubble wrap in which we put them for protection? Why do we have to complicate the issue with the international sex slave trade?

What an americentric way to look at a global problem.

I'm pretty sure mcgrew is British. How "Americentric" is your thought process that you spew hate at America for the world's problems?

Re:My generation was lucky

[Pentavirate]

I watched the preview and it shows a woman arguing that there is an equal chance of being struck by lightning as being kidnapped (non-family). A little research shows that:

* You have a 1 in 560 chance of being kidnapped by a non-family member and of those 1/5 will be murdered.
* You have a 1 in 280,000 chance of being struck by lightning.
* You have a 1 in 100 chance of dying in a car accident.

While the lady in the video was grossly overestimating the chances of being struck by lightning, there may not be much cause to freak your kids out about "stranger danger". They need to know the information and how to protect themselves, but they definitely shouldn't be made to be hermits and more than they shouldn't be prevented from riding in cars.

One thing is for sure, though. Don't get your statistics from Penn and Teller videos.

Re:My generation was lucky

[clong83]

From your link on kidsfightingchance, I was able to calculate: 11.4 out of 1000 kids are reported missing each year, which comes out to about 800000 cases. Of those, 69000 are actually abducted. Of those, 18% are by non-family. Of those, 37% are by non-friends. The way I crunch the numbers...

11.4/1000 * 69/800* .18 * .37 = 0.0000654

Or,about 1 in 15000 chance of being abducted by a stranger. Even if you go non-family only, it's only about 1 per 10000... Where did you get 1 in 560?? Granted, it's nowhere near the remoteness of a lightning strike, but the odds of an abduction by a non-family member are remote at best.

Re:My generation was lucky

[Ironica]

Nor should you get your statistics from websites that, on the very same page, list conflicting data:

Of the 800,000 children reported missing annually, approximately 69,000 are abducted:
Family members account for the majority of these reported cases (82 percent)
Non-family abductions account for 12,000 of these reported cases (18 percent)

Farther down on the same page:

Each year 3,600 to 4,200 children are abducted by someone outside the family; 1/2 of them are age 12 or older; 2/3 are female; at least 19% of these abductors are not strangers to their victims-Finklehor, p. 10. *The chance of a minor being kidnapped by a stranger is 1 in 560, by a family member 1 in 180. - Discover Magazine as reported by Gannett News Service 5/28/96.

Now, if you take that 12,000 number, multiply it by 18 (years of childhood), and then take that result (216,000) and determine the percentage that represents of the child population in the US (82,457,018... I grabbed a number off the Census website that's for the 2007 American Community survey, but I had to total up percentages of population by age group and then take that percentage of the total population), you get about a .26% chance of being kidnapped by a stranger... but 1 in 560 is more like .17%. And the ratio of those two percentages don't match the annual statistics, where one lists a number that's 3-4 times as high as the other. Notice that the much higher number is listed prominently at the top of the page, without a footnote as to the conflicting measures from other sources.

Re:My generation was lucky

[Pentavirate]

You're right. There are varying statistics on the page but I was taking the "worst case" one near the bottom from Discover magazine (partly because I was too lazy to do the math with the other numbers):

Each year 3,600 to 4,200 children are abducted by someone outside the family; 1/2 of them are age 12 or older; 2/3 are female; at least 19% of these abductors are not strangers to their victims-Finklehor, p. 10. *The chance of a minor being kidnapped by a stranger is 1 in 560, by a family member 1 in 180. - Discover Magazine as reported by Gannett News Service 5/28/96.

This stat uses the non-family but not necessarily stranger-only stats. It's an even lower chance if you're only using the numbers where the kidnapping is completely random.

I'm not sure why presumably reliable sources would have such varying statistics.

Re:My generation was lucky

[Pentavirate]

I know they are somewhat conflicting numbers but they both seem to come from presumably reliable sources. I simply used the one where I wouldn't have to do the extra math and go looking for the us child population number statistics. Either way, it is not on par with a lightning strike and dying in a car accident is much more likely so it has no bearing on the original point.

Re:My generation was lucky

[Anonymous Coward]

4. ???
5. Profit!

Re:My generation was lucky

[Skrynesaver]

You mean Great Britain already faced terrorists and it ended without having to sign away all our rights a mandatory 28 day lock-up when your reach 18?

Yup, not only that but when they tried detention without trial (internment) it increased the ranks of the terrorists as those wrongly detained and their families felt the state was at war with them.

When they got around to talking about the grievances and addressing peoples concerns peaceful settlement became possible. It would appear that short of genocide you can't oppress a population indefinitely.

Re:My generation was lucky

[Ironica]

I know they are somewhat conflicting numbers but they both seem to come from presumably reliable sources.

They do... but the fact that they are orders of magnitude apart shows that either (a) the sources are not as reliable as they might seem, or (b) it is extremely difficult to derive accurate statistics about this subject. How do we know, if the best numbers we have available are a range x to 1.167x, and a fixed value that is 3.33x, that the true number isn't actually x/2, or x/10, or x*10?

You're probably right that the risk of being struck by lightning is lower... but when you get down to tenths of a percent, it's hard to tell the difference between the relative risks, is I think the issue.

But the comparison may help us in another way: even if your chance of being struck by lightning was 1 in 560, I don't think there would be the level of massive media exposure for the risks of lightning, legislation instituted to protect people from lightning, etc. Kidnapping is a very emotional subject, and that emotion magnifies the true risk... while often masking other, more prevalent, risks to children.

Re:My generation was lucky

[Anonymous Coward]

"but 1 in 560 is more like .17%"

you missed a few zero's...1 in 560 is more like 0.0018%

Re:My generation was lucky

[Anonymous Coward]

You fail at math. 1/560*100 = 0.1786.

Re:My generation was lucky

[mollymoo]

Yup, the only thing that brought peace in Northern Ireland was doing exactly what governments everywhere say they will never, ever do - negotiating with the terrorists.

Re:My generation was lucky

[RedWizzard]

Now, if you take that 12,000 number, multiply it by 18 (years of childhood), and then take that result (216,000) and determine the percentage that represents of the child population in the US (82,457,018...), you get about a .26% chance of being kidnapped by a stranger.

You can't do it that way though. Over 18 years 216k children will be abducted by non-family members, sure, but the number of children in the US over 18 years is not 82M. You need to compare it to the total number of people who were children during that 18 year period. An estimate would be to use the population that is younger than 36.

Re:My generation was lucky

[RedWizzard]

Or,about 1 in 15000 chance of being abducted by a stranger. Even if you go non-family only, it's only about 1 per 10000... Where did you get 1 in 560?? Granted, it's nowhere near the remoteness of a lightning strike, but the odds of an abduction by a non-family member are remote at best.

That 1 in 15000 chance is the chance per year. I think the 1 in 560 number is the chance over someone's entire childhood. We can approximate the total chance of abduction as 18/15000, i.e. 1 in 833, which is not too dissimilar.

But the lightning strike chance is annual as well so you are right to compare the 1 in 15000 chance of abduction with the 1 in 280,000 chance of lightning strike.

Prior Art

[Detaer]

There are many applications that do this for people already. I would rather go out of my way to turn this functionality on, rather than go out of my way to turn it off.

Re:Prior Art

[dino2gnt]

Good thing that Latitude is entirely opt-in and not opt-out.

Re:Prior Art

[MozeeToby]

1) Where does it say that this is in any way, an opt out feature?
2) What does Prior Art have to do with anything? The article isn't 'Google patents putting dots on map' its 'Google is implementing such and such a feature'.

Re:Prior Art

[kannibal_klown]

As an opt-in feature by all parties, it has its uses so long as you don't mind the loss of privacy among your friends (and only them).

Maybe I want to hang out with some pals, perhaps to go bowling or see a film in a couple of hours.

I hop on and see which of my friends are home or at least in the general area before calling; if it looks like someone's too far to make it (like the next state over) then they're obviously not worth calling.

Then again, even with opt-in there are a lot of negatives; almost too many to count. It gets a little creepy that I can just decide to find you while you're shopping or know where you are at varying points of the day. Hmm it looks like Bob's at one of THOSE bars, I wonder what he's not telling us.

Re:Prior Art

[Anonymous Coward]

But what if you told your wife you'd be hanging out in the Eastern Hemisphere and she sees your longitude line all the way over in the Western Hemisphere. I'd prefer them both to be opt-in.

D:

Re:Prior Art

[Anonymous Coward]

Most people consider installing the software to report your location to be an opt-in. I suppose you might have just wanted it with you. Just in case.

(obDisclosure: I'm a Google employee. The snarky tone isn't their fault.)

Friends

[tsa]

With friends like that, who needs enemies?

But does it run...

[Anonymous Coward]

on Android?

Not yet!

  Google Latitude is available on the following mobile devices wherever Google Maps for mobile v3.0 and above is supported:

- Android-powered devices with Maps v3.0 and above. G1 users in the US will be receiving Maps v3.0 in a system update soon.
- Most color BlackBerry devices
- Most Windows Mobile 5.0 and above devices. Note: Some Windows Mobile devices don't support cell-ID location detection.
- Most Symbian S60 devices

Coming soon!
- iPhone and iPod touch devices with the Google Mobile App (in the US)
- Many Sony Ericsson devices

Note: Some older versions of these devices cannot support Google Maps for mobile version 3.0 and above and will receive the most recent compatible version without Google Latitude.

http://www.google.com/support/mobile/bin/answer.py?answer=136640

Re:But does it run...

[darrylo]

Meh. The iPhone, as well as the G1, Blackberry, and some other non-smartphones, already has a free app that does this, and more. Check out loopt.

Everything is opt-in, and only those people who have your permission can see your location using loopt. Loopt also has optional links to twitter and facebook. Google Latitude has what? The bar is already pretty high, and any Google smartphone app is going to need some really killer features/interfaces if they expect this to succeed.

Turn off your phone...

[Neanderthal Ninny]

If you really are paranoid then turn off you phone so no one can track you.
Boy, from the current responses you should be on "Cheaters" TV show. Also this will put the private investigators of this show out of business since you in theory can track anyone you want without the trailing them and the fancy gear they have.
But you can turn off the tracking feature on all phones except for E911, in which that case you really wanted to be found if you call 911.

Re:Turn off your phone...

[Constantine XVI]

No, if you're really paranoid you DON'T CARRY A CELL PHONE IN THE FIRST PLACE. Think about it: if you don't have a phone, you can't be tracked through it, period.

Re:Turn off your phone...

[mcgrew]

If you really are paranoid then turn off you phone so no one can track you.

Not good enough, you have to remove the battery on many phones.

Also this will put the private investigators of this show out of business since you in theory can track anyone you want without the trailing them and the fancy gear they have

I doubt it will put any PIs in Illinois out of business, as there is no legal sanction against adultery here. Adultery is grounds for divorce, but according to my divorce lawyer you pretty much have to have photos of your wife fucking the guy, and even then there's no penalty to her - she still (usually) gets the kids, part of your pension, and child support.

In Illinois it's legal to fuck your congressman's wife, but it's not legal to attempt to pay her for it.

Re:Turn off your phone...

[citylivin]

"If you really are paranoid then turn off you phone so no one can track you.

Not good enough, you have to remove the battery on many phones."

I've heard that rumor before, even on slashdot, but I have yet to see compelling evidence that my phone is a sleeper cell in my pocket. Can you provide any evidence that this is going on? Im sure someone could very easily measure the radio output of a deactivated phone with the right equipment. But i guess that doesnt take into effect the super secret WOL service that the government has right? /sarcasm

Re:Turn off your phone...

[Have Brain Will Rent]

PLUS with no cell phone people can't call and bug you all the time!

Re:Turn off your phone...

[nitehawk214]

>my phone is a sleeper cell

I see what you did there.

Re:Turn off your phone...

[Anonymous Coward]

But what if your wife was caught with a bag of cocaine and
the bag had her fingerprints on it ?

Wouldn't that change the situation a bit ?

Don't get mad, get Glad.

Re:Turn off your phone...

[Anonymous Coward]

No, if you're really paranoid you DON'T CARRY A CELL PHONE IN THE FIRST PLACE. Think about it: if you don't have a phone, you can't be tracked through it, period.

And if you're a paranoid asshole like that, nobody will want to talk to you anyway.

Re:Turn off your phone...

[MaXiMiUS]

There are.. other.. ways.

Re:Turn off your phone...

[Anonymous Coward]

Or turn the damn thing OFF! Take the battery out!

Foe Tracking

[Rob Riggs]

Who needs friend tracking? What we need is Foe Tracking (tm).

Re:Foe Tracking

[JCSoRocks]

As seen on scrubs when the janitor eats the homing beacon.

Re:Foe Tracking

[drinkypoo]

What we need is Foe Tracking (tm).

Try here.

Re:Foe Tracking

[Anonymous Coward]

At first, I thought that said homing bacon and thought that Scrubs had invented the greatest food-related tracking technology EVER.

They claim you can lie

[professorguy]

Google claims that the tracking client has the ability to lie--that is, report your location as an address you type in. Problem is, if your boss is tracking you to an address, he'll know you're lying because you instantly appear at the destination.

.

So the first thing we need is a google application that can update this "lie" info in real time. I want to type in a start address, an end address and have it automatically update the lie with intermediate locations that correspond to a realistic speed. Then even if your boss is watching you, it'll look like you are following instructions (even though you are at the bar).

That way, when it is inevitably used by assholes, we can salute and chime "Sure thing, boss!" then ignore him with impunity.

Re:They claim you can lie

[Anonymous Coward]

Seems that one could easily write a script to do just this for you.

Re:They claim you can lie

[Anonymous Coward]

How about you just do your job?

Re:They claim you can lie

[Anonymous Coward]

If my boss wanted to use a GPS tracking device at a, he could see the path I make while I'm resigning.

Re:They claim you can lie

[wITTus]

How about you just do your job?

It's not about that we'll do it, it's about the fact that we'd like to be able to do it.

Re:They claim you can lie

[hesaigo999ca]

I wonder if that same script would come in handy, while your wife is leaving the shopping center, and arriving at my house, and stays over for about 2 hours, I could have her tracker going in circles around the parking lot making it look like she is really looking for parking, and then back home.

Yeah, please, when you are finished writing this script, mind sending it to me?

Can't copywrite OR copyright a location, but...

[tepples]

Can I have my location copywritten? I want NO ONE to have access or the right to use my location in any manner without my explicit approval. Feds and local law enforcement included.

"Copywritten" is the past participle of "copywrite", a verb meaning to compose text for an advertisement. This has nothing to do with "copyright", a verb meaning to secure exclusive rights in a work of authorship. Besides, your location isn't a work of authorship, so you can't copyright it either.

That said, local privacy law may give you some rights to exclude use of your location. Case law in the United States, for one, recognizes privacy rights based on the Fourth and Fifth Amendments. But still, based only on the text of the article, I would guess that the subject (or possibly the minor subject's parent) has to opt in before the subject gets tracked: "Google is doing its best to avoid a backlash by requiring each user to manually turn on the tracking software and making it easy to turn off or limit access to the service."

Re:Can't copywrite OR copyright a location, but...

[electrons_are_brave]

What is the past tense of "copyright"? Copyrighted? Or is there no past tense? (The Australian Concise Oxford - the only dictionary I have handy - doesn't have the answer).

No Current Plans to Advertise...

[Dekortage]

FTA:

There are no current plans to sell any advertising alongside Google's tracking service, although analysts believe knowing a person's location eventually will unleash new marketing opportunities.

C'mon, Google income is totally based on advertising. You know they're going to use the info somehow. Maybe they won't advertise alongside the tracking service, but their other services may offer more intelligent ad targeting based on your location.

Re:No Current Plans to Advertise...

[Anonymous Coward]

but their other services may offer more intelligent ad targeting based on your location.

Which, I for one, would very much appreciate.

Re:No Current Plans to Advertise...

[tcr]

It's intersting... they could well advertise alongside.
 
Some analysts are predicting that we may end up with two-tier mobile services. The service might be free or heavily subsidised if you go for the ad-enabled plan, or pay a normal subscription for the ad-free service.

Already exists

[v0x31]

This already exists so you can track your friends etc -> http://www.mindfeed.co.uk/

not good for tracking

[patmfitz]

According to http://google.com/latitude, you can spoof your own location by setting it manually, so I don't see how this can be used for tracking someone who didn't want to be busted.

Re:not good for tracking

[nitehawk214]

Oddly enough, in the first demo picture, the cute girl on the left is pointing curiously close to the location of my favorite bar.

Hmm... I should head over there now. :)

J.K.Rowling thought of this first

[michelcolman]

Definitely prior art! And I like her design better, with the arrows and dial, I wonder how long it will take before someone makes a fully functioning copy of that.

Re:J.K.Rowling thought of this first

[BeerCat]

Definitely prior art! And I like her design better, with the arrows and dial, I wonder how long it will take before someone makes a fully functioning copy of that.

I'd get worried if it could tell me when I'm in Mortal Peril

Re:I don't think it means what they think it means

[Anonymous Coward]

Since using GPS in this way can be a contentious issue, Google have given Latitude users the ability to restrict location information on a contact-by-contact basis; alternatively it will let you enter a false position manually

--AndroidCommunity

I wonder what they mean by "false position" exactly.. hmm.

Re:I don't think it means what they think it means

[sexconker]

Current location:
Your mom.

Re:I don't think it means what they think it means

[Haoie]

Good for all you stalkers [and part time stalkers] out there too. Woot.

Google sucks

[Murpster]

This company is beginning to honestly frighten me. I was a fan when they were an up & coming search engine, but I started to get concerned about the near monopoly they're getting in search... and the tentacles are spreading. Gmail, Google Maps, AdSense, Android, Analytics... now this crap? I think it's time for me to begin using alternatives.

Re:Google sucks

[ivoras]

One good think about Google is that it is not a monopoly. Though it has a bunch of cool gadgets, in no way is their usage required for anything at all. They remain just optional gadgets.

Re:Google sucks

[DigitAl56K]

I'm not usually one to be indifferent when it comes to privacy issues, but what's scary about a system that you have to enable yourself in the first place?

Don't want the Government knowing where you are at all times? Too bad, you're already screwed. We don't know that they have pipes directly into the Google infrastructure but what we do know at this point is that they certainly have direct access to the infrastructure of AT&T and others so they can surely pinpoint you as well as Google Maps for Mobile does with the GPS disabled, if not significantly better since they could have signal information from multiple towers.

The only really bad thing about this is that if anyone does gain access to Google's infrastructure/data (e.g. via hacks or subpoena) and you do have various features of Google's software then they could in theory grab a lot more information about you at once than they could if you used similar software from many smaller companies. One would hope that Google, being the size that it is and having dealt with various attempted data-grabs already, at least has some legal and technical countermeasures in place against such things.

Re:Google sucks

[justinlee37]

Why? Because they have been engaging in monopolistic price-setting or somehow taking advantage of you with their market position, right? Oh, wait ...

Re:Google sucks

[Atario]

Yeah, too bad they hold a gun to your head and make you use this, huh?

Re:Google sucks

[Anonymous Coward]

I already block AdSense, Analytics, and all the other crap that comes across in my Firefox browser. Yeah, so a couple of pages don't look right because of it. I just don't go to those pages any more! Problem solved! Sorry, Google. Actually... I'm not sorry. I don't like your "Big Brother" attitude of tracking everything on the 'net. And I'll continue to block your analytics sites and all the others out there!

G1! No!

[Aladrin]

I find it odd that it'll work on Blackberries and other phones, but not the G1 phones yet. Must have been something that's been in the works for a while and they haven't had time to rework it for the G1.

The G1 actually already has an app (on the market, Locales I think it is) that will watch your location and enable and disable features on the phone. I use it to set my phone on vibrate at work automatically, and turn it back on afterwards. It turns my Wifi on at home and off everywhere else.

It shouldn't be too hard to make another app that replicates the 'friend gps tracking' functionality on the G1. And if you lose your phone, you know where it was last time it was on. :D

One more thing to subpoena...

[htmlapps]

...as I'm sure the T&C's state.

Re:One more thing to subpoena...

[Murpster]

Oh I don't fear the government taking advantage of this, they can already find your location via cellphone if they want. What scares me about this is the abuse potential by employers, or people turning it on for family/lovers without them knowing it ("I think Bobby is cheating on me, he's in the shower, this is my chance to turn on Latitude!"). Most insidious though is that this could make surveillance seem "fun" and by getting people used to the idea it could open the door to all kinds of stupidity.

Re:One more thing to subpoena...

[YttriumOxide]

As a trained and qualified Private Investigator (in a country/state that requires licensing for PIs), I can definitively say that 99% of surveillance is incredibly dull. The remaining 1% more than makes up for it though and is amazingly fun way to earn a whole crapload of cash.

On that note though, I don't actually do it as my day job any more - I prefer being a software developer (the pay isn't as good, but it's more regular, and I don't have to deal with emotional people as often). I might go back to it one day if I get sick of staring at code all the time.

Re:One more thing to subpoena...

[Reservoir Penguin]

If you are not cheating on your wife/gf you have nothing to worry about.

Re:I don't think it means what they think it means

[ArcherB]

Current location:
Your mom.

Yep! Google confirms it. Since my mother is 60, I appreciate you paying attention to her. And even though she considers you to be only a small appetizer, you do keep her from calling me for about 3 minutes.

Ah Finally

[Anonymous Coward]

now to secretly get this on my boss's cell phone so I can look like I'm working when he comes by.

Can turn off

[PadRacerExtreme]

According to the story at CBS News the person can turn it off on their phone at will. The video shows a test with a family. The reporter says the kid can disable it when ever they want and the parents say don't tell the kids that!
Some interesting results, one try showed the dad in the middle of the river!

Thank God They Didn't Have This Way Back When

[aquatone282]

I doubt my parents would have been happy to discover I was in the Downtowner buying cigarettes instead of third period social studies. . .

HELIO!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

Helio is already doing this and has been for 2 years now. Its called the Buddy Beacon and its not new.

APRS

[autocracy]

It saddens me that none of you have mentioned APRS. It's a long-standing and open protocol for doing positions reporting.

Slashdot needs more HAMs. ~KB1PNB

Re:APRS

[Anonymous Coward]

I was thinking the same thing but lets face it, APRS is obsolete. Why use APRS when you have a full blown high-speed Internet connection supported by expensive radio towers, WiFi, etc. with huge coverage. Packet radio is friggin slow and the coverage sucks. Plus with the commercial restrictions you can't use it to do cool things like track your pizza as it's being delivered and stuff.

Re:APRS

[swb311]

I would mod you up if I had points.

-oo o

-o- -oo ooooo o-o o--- --oo

Re:APRS

[vlm]

I used APRS but stopped since so few people I knew were using it.
I was only the third person in SE Wisconsin.
And the punchline is that was in 1992, only 17 short years ago.

Google is using their elite area 51 UFO technology to build a time machine?

A year ago I tried APRS again and was fairly shocked at seeing at least a hundred folks on in my area...

de N9NFB

Re:APRS

[n6kuy]

Packet radio completely dead where I live.

Re:APRS

[Nethead]

Here in the Puget Sound area the digipeaters are so busy that APRS gets hard to use. Now our club is putting up a D-Star system.

fb om 73 de w7com k (and those kids think they invented txtspeak!)

Re:APRS

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm looking to pickup a Kenwood TM-700A for APRS.

--KJ4CTS

Re:APRS

[Nethead]

Scott:

I use to have one.. a fun little rig.

-Joe

Re:APRS

[x102output]

I was thinking the same thing but lets face it, APRS is obsolete. Why use APRS when you have a full blown high-speed Internet connection supported by expensive radio towers, WiFi, etc. with huge coverage. Packet radio is friggin slow and the coverage sucks. Plus with the commercial restrictions you can't use it to do cool things like track your pizza as it's being delivered and stuff.

Because APRS doesn't need towers. With a mobile rig you can reach up to hamsats (I believe the ISS runs an APRS repeater as well)

Re:APRS

[TooMuchToDo]

APRS requires a ham radio license. Mobile apps only require mobile service. Lower barrier to entry.

Re:APRS

[TooMuchToDo]

APRS requires a ham radio license. Mobile apps only require mobile service. Lower barrier to entry.

Already done

[DissociativeBehavior]

This website can track the location of any cell phone. http://www.themobiletracker.com/

Re:Already done

[n6kuy]

I'm SHOCKED to see where my wife is!

Re:Already done

[holmstar]

Thanks for the do not view at work warning, you jackass.

Re:I don't think it means what they think it means

[thePowerOfGrayskull]

This would be good for girlfriends wanting to know where their boyfriends are or for parents wanting to know where their children are at all times.

Because we ALL know there are no obsessive, jealous, and insecure males of the species, right?

I Swear That I Was Out Bowling

[walkerp1]

So, I wonder if I'll be able to do a WGet --post-data on this to let the wife know that I'm "really" at the bowling alley after all.

NSA

[jgtg32a]

Google is just an NSA front

Don't be evil

Sounds Great For Attention Whores

[piltdownman84]

There is alot of people who will just love this. We all know the type. They are the same type who change their facebook status 50 times a day, and twitter about every stupid thing they do. The ones that think everyone cares they are catching a bus to the grocery store, or getting off said bus, or debating what type of juice to buy at grocery store, or almost done shopping at grocery store or ... no I still don't fucking care.

Alot of people don't want privacy, they want the opposite, and they will love this.

Re:Sounds Great For Attention Whores

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't know, I can think of some situations where this might be handy.. Say you are a group of 2 or more vacationers traveling in an unfamiliar town, all doing your own thing.. and one of you calls the other(s) to meet up at some location that might be interesting.. with the gps locator it would be a little easier for the others to find them.. and then throw in something like being in a town where the language is foreign to you, and it's even more handy.

Re:Sounds Great For Attention Whores

[sessamoid]

Also would be useful for two people trying to find each other in a large crowd or event (outdoor concerts, markets, sporting events, etc.)

Re:Sounds Great For Attention Whores

[GrumblyStuff]

You got a problem with twitter shitters, bub?

(Requisite link.)

Re:Sounds Great For Attention Whores

[tcr]

I guess so if the cellphones in question have GPS activated...
 
The tower triangulation fix (coarse location on my G1) might be too inaccurate to locate a person in a crowd.

Re:Sounds Great For Attention Whores

[meringuoid]

Say you are a group of 2 or more vacationers traveling in an unfamiliar town, all doing your own thing.. and one of you calls the other(s) to meet up at some location that might be interesting.. with the gps locator it would be a little easier for the others to find them.

I was in Venice last spring with family, and we had just that problem. The place is a maze of twisty little passages, all different. I sent a text message 'I'm in a pub called The Devil's Forest, sort of straight on from the Rialto and a bit to the right'. It's hard to imagine a less useful set of directions. They found me, I still don't know how. GPS would have helped a whole lot in that place... although I suspect Venice would be a lot less fun with a map :-)

I'd actually quite like to be able to fire up Facebook mobile and see, for instance, which friends are in pubs nearby right now. I imagine most users have people on there that they haven't seen in years; being able to facilitate apparently coincidental meetups years later would greatly improve Facebook's utility as a social facilitator, and might well help reduce the shortage of births in highly developed societies. Of course the privacy implications are appalling, but this is a generation that will give away such information freely; welcome to the post-privacy world.

Locatik.com does this right now

[kurt555gs]

http://www.locatik.com/ will do this right now. It uses either cell tower triangulation or a GPS if your phone has one, and places it on a Google Map.

The Classics

[airos4]

"You are standing in an open field west of a white house, with a boarded front door. There is a mailbox here."

Re:The Classics

[Lurkingrue]

"You are standing in an open field west of a white house, with a boarded front door. There is a mailbox here."

You are likely to be eaten... by me?

Re:The Classics

[Anonymous Coward]

"You are standing in an open field west of a white house, with a boarded front door. There is a mailbox here."

How do ye know that?
Ye be Googling me?

Re:The Classics

[Anonymous Coward]

A) "Open the mailbox"
B) "Destroy the mailbox"
C) "Ignore the mailbox"

Re:The Classics

[Anonymous Coward]

Hello Sailor

Or stopped being lovers ...

[Ungrounded Lightning]

The women who know where their men are are called widows.

Or stopped being lovers when they became wives.

Sweet!

[malkir]

Now if I ever wanted to pretend to be weird creeper, I just buy per-minute cell phone for a few dollars..duct-tape it under a car, and I can now STALK people via internet! Sounds safe

Six degrees of separation game

[Anonymous Coward]

"if you were tracking your best friend" ... and in time, if most people tracked their best friends (and family), then Google would literally have the power of Big Brother to monitor the movements of almost everyone. Sounds exactly like they want to play the six degrees of separation game.

This also sounds like a dream come true for the world's governments (who do get data from Google). (Plus even if it just grew over a few years until it was say 10% of the population they tracked, there is huge statistical value in approximating the movements of that many people).

But anyone signing up to this or signing up their friends better be careful they don't visit any part of a city while a government protest is going on (or even visit the home of someone who was at a government protest, or even visit someone who was friends with someone who was at a protest).

People in power get into power because they seek power over others and they are constantly seeking ways to gain power and influence over others. (Their greatest fear is the loss of power and they spend sometimes decades learning how to gain power and influence over others). The simply act of seeking power over someone else is to seek to dictate terms to that person. That is why democracy is constantly undermined and why democracy has to be defended by each generation. Just because we have democracy now doesn't mean we keep democracy as there are people who seek to undermine it for their own gain. Ironically it is the very nature of seeking power over others that undermines democracy. So they end up distorting the society they control out of all proportion until their minority in power can control, manipulate and dictate whatever they want for their own gain.

People in power don't care about individuals but they do care about controlling and manipulating groups of people (as groups of people can stand against governments points of view). But before they can manipulate and influence a group, they need to profile everyone into groups, to then know how and where best to apply their influence. Ultimately they wish to play a divide and conquer game to undermine any group which can stand in the way of their goals. So they end up continuing to bias laws and controls in their favor, until the society they control is a nightmare vision for the majority of people in their control.

Knowledge is power and this new move by Google is a level of power way beyond the capabilities of any government in history. If the majority of people fail to learn from the mistakes of the past, we are all doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past. Knowledge is power and people who seek power see a book like 1984 as something that is good, as they are the ones who seek to control and use that level of power over others for their own gain. The people who seek such power never see their own actions as wrong, as they are too busy seeking power over others and ignoring anyone who suggests they cannot have ever more power.

We all need to stand up and speak out against moves like this before the level of control is so great that no one can speak out, for fear of what the people in power will be able to do to anyone standing up and speaking out. Democracy has to be defended by each generation and the more this level of power grows, the more we are all going to be forced by their actions to stand up and speak out against the ones who seek such power over everyone.

Re:Six degrees of separation game

[bFusion]

You do realize you have to opt into this right? It's not like they're gonna hax your phone and suddenly everyone knows where you are (though many tinfoil hat people already believe that.) Besides, I've been rooting for Google to take over the world for years now. I know it's just a matter of time.

Re:Six degrees of separation game

[tendrousbeastie]

Doesn't matter.

Oppression through overt force is very second millenium. Nowadays it is done by convincing the people that your evil scheme is something they really want and strive for, even choose to pay for.

Opt in is no defence in the face of socialogical statistical manipulation.

Following the chap above's reference to 1984 - the central theme of the book wasn't simply that there was a totalitarian state, but rather that such a state existed and it had managed to make the population believe in and love it.

However (to calm things down a second) it could just be that Google can see the increase hits inherent in this plan, and therefore the increased ad revenue.

Re:Six degrees of separation game

[FatdogHaiku]

...it could just be that Google can see the increase hits inherent in this plan, and therefore the increased ad revenue.

And if they happen to deliver an ad (for 50 cents off, mayhap) to you for the doughnut shop you are walking past, well that's just frosting (or glaze... or SPRINKLES, ahhhhh) on the cake of life.

Really, if some ominous "they" want to track you then "they" already know your banking info and attendant RFID signatures, vehicle profile and numbers, list of known or possible associates, etc..

If you were THAT big a question mark to "them", "they" would already be at your d

Re:Six degrees of separation game

[TFloore]

Really, if some ominous "they" want to track you then "they" already know your banking info and attendant RFID signatures, vehicle profile and numbers, list of known or possible associates, etc..

This is true, but there are other issues to consider with this.

For example, one of the things that is legal in the United States is for the police to follow you around throughout your day, seeing where you go, who you talk to, when you scratch your butt walking down the street. There's plkenty of case law supporting the idea that as long as you are in public areas, the police can follow you as much as they want, given their resource limitations.

That last limitation is VERY important, especially in a mostly free society like the United States or other free democracies/republics/whatever.

The police should have the power (with reasonable oversight) to do what they need to do to enforce good laws. I'll define "good laws" in the US context as "constitutional". One of the ways they do this is following "people of interest" around.

This is a VERY different thing from the police putting a GPS transponder on every car in America, and looking through their logs for nearby vehicles when a convenience store gets robbed. It is also different form the police logging your location information from cell tower triangulation (or cellphone GPS) and, again, looking through their logs to find all the people near a crime scene when it occurred.

The first starts with suspicion. They must already have a reason to be interested in you, because assigning a police officer, or more likely several of them, is a very resource-intensive operation. They don't do it a lot because there are only so many cops. This is, societally, on purpose. We limit police power by making it hard and expensive for the police to poke their nose into your business.

GPS logging into a database, and then a simple database query for "every person near YYY at time ZZZ" is cheap. It is too easy for the police to poke their nose into the business of the generally law-abiding public.

It isn't that the technology is easy or hard. It isn't really that is it cheap or expensive in dollars to acquire the capability initially. It is that it is cheap to operate all the time, and makes it too easy and cheap for the police to poke their noses into private citizens' business with little reason, justification, or oversight. That's a good way to get bad police.

Don't design systems that make it easy to get bad police. It is too dangerous to our society.

Re:Six degrees of separation game

[Anonymous Coward]

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b331/neoengel/dog-whargarbl.jpg

Re:Six degrees of separation game

[Cillian]

Christ, if the government want to track your phone, I think the technology is already in place to do so. And we've seen that the govenernments don't have trouble getting their hands on this sort of information (Think wiretaps, etc.). Somehow, I can't see google doing this making the slightest difference. (If you want to start worrying about them selling your position for advertising or something, then fair enough, but to be honest, I really wouldn't give a damn about that, either. I don't find anything remotely scarey about customised minority report style ads. I might not want my friends/family knowing where I am every second of the day, but I'm really not too bothered about some giant faceless corporation.) If you want something 1984 to worry about, I'd worry about all the new laws in the name of terrorism / national security. Not about google trying to sell you coke cola

Re:Six degrees of separation game

[Cillian]

It's an odd territory to get into. If nearly everybody likes the way things are, what's wrong? It seems slightly counterintuitive to try and take down a system that everybody likes in the name of truth. Rather like the matrix, infact. At first glance it seems "wrong" to enslave humans in this way, but thinking logically, surely most humans unaware of the system are happier than if they had to live in the ruins outside. Well, that's my armchair philosophy, anyway.

Re:Six degrees of separation game

[Cillian]

Using the whole "You were near a crime" argument against tracking is just stupid. If you want to argue against "guilty until proven innocent" or miscarriages of justice, do so, but the fact that tracking could possibly be an accessory to this is meaningless. In a similar way, tracking could save your arse by proving you weren't in the area if some other shakey evidence linked you to the crime. If you're worried about an evil state/government, fair enough, but tracking / databases do not imply this. An evil government is bad with/without tracking and things, a good government is good with/without tracking and things. I think a large problem is the amount of media with large knowledgeable governments who turn bad. This leads most people to assume that the two are linked. This isn't logical, and is plain bollocks. If the government want to shaft you, they will, if you're worried about that, do something about it instead of whining about cameras.

Re:Six degrees of separation game

[Anonymous Coward]

...it could just be that Google can see the increase hits inherent in this plan, and therefore the increased ad revenue.

And if they happen to deliver an ad (for 50 cents off, mayhap) to you for the doughnut shop you are walking past, well that's just frosting (or glaze... or SPRINKLES, ahhhhh) on the cake of life.

Really, if some ominous "they" want to track you then "they" already know your banking info and attendant RFID signatures, vehicle profile and numbers, list of known or possible associates, etc..

If you were THAT big a question mark to "them", "they" would already be at your d

I always appreciate the thoroughness of the American Black SUV Services - they're always thoughtful enough to enter the mnemonic and click Subm

Every high school student's nightmare. . .

[Slicebo]

It won't take long for kids to find a safe spot at the public library to hide their phone for a few hours after school.

My suggestion: Stash it behind "Selections from the Speeches and Writings of Edmund Burke" (Dewey Decimal number: 920)

Faux News?

[Anonymous Coward]

Has this been confirmed by a real news source? In other words, has Netcraft confirmed that this is alive?

Re:I don't think it means what they think it means

[geniuswalks]

How the article reads:

This would be good for people wanting to let their friends know where they are or for parents wanting to know where their children are at all times.

What it really means: This would be good for girlfriends wanting to know where their boyfriends are or for parents wanting to know where their children are at all times.

or the government getting us to take our own freedom...lol.

Re:I don't think it means what they think it means

[mcgrew]

Geezers are worried about this, but they shouldn't, because Friday Google unveils its newest app "gLuddite(beta)"

Re:G1! No!

[Anonymous Coward]

It is supposedly built into the update that is currently being sent out. http://forums.t-mobile.com/tmbl/board/message?board.id=87&thread.id=30897

Re:G1! No!

[Anonymous Coward]

From http://www.google.com/latitude/intro.html :

"Will it work with my phone?
Google Latitude is a feature of Google Maps for mobile on these phones:
Android-powered devices, such as the T-Mobile G1
iPhone and iPod touch devices (coming soon)
most color BlackBerry devices
most Windows Mobile 5.0+ devices
most Symbian S60 devices (Nokia smartphones)
many Java-enabled (J2ME) mobile phones, such as Sony Ericsson devices (coming soon)"

What could possibly go wrong?

[kheldan]

In my opinion you're insane if you allow anybody to track you. It ***WILL*** get abused by somebody.

I have had this for 8 months now

[Anonymous Coward]

I wrote a script for my iphone that achieved the same result. Some scripting + PHP + a Google Maps page on my website = real time, constant tracker that usually pinpoints me to within 50m or so. My friends and family like it.

and it turns on the microphone, why?

[Anonymous Coward]

For me, this new version switches the recording mixer input from from 'stereo mixer' to 'microphone' when it starts up. I switch it back, and google earth switches it back to microphone.

Why? They wanna listen in? ;)

Copyrighted

[tepples]

What is the past tense of "copyright"? Copyrighted?

Correct. Read nearly any section of the U.S. copyright law (Title 17, United States Code), and you'll see numerous mentions of "a copyrighted work". But this past participle might differ in the Commonwealth, as Australian Copyright Council uses "copyright works". And if you wonder about the past tense of the verb meaning to authorize distribution of a copyrighted work under a reciprocal Free license, FSF spells it "copylefted".

Re:Copyrighted

[electrons_are_brave]

Thanks.

Hacker's Paradise

[Parrot Mac]

Just waiting for it to get hacked.

Oh man!

[calmofthestorm]

I can't wait for my first girlfriend! I'll get her one! It'll be SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO romantic! I'll be able to trust her because I'll know where she is at all times and we can be together forever!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Obligatory.......

[vampire_baozi]

The Googling, it has begun!

Re:I don't think it means what they think it means

[wITTus]

What it really means: This would be good for girlfriends wanting to know where their boyfriends are [..]

Hehe nice! But this would also give me the perfect excuse. I would reverse engineer my GPS device and let it send bogus data!

Fine, then please check Google Maps if you don't believe me!

Re:G1! No!

[sandawgscorch]

its actually coming to the G1 via TMo's RC33 OTA update ---- see here... http://androidcentral.com/google-latitude-included-android-update/

Dangerous Road

[Anonymous Coward]

GPS tracking should scare the shit out of people. I don't think many people see just how easy it will be for governments to grant themselves access to this information. All it will take is a single incident for the courts to decide that it is acceptable to subpoena these companies to find out who was within X meters/miles of X/Y coordinates at Z time.

Make sure you never walk within 1000 meters of any crime, for you may wind up becoming a prime suspect for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. A single incident is all it will take to open these flood gates. Most likely a "think of the children/what do you have to hide" when a child goes missing or somesuch.

Really, GPS may have some cool possibilities, but you're fooling yourself if you think using any GPS tracking service is not going to be subjected to the possibility of all your tracking data being handed over to the authorities whenever it is deemed necessary to solve a crime/prevent terrorism, etc.

But of course, giving up privacy for "national security" is worth it, right?

Re:I don't think it means what they think it means

[cerberusss]

Because we ALL know there are no obsessive, jealous, and insecure males of the species, right?

Damnit John, why do I catch you logging into this stupid website everytime? Since I said 'I do' you've paid more attention to your PC than to me and I'm sick and tired of it.

You get your ass here RIGHT NOW and start mowing the lawn. And maybe -MAYBE- you won't have to sleep on the couch tonight.

Re:So, kind of like Britekite/This is GOOGLE!

[Anonymous Coward]

I see the Google Knockers are out in fArce yet again
well leats it aint as wet as this lame duck collection of whiners about typical of Slapshop /.

Where's My Car ?

[Mr Europe]

This system could also enable car tracking without expensive contracts with a tele company.

Too much privacy

[Anonymous Coward]

When I saw this I was eager to get it installed. I was hoping for the following two things:

1. A way of using an API to publish my location in real time on my website.

2. A history of where I've been for my own personal use.

Sadly Google doesn't offer either of these things.

The old trick

[chord.wav]

The old "parents wanting to know where their children are" trick!

It wouldn't surprise me if media suddenly start to emphatize missing child cases...

What would you be teaching to your kid if you did that? Only that it is OK for an authority to know where they are/what they do, anytime... You'd be stripping away their right to privacy before they realize how important it is.
If I need to hear from him, I'll just call him.

Re:I don't think it means what they think it means

[thePowerOfGrayskull]

Aw, crap. Yes dear.

A perfect example

[professorguy]

I think you are trying to show that my script idea would be bad because it could be used against me. And then I couldn't rely on google maps to track my wife. However, if you think I believe having the ability to track my wife is a good thing (or, indeed, anybody being able to track anybody), you are wrong. In fact, wanting that ability is surely the sign of some mental defect.

Re:A perfect example

[hesaigo999ca]

To this I agree, the effort and time and even money (in a virtual sense of the word)
could be better used to make the garage a little more organized.

Easy workaround

[rhinokitty]

If you are paranoid, don't opt-in and switch to one of the unsupported phones.