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Google Maps To Add 'Friend' GPS Tracking

Posted by timothy on from the jealous-girlfriend dept.

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."

12 of 259 comments (clear)

  1. Re:So, kind of like Britekite? by scubamage · · Score: 3, Informative

    And Loopt.

  2. Re:Prior Art by dino2gnt · · Score: 4, Informative

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

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  3. Re:So, kind of like Britekite? by BlueOtto · · Score: 3, Informative

    And Mologogo.

  4. Re:Prior Art by MozeeToby · · Score: 2, Informative

    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'.

  5. Re:I'd like the opposite please by mcgrew · · Score: 2, Informative

    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.

    --
    Free Martian Whores!
  6. Re:My generation was lucky by Chabo · · Score: 4, Informative

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

    You're very right.

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    Convert FLACs to a portable format with FlacSquisher
  7. Re:I don't think it means what they think it means by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    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.

  8. APRS by autocracy · · Score: 3, Informative

    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

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  9. Re:Big brother knows where you are by Klaus_1250 · · Score: 2, Informative

    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.

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    It only takes one man to change the Wisdom of the Crowd to Tyranny of the Masses.
  10. Re:My generation was lucky by Pentavirate · · Score: 5, Informative

    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.

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  11. Re:My generation was lucky by clong83 · · Score: 5, Informative

    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.

  12. Re:Big brother knows where you are by BeerCat · · Score: 4, Informative

    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. "

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