Google Latitude for iPhone: Cool or Creepy?
Posted by admin in ipod news
pimg src=http://www.appleiphonereview.com/images/latitude.jpg alt=Google Latitude on iPhone align=right class=imgright //ppGoogle#8217;s new location-tracking service, Latitude, is now available on the a href=http://www.ipodworld.us title=iphoneiPhone/a. You can direct your a href=http://www.ipodworld.us title=iphoneiPhone/a to a href=http://google.com/latitude class=extlink rel=nofollowGoogle.com/Latitude/a and opt to share your location #8212; with all of your friends, or with select friends only./ppI can imagine a few ways Google Latitude could be useful:/pulliYou#8217;re at a music festival and you#8217;re trying to meet up with your friends. Instead of trying to talk over the music to tell them where to meet up, just share your location with them using Latitude./liliYou#8217;re traveling and you want to give your family members the peace of mind of knowing where you are, so you share your location with them./liliAs Google themselves noted, imagine you#8217;re playing tennis and you want to invite your friends. Simply share your location and include a status message inviting people to join you./liliParents can setup Latitude on their children#8217;s phones #8212; Latitude is also available on phones other than a href=http://www.ipodworld.us title=iphoneiPhone/a #8212; to keep track of where they are at certain times./liliOr, in an extreme situation, let#8217;s say you are kidnapped and the police are able to locate you because of Google Latitude./li/ulpNote that strangers can never track you using Latitude without your permission. Anyone who wants to track you needs to be approved by you first. /ppimg src=http://appleiphonereview.com/images/latitude-friend-request.jpg alt=Google Latitude Friend Request class=img //ppDespite the benefits, however, there are a number of scenarios where Latitude could be abused, some of which have prompted privacy groups to speak out against the Google service./pulliAnyone could covertly set up the service on someone#8217;s phone and track their every move. Once Latitude is active, Google does not remind you that the service is turned on.pPrivacy group a href=http://www.privacyinternational.org/article.shtml?cmd[347]=x-347-563567 class=extlink rel=nofollowPrivacy International/a explains how this could happen:/pblockquotedivWe have considered the following five scenarios:/pp * An employer provides staff with Latitude-enabled phones on which a reciprocal sharing agreement has been enabled, but does not inform staff of this action or that their movements will be tracked.br / * A parent gifts a a href=http://www.ipodworld.us title=mobilemobile/a phone to a child without disclosing that the phone has been Latitude-enabled.br / * A partner, friend or other person gains access to an unattended phone (left on a bar on in the house) and enables Latitude without the other person’s knowledge.br / * A Latitude-enabled phone is given as a gift.br / * A phone left unattended, for example with security personnel or a repair shop, is covertly enabled./ppOnce the phone has been enabled, the second party will be able to mask his phone’s presence, thus ensuring that the victim is unaware that her phone is being tracked./p/div/blockquote/liliYou could also set up Latitude on your own phone and forget that you have it turned on, unintentionally allowing your friends to track your location at all times./liliLaw enforcement could subpoena Google to find out where you are at any given moment. But Google says it only stores your most recent automatic update, so your history is not tracked./liliAlthough unlikely, a skilled hacker could crack the system and stalk you or learn your patterns so as to break in to your home at the perfect time./li/ulpIn the video below, Google shares some Latitude privacy tips for using the service safely and securely. /ppobject width=560 height=340param name=movie value=http://www.youtube.com/v/u9H4xaTspaQ#038;hl=en#038;fs=1#038;/paramparam name=allowFullScreen value=true/paramparam name=allowscriptaccess value=always/paramembed src=http://www.youtube.com/v/u9H4xaTspaQ#038;hl=en#038;fs=1#038; type=application/x-shockwave-flash allowscriptaccess=always allowfullscreen=true width=560 height=340/embed/object/ppWhat do you think? Does Google Latitude and the idea of location-sharing go too far? Or is it something you plan to use? I#8217;d love to hear your opinion in the comments./pdiv class=feedflarea href=http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AppleiPhoneReview?a=1EOK01ljoo4:ZEYb2E2ACgc:yIl2AUoC8zA rel=nofollowimg src=http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AppleiPhoneReview?d=yIl2AUoC8zA border=0 //img/a a href=http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AppleiPhoneReview?a=1EOK01ljoo4:ZEYb2E2ACgc:D7DqB2pKExk rel=nofollowimg src=http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AppleiPhoneReview?i=1EOK01ljoo4:ZEYb2E2ACgc:D7DqB2pKExk border=0 //img/a a href=http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AppleiPhoneReview?a=1EOK01ljoo4:ZEYb2E2ACgc:qj6IDK7rITs rel=nofollowimg src=http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AppleiPhoneReview?d=qj6IDK7rITs border=0 //img/a a href=http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AppleiPhoneReview?a=1EOK01ljoo4:ZEYb2E2ACgc:V_sGLiPBpWU rel=nofollowimg src=http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AppleiPhoneReview?i=1EOK01ljoo4:ZEYb2E2ACgc:V_sGLiPBpWU border=0 //img/a a href=http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AppleiPhoneReview?a=1EOK01ljoo4:ZEYb2E2ACgc:F7zBnMyn0Lo rel=nofollowimg src=http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AppleiPhoneReview?i=1EOK01ljoo4:ZEYb2E2ACgc:F7zBnMyn0Lo border=0 //img/a a href=http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AppleiPhoneReview?a=1EOK01ljoo4:ZEYb2E2ACgc:I9og5sOYxJI rel=nofollowimg src=http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/AppleiPhoneReview?d=I9og5sOYxJI border=0 //img/a/divimg src=http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/AppleiPhoneReview/~4/1EOK01ljoo4 height=1 width=1 /