Location-based services that make use of GPS technology are hardly new. Loopt and Brightkite had have a lot of success in this niche market, with few big companies jumping into the fray. Privacy concerns are always an issue, but only the truly sinister have used these tools to stalk, harass, and intimidate. With the launch of Latitude by web giant Google, are the privacy concerns more justified?
Google is, of course, playing up the "opt in" feature of their service, which requires users to sign up to participate. You are not automatically added to the pool of Latitude users simply by having a Google account.
The service is integrated with Google Maps, and allows you to automatically set your location, manually detect it, or disappear from the radar.
The questions on my mind is whether or not Latitude will take location-based services to the next level? Or will they remain a niche tool that only a select group of people use regularly?
While Twitter may be a crucial tool for everyone already under its spell, explaining Twitter's benefits to non-users can sometimes be difficult. Will adding the name "Google" in front of a somewhat-similar service automatically increase its popularity?
Like most location-based services, you can use Latitude form your mobile phone or from your computer. Also similar to other services, you can control who receives information about your location, with the additional ability to log out of the service completely.
The settings are easily changed, and take effect immediately.
But despite Google's assurances, there are still some serious privacy concerns. The popularity of Google can make it easier for potential stalkers to make use of its service in a sinister manner but signing up their unsuspecting victim and adjusting the privacy settings. This isn't a new problem. Taking advantage of location-based services has been a concern with GPS-tracking devices of all kinds such as portable navigation systems, not just those that require you to opt into their services.
Privacy concerns aside, Google's launch may have been a bit premature: they don't offer the service on many popular phones. Google Latitude does not work with the iPhone, and I can say that as an iPhone user, I'm seriously miffed. Although, really, I have not been all that impressed with Google's applications for the iPhone (other than Maps) so it's not that much of a disappointment.
Latitude does work with:
- 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)
Google is not perfect, and with the growing size of the company (I think "gargantuan" is applicable here) the products they are releasing have been fraught with more and more errors.
Location-based services aren't all about privacy concerns and opting it, they can also be fun for a high-tech game of hide and seek!
Images from Google Latitude.