It's spy as you go, as Google goes too
(Patrik Stollarz/Getty Images)
MILLIONS of people will be able to track each and every move by friends and family through their mobile phones, thanks to a new feature launched by Google yesterday.
The new system dubbed "Latitude" uses a digital map to automatically show exactly where a loved one is at any time, pinpointing their location to a few metres.
Worried parents will be able to check up on where their children have got to after school, friends can meet for a quick drink if they see they are nearby, and spouses will be able to see if their partner really is working late at the office.
Google said that Latitude was an opt-in feature, meaning that both parties have to consent to being spied on. But privacy campaigners said they were appalled by the idea, and British children's groups said the government should intervene and look into whether the system was fully secure. The feature was made available immediately on millions of mobile phones that can access the web. Within weeks, Google hopes to release a version for computers.
"Once you've shared your location, you can hide it from individual friends or all of your friends at once, or you can turn off Google Latitude completely at any time." said a Google spokesman. "You can adjust your privacy settings so that you share as much or as little about your location as you want, with whom you want."Google said that it had tested the product to make sure that the system was secure, but experts were not so sure.
Simon Davies, director of Privacy International, said the security was appalling and Latitude would open up a "privacy minefield". "Google is naive if it thinks there are adequate controls on this feature," he said. Others were concerned that even though you could, in theory, bar anyone from spying on your location, peer pressure would mean it would in practice be difficult to reject would-be 'followers'.
"It's about the little white lies. You might be skiving off work, and now your boss might be able to see that you're at the rugby instead of at home," said Ian Angell, in the London School of Economics. (© The Times, London)
- Murad Ahmed
