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Google 'Latitude' Location Tracking Coming to iPhone

the vj said:
My girlfriend: G
Me: M

G: honey, look, Google came up with this tracking stuff.
M: mmm.... ok
G: I just put your phone number so I can track you
M: why you would like to do that?
G: why not?
M: what is the point?
G: to know where you are
M: what for?
G: Why not?
M: because... I do not know.
G: so what is the problem?
M: I do not know, why you would like to know where I am? you can call me.
G: Why you are so evasive?
M: I am not
G: do you have another girl?
M: no
........

So, in my case, my girlfriend is very jealousy, even from my male friends. She lives in another city 2 hours away and sometimes I go out for a beer when she thinks I am in bed. Otherwise she will tell me I have to go to her town next weekend instead of she coming to mine and go out with my friends and so on.

Any way, I believe this technology is going to create a lot of problems. Is very bad for controlling people.

I was an exchange student in teh US years ago and my host parents were a nightmare regarding rules. Imagine if they had such control over me today.

People need privacy, I believe the system is usefull but is not something fun to have, I mean, is promoted in the wrong context.

G:
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Dude, that's totally fine. But, don't worry. You'll actually be able to place yourself somewhere you are actually not! So, when you tell her you are tired and are going to bed, you can actually park your icon at home and then go out for the beer.

This is not pointed at you vj, but people really need to RTFA!! This does not "accidentally" track you. You have to actively opt-in. You can even have it installed, but if you did not actively decide yourself to be tagged, you will NOT show up on the map. It's really that simple. So let's drop all the privacy and bib brother crap now. And like I said above, you can even lie with this app. So if you're some religious cult member who actively opts into this service anyways (despite your big brother/government worries), you can still say you are at home on the map when you are actually gathering people for your mass suicide.
 
I see a Hollywood heist movie tie-in

A group of likable thieves pull off an epic bank heist using iPhones and Google Latitude. Kind of like the Mini Cooper in The Italian Job, except geekier.
 
daveschroeder said:
If it's legal and supported by case law for the government to request the removal or obscuration of features which are a part of active government or military installations from public satellite imagery, how, precisely, does that represent Google caving, unless one expects Google to stake some kind of claim counter to law as a matter of principle?

What the law allows for is quite important. Politics certainly can and does change law and policy, but a legal request made and honored is hardly caving on Google's part. You may not trust them for all sorts of reasons, but then, it's not just "Google". It's giving private information to any entity where said information is beyond your control.
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You're reasoning is pat but IMO too simplistic. You act as if legality is black or white, when in fact the huge grey areas in the law are a main reason that legal rulings are contested. This is also why law can't be separated from politics. Money usually buys one a big chunk of those grey areas, and governments, especially our recent administration, sometimes claim that whatever they say is legal in fact is. So when the government tells Google to blur Cheney's house, was there any attempt to contest it, to make a principled stand and say they won't bend to government pressure? I'm sure there wasn't, just as there wasn't to the Chinese pressure for censorship, and there's no reason to believe there would be if Google were asked to provide sensitive individual data either.

It's probably counterproductive to discuss politics on MacRumors, since as you said we could argue all day and never agree.

TitoC said:
Google has nothing to do with the maps that come to them from the government or federal agencies via satellite imagery (such as the case with your #7 and #8 points). The imagery of the Naval Observatory comes from Digital Globe.

This censorship wasn't by Google but those supplying Google the source images, the U.S. Geological Survey. Please do some research first.
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I don't believe that. It's certainly not a cut-and-dried issue, as this article points out:

Why is Google Earth Hiding Dick Cheney's House? (Updated)

If your contention were true it would hardly explain why the V.P.'s residence suddenly became clear as soon as Cheney left it (other than his natural black cloud of doom, of course).
 
MacNoobie said:
You know there's got to be a more legit reason then I simply don't like cameras watching me at stop lights (aren't they merely there for traffic/your safety?). As I said there has to be something from driving over the speed limits, running reds, doing something that otherwise you wouldn't want your face nor vehicle pasted on a computer screen.. no matter how innocent the violation is.

I'm not trying to peg you out of this group but there's always a motive and reason why people don't want to be "tracked". I'm merely here to provide a different perspective other then WEEEE WE'RE GETTING GOGGLE LATITIDE.. BOOOOO!
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Even the statues you speak of were passed by an unlawful government; a government of coercion and not of consent (see Reconstruction Acts). History has taught us that a government not kept in line by the people has a tendency to usurp its Constitutional limitations. Optional or not, these are technologies which are not controllable by most of the population. It is difficult for the average person to tell when these technologies have been activated inside their cell phone. We currently have a government who has already suspended the Constitution and enacted a permanent state of national emergency (Senate Report 93-549), and therefore our right to privacy as United States Citizens (capital "C") is no longer valid. The government can deem you a terrorist any time they wish for most any reason (Read some of author Naomi Wolf's stories to reference this). So we're talking about cell phone companies, who out of FEAR could hand over control of their "people locating devices" to our government simply because of us being deemed a terrorist for any reason the government chooses. History has shown that once grievances are ignored (which they have today, many times (see givemeliberty.org) one of the next steps to correct an unlawful government is to remove your support and stop validating their unlawful behavior. If the time comes when more people decide to wake up and take action in this manner, how much more difficult will it be when we are all being tracked?

-CarolinaLiberty.com
Aiming for the roots.
 
From the Google Mobile Blog:

"It will be available through Google Mobile App, and you'll just need to download or update the app from the App store to find Latitude in the Apps tab."

Looks like it won't be running in the background after all. You'll have to actually open the Google Mobile app and run it through there. Too bad, I was hoping this would give us a functional IM. Now, it just looks like more of the same. But, I wonder how this is going to be integrated into the Google Maps App, which is not even Google's making, but Apple's. How are they going to tag you on the map now if they can't integrate into Apple's in-house Google Maps App? Maybe they have something up their sleeves?
 
wonderbread57 said:
M: It sucks up battery. I'm not gonna use it. Oh yeah, and it creeps me the F* out.
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But you know what... I could get her an iPhone instead... :cool:

But... would I like to know :confused:

Another episode of:

When technology turns against you!!!
 
Even with an opt-in service, there's a privacy concern when others (employer, parent, spouse, girlfriend/boyfriend) start demanding that people "voluntarily opt-in" to sharing their location.

But maybe somebody will create an app that lets you specify where you want others to think you are, to spoof this service.
 
zombitronic said:
Something makes me think this is going to make headlines someday...in a bad way. Something like "Stalker Uses 'Latitude' To Kidnap Ex-Girlfriend."
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Dead on comment.

My morning London commute was spent gazing in disbelief at a flock of lobotomized metro readers.

Headlines: "Google will put spies in our pockets"

Can't wait for the daily mail take on this.
 
From the Google Latitude page:-

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

Oh well, at least in the UK I can't be found, then....?!?!?!"
 
Palad1 said:
Dead on comment.

My morning London commute was spent gazing in disbelief at a flock of lobotomized metro readers.

Headlines: "Google will put spies in our pockets"

Can't wait for the daily mail take on this.
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I remember their outrage about Street View (they caught up on that late). Not sure if they ever heard about the deer...
 
nagromme said:
it would be nice if Apple put this in Maps, and made periodic updates (every 30 seconds?) continue when the app is "closed." Apple's own apps have such privileges. A menu bar icon could remind you that you've left it on.
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Wouldn't leaving the GPS on all the time drain the battery BIG TIME ?

nagromme said:
And you can even choose which friends can see you, or report a location that isn't true. (Show you at work when you're really out on the lake sailing, etc.)
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Really??? So, then if teenagers can report false locations, their parents will never know where they really are; thus completely absolving the functionality of parents monitoring their kids. (you know, parental controls on cell phones today is a HUGE income generator. AT&T charges $5.00/month per phone right now for parental controls. Although I'm assuming this new Yahoo service is free, it's going to be completely useless to parents, even though they are advertising it as a tool for parents)

nagromme said:
And you could use Latitude, but still SAY the old excuses. "I was in your tree and saw you were done with your shower." "I was on your roof and heard you get off the phone." Etc.
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ROFLMAO!!!! Okay, I was totally just laughing so hard my eyes were watering.
 
Seems like this needs to be put in context of OS 10.6 getting Core SDK etcfrom what AppleInsider is saying.
 
MacNoobie said:
Just to clarify for the people whining about not wanting to be tracked:

If you're cheating on your wife/gf/partner, this app is NOT for you.

If you're out getting another 1/8th from your dealer, this app is NOT for you.

If you're out in your car token up in a dark parking lot, yep you guessed it this app is NOT for you either.

If you're out tagging up peoples properties.. yep you're right.. this app is NOT for you.

If you're out committing crimes or planning anything, this app is NOT for you.

If you're citing "privacy" concerns... see above.

If you're afraid of google/government tracking your "every movement", get 2 cans and a piece of string..



To those legit users that actually find this app handy in keeping up with their friends around em..

Welcome (very soon)..
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Awe..thank you!


i'm going to add in

..and Big Brother won't get you as well. If your worried about it...don't use it! Actually, dig a really big hole underground with nothing electronic...you don't want them watching you over the sattelites because they are that interested in you..
 
iphones4evry1 said:
Wouldn't leaving the GPS on all the time drain the battery BIG TIME ?


Really??? So, then if teenagers can report false locations, their parents will never know where they really are; thus completely absolving the functionality of parents monitoring their kids. (you know, parental controls on cell phones today is a HUGE income generator. AT&T charges $5.00/month per phone right now for parental controls. Although I'm assuming this new Yahoo service is free, it's going to be completely useless to parents, even though they are advertising it as a tool for parents)


ROFLMAO!!!! Okay, I was totally just laughing so hard my eyes were watering.
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Reguarding the first quote..

The GPS is on all the time anyways.....
 
Eric S. said:
Who cares? Cheney requested it, Google caved. Given that, I wouldn't trust them with any sensitive data.
Click to expand...

If Biden requested it, would you have the same opinion? It's just a question, not an attack.

I don't trust Google either. ;)
 
tbishh said:
Reguarding the first quote..

The GPS is on all the time anyways.....
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No it isn't.. GPS is a battery killer - I run a GPS based app to record walking routes and it can kill the bettery in about 3 hours.

That's actually really good for GPS. On my N95 with an extended (5 day) battery GPS would drain it in 45 minutes.
 
mr.flow3r said:
Uh... why not just opt out?
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I opt out of using google products whenever I can. I don't use gmail. I don't use google docs. I feel they have WAY too much information at their disposal.

Ever get someone from google to talk about their analytics? They save a TON of data. They say they don't give it out, but what are the using all that for besides more and more specific targeted advertising? What is the purpose to holding all that information somewhere?

Microsoft still gets all the bad press, but Google is one of the few commercial companies I think people should be weary of.

It's only a matter of time before we stop calling them "google" and start calling them "our benefactors".

half_life_2.jpg
 
Doctor Q said:
Even with an opt-in service, there's a privacy concern when others (employer, parent, spouse, girlfriend/boyfriend) start demanding that people "voluntarily opt-in" to sharing their location.

But maybe somebody will create an app that lets you specify where you want others to think you are, to spoof this service.
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Right, let's forget the cheating part for a moment. What about if your employer (the one thats pays for your phone so you can be reachable anytime, even on the week-end), ask you to turn it on? It would be pretty hard to say no...

Then, of course you may fake your location but what if he finds out?

Thanks but no thanks (again).

nagromme said:
...And you could use Latitude, but still SAY the old excuses. "I was in your tree and saw you were done with your shower." "I was on your roof and heard you get off the phone." Etc.
Click to expand...

Hey, that's not funny... I was on that tree... ;)
 
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