Google Latitude’s #1 Problem Is Already Fixed
With due deference to my namesake, the problem that many have highlighted over Google Latitude, the new feature on Google Maps for Mobile. The thrust is that now you can broadcast your location to a list of friends (that you have to give specific permission for), you’ll be handing your location to Google and can never do any of the following again.
- Say you’re staying back at the office while you;re actually out for a drink.
- Say you’re at the chocolate shop when you;re are in fact at the snooker club.
- Let your family know you’re on the bus but are still in the office.
- Tell your boss you are stuck in snow, when you’re at a spa.
Or you could just set your location manually to wherever you want to appear to be – which is why everyone on Latitude must think I live in the middle of a play park.
I agree. The ability to lie about your location (or just not reveal location) is a part of every location application I have seen. The big problem I see for location is (like VoIP) “islands”. You may be in the park with Latitude, but I’ll be down the road on Buddycloud, Palringo, Brightkite, Rummble, etc. At least some services have started interacting with FireEagle, which could enable wider location sharing. Google of course have no intention to interact with FireEagle, as Yahoo is “the enemy”.