The site that keeps popping up in my mind when it comes to location-based services is www.icanstalku.com, a site devoted to “raising awareness about inadvertent information sharing.”
That being said, anyone who opts-in to location-based networks (LBNs) is fully aware they’re broadcasting their location as that’s the premise. But I think some folks new to mobile technology, regardless of whether they subscribe to foursquare or any other location app may not be aware of how public their information is. I know I wasn’t.
Also, I wasn’t really comfortable griping about location-based technology in my earlier post without having tried it. So I did. The result? I still think it’s creepy. Let me explain.
My first “check-in” was at a local gym. It’s a large gym but I noted I was the only female out of 5 people who had recently checked in. Ok, whatever. Then during my workout, an ad popped up on the bottom of my application that said “peaches347 is .7 miles away, would you like to chat?” Yikes. Who is peaches? And why do I want to chat when I’m working out?
Unfortunately my first test drive kinda confirmed how this system could easily be abused by weirdos. Again, not that everyone is a weirdo but my sense is that with location-based stuff, and mobile in general, things are still so new that as women we really need to be careful and aware of what we’re getting ourselves into.
Just an FYI chickees….
