Spy on your friends in real time!
p2pnet news view Freedom | P2P:- “Spy on your friends in real time!” – suggests the blurb to Google’s latest gadget.
Just kidding. What it really says is, “See where your friends are in real time! Enjoy Google Latitude on your phone, computer, or both.”
I’m on Vancouver Island in British Colombia, Canada, and when I went to see what it’s all about, it immediately pulled up a map of the area I live in.
It’s OK. I don’t recognize any of the people in the picture. 
But, “See where your friends are and what they are up to,” it says. “Quickly contact them with SMS, IM, or a phone call.”
What, you can’t already do that without Google?
“Maintain complete control over your privacy.”
heh
But it gets worse.
“View your friends’ locations and status messages on a full screen even without a compatible phone or data plan.”
On your computer.
Not to worry, though, because, “You can share, set, or hide your location – or turn off Google Latitude – from the privacy menu,” promises Google. “You can also hide your location or share only a city-level location with certain friends.”
But you can’t hide from Google.
Here’s what it sdays about Latitude privacy »»»
Mobile-specific information we collect
Most of the personally identifying information we collect is what you tell us about yourself. For example, certain of our products and services allow you to interact and share personal information and data with others. You choose what you want to share and how you want to share it.
Sometimes, we record your phone number. We record your phone number when you send it to us; ask us to remember it; or make a call or send a text message or SMS to or from Google. If you ask us to remember your phone number, we will associate your phone number with your Google Account, or, if you do not have a Google Account, with some other similar account ID. We often generate this account ID based on your device and hardware IDs, so if you change your device or hardware, you will have to re-associate this new device or hardware with your account before we can authenticate you.
Most of the other information we collect for mobile, such as your device and hardware IDs and device type, the request type, your carrier, your carrier user ID, and the content of your request, does not by itself identify you to Google, though it may be unique or consist of or contain information that you consider personal.
If you use location-enabled products and services, such as Google Maps for mobile, you may be sending us location information. This information may reveal your actual location, such as GPS data, or it may not, such as when you submit a partial address to look at a map of the area.
Certain of our products and services allow you to personalize the content you receive from us. For these products and services, we will record your preferences and any information you provide about yourself or your interests (such as a list of your stocks to personalize your stock listings).
If you use Google to transcode, or format, non-mobile pages to display properly on your device, we need to send your request to Google’s servers for formatting. That means that we will record these requests, which are generally for material beyond Google’s sites.
For products and services with voice recognition capabilities, we collect and store a copy of the voice commands you make to the product or service. To improve processing of your voice commands, we may also continuously record in temporary memory a few seconds of ambient background noise. This recording stays only temporarily on the device and is not sent to Google.
Uses
We use your information to process and personalize your requests. We also use the information for support, to develop new features, and to improve the overall quality of Google’s products and services.
We may also use the information to show you a history of your activity, to provide you with statistics about you or your use of our product or service, or to provide you with a better user experience.
If you purchase something through Google, we may also use your information to bill you and to handle billing disputes.
Information sharing and onward transfer
All requests must be sent through your mobile carrier’s network and your carrier may have access to it. For information regarding your carrier’s treatment of your information, please consult your carrier’s privacy policies.
We may share your information with certain third parties we use to perform certain functions, such as billing and text message or SMS delivery. These third parties will be contractually bound to treat your information in accordance with the applicable Google privacy policies.
Certain of our products and services allow you to interact and share your information with others. Please consider carefully before disclosing any personal information or data that might be accessible to others.
Your choices
Certain of our products and services allow you to opt-out of certain information gathering and sharing or to opt-out of certain products, services, or features. Each product has a help page which describes these and other options.
I SEE you. (Evil laughter)
February , 2009
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February 4th, 2009 at 1:47 pm
Google is evil.
February 4th, 2009 at 2:28 pm
Proof 1984 scenario and New World Order is here and thriving.
February 4th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
thats it, google is now the leader of the world!
February 4th, 2009 at 7:55 pm
google also wants to put cameras on every street to have real-time photos like they have for google earth. that’s the big brother that obama’s new NSA would like to get hold of – and they will.
barack obama is a liar. and he’s evil.
February 9th, 2009 at 11:33 pm
Same ppl showed up on my map when I went to the site; one was out in the ocean (I live on an island in Norway).