Google launches mobile GPS

Google Inc. quietly launched a new feature called Google Latitude Feb. 4 that enables users to view each others' exact location via Google Maps.

While the feature is potentially appealing to college students, the application's tracking ability could present a privacy problem to users, according to Privacy International, a human rights group that tracks surveillance and privacy invasions by governments and corporations.

Google Latitude is currently compatible with smartphones, including most BlackBerry devices, and will eventually work with Apple Inc.'s iPhone.

The program uses Global Positioning System technology and Wi-Fi hotspots to track individuals in 27 different countries. It also operates so only select people can view users' locations. Google Latitude has options that let users manually set their location wherever they choose and make themselves invisible to certain users or everyone.

Google is marketing the program as a way for college students to stay in contact with parents or friends from their hometown.

Arthur Thomas, professor of practice at the School of Information Studies, said Latitude can present a privacy issue, but said it can provide security as well.

"The feature would be more helpful than hurtful," Thomas said. "College students would benefit from Latitude if they were in a situation where they were traveling alone and would need someone to know their whereabouts.

The release of Google Latitude is consistent with the natural outgrowth of technology by becoming more individualized to its users, Thomas said.

"Nothing is more personal and individualized than someone's location." Thomas said.

Privacy International reported on the precautions users can take to avoid privacy invasion, such as allowing users to choose the recipients they want to view their location. But these precautions do not work if Google Latitude is enabled by a third party without the owner's consent, the article said.

George Little, a freshman architecture major, said Google Latitude is a technological breakthrough, but with its advantages, it has its faults.

"I would use Latitude if I was going to go do something dangerous on my own, like snowboarding or something hazardous," Little said. "Using Latitude would allow someone to find me if something bad happened and I was unable to get help. It does pose a security risk though, because anything can be hacked into and that information could be used against people."

Allie Ditkowich, a freshman writing and rhetoric major, said between texting, phone calls, voicemails and Facebook, Latitude is something she probably wouldn't use unless her friends were also using it.

"It's not the type of thing I want to bother with, I really don't need it," Ditkowich said. "The only way Latitude would be helpful is if a concerned parent was nervous about their child going away to college or a crazy girlfriend wanting to know where her boyfriend was at all times."

aanavas@syr.edu