New Phone Uses GPS To Locate Your Contacts

Salvance writes "Palo Alto-based Loopt Inc. has announced an agreement with Sprint Nextel to immediately begin offering their cell phone mapping service to all 3.8 Million Sprint Boost subscribers (Sprint Boost is a service specifically targeting the under-25 market). This service will notify users when another subscriber in their contact list is within 25 miles, providing a real-time map displaying their contacts' locations. According to the article, the only apparent privacy safeguard is to provide users the option to 'temporarily cut out from being spotted by their friends.' Given a retailer's propensity to package together extra services, and the average user's lack of knowledge regarding their phone's capabilities, this new service seems ripe for abuse."

Wow! GPS enabled contacts?!

[Anonymous Coward]

I'd think that'd be the bigger news. They're so tiny! And now I will never lose them.

I hope that's configurable

[Marxist Hacker 42 (638312)]

I'd rather know when my contacts are within .1 mile than within 25 miles. At least 10% of my contacts spend most of their lives within 25 miles.

Re:

[Beryllium Sphere(tm) (193358)]

"the Boost Loopt service could alert users whenever their friends are within a half-mile to 25 miles."

Re:

[Salvance (1014001)]

25 miles is the max distance, it looked like you could set the sensitivity down to 1/4 mile.

wow, that's every stalkers wet dream

[jimstapleton (999106)]

how much do you think sprint is gonna get owned in lawsuits?

Re:wow, that's every stalkers wet dream

[frakir (760204)]

A different approach might really work.

Imagine opt-in GPS tracking instead of opt-out. Eg: Bob requests tracking of Alice within $distance for $duration, Alice might agree or not, but default is OFF.

Some phone pairs, like mom-child might have tracking ON and not possible to switch off (it might go into cell service plan).

Definitely something I would love to have....

I wonder how long it will take....

[8127972 (73495)]

..... for the first lawsuit regarding the misuse of this technology to be filed? Methinks seconds. Maybe minutes at the most.

The upshot is that lawyers now have a new income source.

Honestly now...

[Captain Sarcastic (109765)]

...can anyone here tell me what makes this even remotely (pardon the expression) a GOOD idea?

We have been using technology to bring people closer, but there are some advantages to keeping one's distance.

Re:

[Otter Escaping North (945051)]

...can anyone here tell me what makes this even remotely (pardon the expression) a GOOD idea?

*with parent hat on* Knowing where my kids are.

Besides that - can't think of a thing.

Oh and don't get me wrong - a GPS-enabled phone is not the best foundation for a trusting parent-child relationship; but when pressed to find something of worth in it - that's what I come up with.

Re:

[Captain Sarcastic (109765)]

*putting parent hat on as well*

OK, I can see that.

Re:

[shawn(at)fsu (447153)]

I realized something when I was approaching the end of teenage years. I figured that emotions like trust and respect where for lack of a better word mature emotions. Fear on the otherhand seems to be very primal, until kids are old enough to understand and exhib trust and respect, a limited amount of fear will work just as well.

It worked for me I never knew how much my parents knew about me, I was always afraid the knew the answer before they asked. I think this would be a good thing for parents. It's easy

Re:

[ultrasonik (775562)]

I like the idea. It's not like anyone can track you. If you can't trust your friends then you've got bigger issues. I would use it. I travel around a lot and have friends in many different cities and states. It would be great if I was traveling and some old friend called me up because they saw I was in town.

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[StikyPad (445176)]

We have been using technology to bring people closer

Er.. I think most luddites would argue that technology has kept us seperated, as the telephone, the TV, and the internet have directly contributed to the decline in face-to-face contact and communication.

The only reason this is a good idea is that it's a new idea. I can see a group of girls wanting this (at first), or some college buddies so they know what bar their friends are in when they finally finish that paper, but overall it will probably be of lim

Within 25 miles?

[lawpoop (604919)]

This is marketed to the under 25 crowd? So if you are sitting in a lecture hall, you are constantly getting an update of where everybody in your 50+ buddy list is on campus at that moment?

This can't operate the way they describe.

Re:

[kevin_conaway (585204)]

This is marketed to the under 25 crowd? So if you are sitting in a lecture hall, you are constantly getting an update of where everybody in your 50+ buddy list is on campus at that moment?

You're confusing the "under 25 crowd" with the "under 22 crowd", i.e. students.

It sounds like a target is the so called "young professionals" out and about on the town

Re:

[lawpoop (604919)]

Not everyone starts college immediately after high school, and not everyone finishes in exactly four years.

Even if it were for young professionals, 25 miles pretty much covers a town/city radius. You would only be getting a notification if someone was coming in from out of town, or totally crossing town. If someone were traveling 25+ miles into your area and they wanted to see you, or even had the time to see you, don't you think this meeting would already be planned?

*chime*

[Rob T Firefly (844560)]

Hmm? Oh, pardom me guys, it's a mesasge on my phone...

ted from acctg is shaggin ur gf lol

Thanks, Sprint!

Not really a privacy invasion:

[adamstew (909658)]

FTFA: "The real-time tracking would only occur for those who have agreed to be located and had given the user their mobile phone numbers." So you have to agree to be tracked in the first place.

Re:Not really a privacy invasion:

[TubeSteak (669689)]

I buy two phones & stick one + lots of extra batteries in/on your car.

Privacy invasion or stalker heaven?
You decide.

Re:

[d474 (695126)]

Excellent point. That's the loop hole. Of course, you better retrieve your "tracking" phone before the battery dies, or else your target might find it!

Re:

[lav-chan (815252)]

Anybody can do that with already-existing GPS technology. The police sometimes use it to track suspects' vehicles.

That's not much of a feat.

[Kadin2048 (468275)]

You could do that right now with a small two-way radio and a GPS. It's not hard, and if you are planning on doing something like that, you're probably not going to be bothered by the fact that you're supposed to have an amateur radio license first.

They seem to be out of production right now, but there was a company that was making little integrated units consisting of a GPS receiver and Amateur radio transceiver, that fed into the APRS system. I think it was a combination of this transmitter [byonics.com] and an equally

Unless you have something to hide...

[gillbates (106458)]

you have nothing to worry about.

But I think the government is very happy about this service. I'm sure the phone company would be more than happy to provide this information to the government, if requested, regardless of whether or not you agree to be tracked. Remember, if you irritate the government, you could lose your license to the radio spectrum on which your revenue depends.

After all, if you have nothing to hide why would you object to the government knowing where you are at all times? Don't you realize that this is for the safety of the children? Are you really going to object to technology that could help solve a kidnapping?

It is optional today. But not for long. As soon as the government figures out that this can be used to track everyone, in real time, it will become mandatory. They'll pass the law in the name of "protecting the children", or "fighting terrorism", etc...

What about stalkers?

[chaboud (231590)]

Does one agree to be located in general, or on a per-person basis? If it's in general, how can I know who's tracking me once my number is available to them?

I'm not worried about stalkers, personally, but this is the sort of thing that you might see being handed out to girls on college campuses or boys on grade-school ones.

Married couples could see this causing trouble.

Tony: "You shut tracking off for a few hours there. Where were you?"
Toni: "You're a freak. I'm leaving you."
Tony: "For the guy/girl/goat that you were off with when you went off the radar?!" ...

Honestly, though, it's kind of a cool feature.

I can't fib on my whereabouts :(

[us7892 (655683)]

So when I tell one friend I'm staying in because I'm tired, and go out with another friend for some beers, and tell yet another I was working late, I'm gonna get screwed when they all locate me nearby.

How about they work on dropped calls and poor coverage first.

Re:

[Bassman59 (519820)]

How about they work on dropped calls and poor coverage first.

Word!

I felt him

[jeepee (607566)]

Welcome, young Skywalker. [Looking at cell phone] I have been expecting you.

no worries about this

[Lumpy (12016)]

The GPS in most cellphones is such a piece of garbage there is no problem with this. the Boost mobile phones have even crappier GPS than normal. I would say that the service will not work far more than it will be abused. A cellphone in your pocket get's ZERO Gps signal. Hell the GPS in my blackberry never shows a good location and it's sitting 1.5 inches away from my body, a friends boost phone with built in GPS app couldnt get a lock on 3 sattelites within a 25 minute period sitting still in a clear sk

average user's lack of knowledge? nonsense

[JonTurner (178845)]

Given a retailer's propensity to package together extra services, and the average user's lack of knowledge regarding their phone's capabilities, this new service seems ripe for abuse.

Lack of knowledge about a phone? Get real. This is the under-25 crowd we're talking about. Do you think the 40+ year-old moms & dads are going to be the ones lining up for these products? And to a GenY'er, a phone is almost an extention of themselves. Ringtones, downloads, games, IM's, push-to-talk, voicemail, etc. are all an essential part of staying online.

That being said, I do think that there is potential for abuse. Stalkers, for instance. Or college profs following up on students too "sick" to attend class. (but plenty well enough to catch a movie or go to the beach, instead!) Also, how long before this information is subpoenaed by attorneys. (For instance, in auto collision cases -- if client was at a bar for three hours prior to a fiery crash, that doesn't look good.)

However, it could be a cool feature -- see who's nearby for a quick lunch meet-up. Finding your family/friends at an amusement park/mall/beach/etc.

Like nearly all technologies, it's benign. It's up to the user to make it good or bad.

Your contacts or my contacts?

[Nikker (749551)]

How about if I have your number programmed into my phone and you don't have mine? Can I harvest cell#'s and 'war drive'?

Even better do they realize we can triangulate someone closer then their resolution if I have 3 of these phones locating the same #? If all mappings are relative to 'Jack' (person on contact list) then if there are 3 other locator's that are given mappings relative to Jack then each mapping on the 3 phones will have different information to Jack's location.

With this information com

Well...

[$RANDOMLUSER (804576)]

When I call someone on a land line, I know exactly where they are.

Re:

[hyperion454 (766214)]

Maybe you've never heard of call forwarding.

Re:

[loconet (415875)]

or voip softphones

I hope I'm not the only one...

[foxtrot (14140)]

...who was imagining someone looking at the ground and squinting wondering how GPS was gonna help that guy locate his contact...

You're being tracked anyway

[Beryllium Sphere(tm) (193358)]

The phone company has to know where you are so they can route the call to the correct tower. Phone companies log everything.

This service simply exposes the information to other cellphone users.

The only way to avoid having location information recorded is to keep the phone turned off and have incoming calls go to a pager.

A phone that tells you when you don't need it?

[gelfling (6534)]

Seems odd - check up on the locations of people you can walk over to talk to in person. Or don't young people do that any more? Oh well there's no end to the stupid crap you can sell to the younger generation.

Surprise !

[Joebert (946227)]

Alright, when Jim walks in the door, everyone turn on their phones !

Isn't most of the under 25 market still in school?

[Broken scope (973885)]

I'm not sure i have ever seen a campus that couldn't fit within a 50 mile diameter circle.

25 miles sounds nice...

[DJ Jones (997846)]

What we really need is a cell phone that alerts you when your boss is within 15 feet from your cubicle.

-- M.B.W.A. - Management By Walking Around

Won't work all that well

[James Lewis (641198)]

The GPS isn't going to work unless the person is outside and their phone has an unobstructed view of enough satalites long enough to get a fix. I don't see that happening all that often. Not to mention, I imagine most users will be turning off their GPS to save battery life.

Re:

[planetmn (724378)]

Well, define work? So lets say I walk into a bar, and lose sat coverage. The phone will still know it's last location where it had coverage, so it keeps my position as that. My friend is at another bar down the street and sees that I'm a block away, walks to the position and is in front of a bar. Chances are he's gonna know that I'm insid the bar.

Is it 100% accurate 100% of the time. No, but that's not the point. If you're out on a friday night bar hopping, you might run into a friend.

-dave

Open Air

[Doc Ruby (173196)]

When the GSM and CDMA networks are opened as wholesale carriage with competition, like the long distance carriage and local origination/termination industries have been, then the playing field will finally be level. The beginning revolution in component telephone services integrated with familiar phones and contacts will finally include the mobile terminals ("phone") and all their advanced features, including the personal ones like presence. That will mean we'll have more choice over the features of our ter

Time To Change The Ads

[jo42 (227475)]

:%s/Can you hear me now?/We know where you are now./gc

opt in for specific people

[MooseTick (895855)]

Many her complain about phone GPS, but I recently had a verizon that had excellent service. It could even give door to door driving directions. It was expensive, but nonetheless it worked well.

This could be handy but I would want to be able to turn it on for individuals, not the world. Also, 25 miles is worthless. 90% of my family and friends are always within 25 miles. It would be more useful if it said they were using the same tower or within 1-2 miles.

My biggest fear is that they will charge for people t

almost got it right

[Lord Ender (156273)]

as a 25-and-under, what i really want is the ability to find my friends inside a club or bar. it is impossible to yell 'the upstairs dance floor!' loud enough to be heard over music. what they need is an ad-hoc triangulation system since GPS doesn't work indoors.

For cellular companies.....

[8127972 (73495)]

.... The reason for this technology to exist comes down to three words:

NEW REVENUE SOURCE

This needs to work like the 360's friends list..

[Channard (693317)]

.. so that you can only accept someone as a contact/friend if they agree. And either party can remove the other party at any time. Just being able to plonk someone on the list doesn't bode well for anyone with a boyfriend/girlfriend-turned-stalker

For what practical purpose?

[businessnerd (1009815)]

Well that's nice, but why do I need this? It certainly has a nice wow factor to it. The only practical uses I see are for nefarious purposes. You know, stalkers, spying, making sure the bitch isn't messing around on you. But is this really an important feature, or a feature we want? While it might be nice to know that the wife/girlfriend is or is not cheating or lying about her whereabouts, do you really want the wife/girlfriend to know if YOU are cheating or lying about your whereabouts?

Anyone hav

Helio has taken a different approach

[haunebu (16326)]

Helio [helio.com] is a joint venture between South Korea's SK Telecom [sktelecom.com] and EarthLink. They launched a slick new device (don't call it a phone =)) last week called the Drift [helio.com] that includes a hybrid GPS receiver (real GPS [wikipedia.org] and A-GPS [wikipedia.org]). It launched with a couple of GPS-enabled services: GPS-enabled Google maps [blogspot.com] and Buddy Beacon. The latter sounds pretty similar to Boost's solution, but takes a different approach to privacy.

With Buddy Beacon, users must intentionally broadcast their location to their friends list. It does not constantly track your whereabouts and auto-broadcast your new locale. It's more like "find me here" than "i'm searching for so-and-so..."

Re:

[james_orr (574634)]

A lot of cell phones can already show yourself and 911 where you are. The difference here is you are seeing where other people are. I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing, in fact it could be a good thing, but I would want a lot of control over it. An easy way to turn it on/off (1 or 2 button pushes max) and being able to specify who on my contact list I would want to see where I am.