How location-based services are responding to Pleaserobme, privacy tips & my response to @TechCrunch

Posted on February 19, 2010 - by Wayne Sutton

Earlier this week a site called Pleaserobme.com was launched making fun of and bringing awareness to privacy and security concerns of using location-based apps. Along with that came an article by TechCrunch posting about the Most Stalker-Friendly person on Gowalla, which at the time before Gowalla investors Kevin Rose and Jason Calacanis decided to update their friends list was me. Even before that, one of my unofficial mentors Andrew Hyde had posted an article called Committing Location Based Service Suicide where he’s giving up location-based apps.

Since then, Brightkite and FourSquare have blogged about practicing safe check-in. TriOut another location-based service for NC only had also posted an article called TriOut and Your Privacy. You can read each post via the link below:
Brightkite: Practicing safe check-in
Foursquare: On foursquare, location & privacy…
TriOut: TriOut and Your Privacy

There are at least 17 other location-based social networks available and it will be interesting to see if and how they will respond to conversations around sites like pleaserobme.com and the growing debate on privacy. Also there’s an article on Read Write Web called: Congress to Hold Hearing on Location Data and Privacy: Today’s Top Stories on Geolocation. So it’s not just the geeks/tech community but it’s something that even government is”checking into”.

Since TechCrunch wants to call Gowalla users or users who use similar apps “stalker friendly” my advice for people using location-based services are simple.

Don’t check-in at places where you don’t want to be bothered or “stalked”
Don’t check-in at home or family locations
Don’t accept every friend request, especially from people you don’t know or trust
Read the privacy policies of each location-based social network
Adjust your profile privacy settings on the social network and/or mobile app.
Use common sense

Personally I have seen a huge value in location-based services from meeting new friends to business opportunities, especially at conferences and in my local community. I do believe privacy is very important but using some of the tips above and more, you should have no worries and that home is safe.

Disclaimer: I’m a partner with TriOut

Do you use location-based apps? If so why or why not and how concerned about privacy are you?

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About the Author

Written by Wayne Sutton

Wayne is the business development/marketing strategist for TriOut and partner at OurHashtag. For more, follow SocialWayne.com on Twitter, Buzz, and Facebook. Also check out the SocialWayne Podcast in iTunes. See all posts by Wayne Sutton.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 19th, 2010 at 5:55 pm and is filed under Featured, Geo-Location. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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February 19, 2010

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Geoff Hamrick said:

Wayne,

Very thought provoking. I completely agree with you on this.
- Visit My Website
  
  February 20, 2010
  
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  Wayne Sutton said:
  
  Thanks Geoff
Visit My Website

February 20, 2010

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Cole said:

Good article.
With the recent changes to Facebook’s privacy and the new lawsuit Google Buzz is facing this might might be the defining year of Social Media, on whether or not it’s going to stick around.

Cole

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

Wayne Sutton - 19. Feb, 2010
New post: How location-based services are responding to Pleaserobme, privacy tips & my response to @TechCrunch http://socialwayne.com/p1it
Wayne Sutton - 19. Feb, 2010
How location-based services are responding to Pleaserobme, privacy tips & my response to @TechCrunch http://j.mp/cdyKkz
Vlad Hrouda - 19. Feb, 2010
How location-based services are responding to Pleaserobme, privacy tips & my response to @TechCrunch http://ow.ly/19g2M by @WayneSutton
(jeff)isageek - 19. Feb, 2010
How location-based services are responding to Pleaserobme, privacy tips & my response to @TechCrunch http://bit.ly/bjBcdR via @waynesutton
topsy_top20k_en - 19. Feb, 2010
How location-based services are responding to Pleaserobme, privacy tips & my response to @TechCrunch http://j.mp/cdyKkz
magisterrex - Dan - 19. Feb, 2010
RT @jeffisageek: How location-based services are responding to Pleaserobme, privacy tips & my response to @TechCrunch http://bit.ly/bjBcdR via @waynesutton
Sybil Walker Barnes - 19. Feb, 2010
Good advice for using location-based services: http://bit.ly/cYWcf7
Mr LBS - 19. Feb, 2010
Good advice for using location-based services: http://bit.ly/cYWcf7 http://bit.ly/db59Hu
Eric W Hill - 19. Feb, 2010
How location-based services respond to Pleaserobme.com–>Privacy tips & @waynesutton response to @TechCrunch http://socialwayne.com/p1it
trothle - 20. Feb, 2010
RT @hrouda How location-based services are responding to Pleaserobme, privacy tips & my response to @TechCrunch http://ow.ly/19g2M …
trothle - 20. Feb, 2010
RT @hrouda How location-based services are responding to Pleaserobme, privacy tips & my response to @TechCrunch http://ow.ly/19g2M …
Ond?ej Sobi?ka - 20. Feb, 2010
RT: @hrouda How location-based services are responding to Pleaserobme, privacy tips & my response to @TechCrunch http://ow.ly/19g2M
Juan Ibanes - 20. Feb, 2010
RT @waynesutton: New post: How location-based services are responding to Pleaserobme, privacy tips & my response to @TechCrunch http://socialwayne.com/p1it
Patrick O'Keefe - 20. Feb, 2010
RT @waynesutton How location-based services are responding to Pleaserobme, privacy tips & my response to @TechCrunch http://bit.ly/9EFqvh
bmcd67 - 20. Feb, 2010
RT @waynesutton How location-based services are responding to Pleaserobme, privacy tips & my response to @TechCrunch http://bit.ly/9EFqvh
Fear of geek robbers - 25. Feb, 2010
[...] Mashable makes an extremely valid point in the debate about the safety of location-based apps. As you’ve probably heard, there’s a new tool that aggregates public check-ins from location-based apps that users have posted to public places like Twitter and lets you search them by zip code. (I’m not going to link to it or even call it by name. I think it’s completely irresponsible to create something that exposes other people’s vulnerabilities, whether or not you’re claiming to do it for their own good.) My friend Wayne Sutton has a good rundown of the whole issue. [...]

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Wayne Sutton helps individuals, startups and businesses succeed in understanding how to communicate on the social web via brand strategy, social networks and location-based services. Wayne is the business development/marketing strategist for TriOut and partner at OurHashtag.