Google Latitude Reports Where You've Been

By Kevin Parrish, published on November 12, 2009 at 5:10 PM
Source: Tom's Guide US | Keywords: , , , , | Themes: The Internet, Software
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A new feature in Google Latitude keeps a history of where you've been.

Google announced today that it has added new features to its Latitude location mapping and tracking service that will keep track of where users have been. Additionally, it will even alert users to friends (or enemies) who are in the vicinity. Called the Google Location History and Google Location Alerts, these feature will store, manage, and view the user's past Latitude locations while relaying the info to friends.

While this history keeping-feature sounds somewhat creepy and an invasion of privacy, apparently Latitude users have requested such a feature. Once Google Location History gathers information, it conveniently relays it back to whomever via a visual plot on Google Maps, showing exactly where the user has been.

"Whether you're taking a road trip across the country, backpacking across Europe, or just going out for a night on the town, it's fascinating to look back at where you went, and for how long you stayed," Google said.

Google's Latitude is a free service introduced back in February. Users can selectively reveal their locations to friends in real-time. The new alert feature actually learns from location tracks so that it doesn't repeatedly send text message in typical locations (like home, work).

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Comments

Anonymous 11/13/2009 3:20 AM
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I doubt criminals will be using this feature...lol

cheepstuff 11/13/2009 3:25 AM
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i guess those instances where people 'bump' into each other in public are no more.

False_Dmitry_II 11/13/2009 4:41 AM
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thats only for people who bother to use such a thing.

justiceguy216 11/13/2009 5:04 AM
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I had no idea what Latitude did until I read this article, other than tell Google where I am. I turned it on though...just to piss off all those people that think corporations are taking over our lives. Naturally I'd turn it off if I were to invade Russia or do something that they'd actually care about.

AW-Levi 11/13/2009 10:50 AM
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It might prove to be a useful feature though that depends on who uses it. :)

zak_mckraken 11/13/2009 3:49 PM
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In Soviet Russia, you monitor Google!

wyomingKnott 11/16/2009 2:59 PM
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Great Googlies! I hope that this is opt-in. Otherwise, Big Brother is here. Well, Google already was, posting pictures of everybody's house and claiming exclusive rights to all the books in the world.

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