(NaturalNews) Has the age of electronic stalking begun? Google has announced a new service called
Latitude that triangulates the real-time position of any mobile phone user and displays their location online, in real time, for other people to see.
Google says it's a "100 percent opt in" service that only works if you sign up for it, but there's something fishy about all this they're not saying: How is it that Google has access to
cell phone tower triangulation data in the first place?
A typical programmer (or even a company) can't simply announce they're creating an online mapping program and get access to
cell phone tower triangulation data. This requires some sort of high-level data interchange between
Google and telecommunications companies -- you know, the kind of data interchange normally reserved for the FBI or CIA. That Google now has this
technology is downright spooky (and "spook" is the right word here...).
Technically, it means that Google engineers now have access to the physical location of virtually every
mobile phone user in the country. Even if they're not making your location public, the point is
they could if they wanted to.
There is a way to thwart this technology, of course:
Remove the battery from your mobile phone if you don't want to be tracked. Turning it off isn't good enough, either: You actually have to physically remove the battery to be sure you're not being tracked.
A history of your geographic movements?
By the way, remember how the U.S.
government once subpoenaed Google to turn over details of 100 million searches? There's no reason why the government couldn't one day subpoena Google's cell phone triangulation logs and request an archived history of the movements of one particular person.
Where were you on December 31, 2008? Google probably has a record of that somewhere. Every store you shopped at, every house you visited and every route you drove to work for the past year has potentially been logged and archived. This is all data that could one day be used against you in a court of law. The data could even reveal you were speeding down the interstate, ignoring speed limit laws.
With
Latitude, Google has opened a can of worms into issues of personal privacy and automated
surveillance. They've also given the public new surveillance tools that people can use to stalk each other online.
Note to husbands everywhere: Your days of "going bowling with the guys" are history. If your wife finds out about Latitude and signs you up, you're now on a new electronic leash. Forget about calling home every hour -- your wife
knows where you are anyway! The same goes for wives who want to "hang out with the girls" to get away from a paranoid husband. The era of
domestic stalking has been unleashed, and the implications are spooky.
About the author: Mike Adams is a natural health researcher, author and award-winning journalist with a passion for sharing empowering information to help improve personal and planetary health He has authored and published thousands of articles, interviews, consumers guides, and books on topics like health and the environment, reaching millions of readers with information that is saving lives and improving personal health around the world. Adams is an honest, independent journalist and accepts no money or commissions on the third-party products he writes about or the companies he promotes. In 2010, Adams launched NaturalNews.TV, a natural health video site featuring videos on holistic health and green living. He also launched an online retailer of environmentally-friendly products (BetterLifeGoods.com) and uses a portion of its profits to help fund non-profit endeavors. He's also a noted pioneer in the email marketing software industry, having been the first to launch an HTML email newsletter technology that has grown to become a standard in the industry. Adams also serves as the executive director of the Consumer Wellness Center, a non-profit consumer protection group, and regularly pursues cycling, nature photography, Capoeira and Pilates. He's also author a large number of health books offered by Truth Publishing and is the creator of numerous reference website including NaturalPedia.com and the free downloadable Honest Food Guide. His websites also include the free reference sites HerbReference.com and HealingFoodReference.com. Adams believes in free speech, free access to nutritional supplements and the innate healing ability of the human body. Known on the 'net as 'the Health Ranger,' Adams shares his ethics, mission statements and personal health statistics at www.HealthRanger.org
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Wednesday, February 04, 2009
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