This is new territory for online safety – the technology that allows cellphone users to pinpoint their friends' physical location with their phones. The only thing that's regulated about this in the US is the Federal Communications Commission's 1999 requirement that "cell phone companies implant location-tracking receivers in handsets," Business Week reports. On the safety and privacy front, … [Read more...] about Pinpointing peers
Social Media
GPS phones easing parent fears
More and more phones have GPS (for getting a fix on the phone's physical location), and more and more cellphone companies are offering geolocation services. Including kid phones (see the New York Times, 12/21/06), which are easing parents' concerns and raising those of privacy advocates, the San Jose Mercury News reports. The article leads with the story of a Northern California family with two … [Read more...] about GPS phones easing parent fears
UK kids’ tune-swapping on phones
Note what kids in the UK are doing on phones and you'll see what's coming to the US. Copyright law isn't exactly on the minds of British child cellphone users. A recent survey found that almost a third of UK 8-to-13-year-olds share music with their phones – "using the built-in Bluetooth wireless feature of many phones … but without the consent of copyright holders," the BBC reports, and "almost a … [Read more...] about UK kids’ tune-swapping on phones
Cellphone as tracking device
People's thinking about the pluses and minuses of using phones to track their locations is changing. GPS (Global Positioning System) on phones has been around a while, but so far the significant privacy concerns have outweighed the upside, according to a thoughtful commentary in the New York Times, as attractive as the latter can be: "Maps on our phones will always know where we are. Our children … [Read more...] about Cellphone as tracking device
Very mobile social networking
You might call it real-time, real-life social networking. Today Silicon Valley start-up loopt launched a new mobile social-networking service with Boost Mobile, "one of the nation's biggest youth-oriented wireless phone companies," the San Jose Mercury News reports. "Boost's 3.8 million customers - who are mostly under 25 - will be able to create groups of friends and keep track of them using a … [Read more...] about Very mobile social networking