Loopt: Friend or Foe Finder?

A front-page story in today's Wall Street Journal discusses a new application (named Loopt) for your mobile device that can track where your contacts are at any time. Think of it as Google Maps starring your friends and family. Here's a quick video so you can see how the service works.



Now that you've seen that, are you a little creeped out? In the story, the Loopt founder even says, "It's one of those things, the more you think about it, the more ways you can figure out a creep could abuse it. I think people realize that unlike a telemarketer call, which can be annoying, a location-based service could be an actual physical safety risk." Good times! I'd like to pay an extra $4.95 a month for that.

Obviously you have to opt-in to the service, but it raises some scary issues. And as the Baroness says, "What if you're going to surprise me with something? Then I don't want to know where you are." Hmmmm...Is that a hint? Gotta go work on that, I suppose.