I am an anomaly
in my generation. Until a few weeks ago I had no major social media accounts. No
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, etc and one of main reason why is because
of location-based data. My wife has
social media platforms and a while ago I started to notice that on Instagram
posts it would say locations, as well as on Facebook posts. Not only that, we
once went into a restaurant and it asked her if she wanted to check-in on Facebook
and share her location. Sure check in and let the world know 1. Where we are
and 2. That no one is at our home.
The Government
Accountability Office employs watchdogs who spend their days checking up on these social networks and
whether they are doing enough to protect their users. When location-sharing became the new great addition to these apps the GOA had their hands full. They said
“We have concerns that location data can be used to track where consumers are,
which can in turn be used to steal their identity, stalk them, or monitor them
without their knowledge. In addition, location data can be used to infer other
sensitive information about individuals such as their religious affiliation or
political activities.” They have a list
of the primary threats to consumers from location-based data which includes
disclosure, tracking behavior, identity theft, personal security, and surveillance.
One of
those factors alone is scary but take all of them and why would anyone want to
use location based social media. Most of the positives to the use of
location-data apps is for businesses, it makes it easier for them to target
their optimal customer. But if you are looking for positives to using these for
the consumer, there are few and I am not sure the pro are worth the cons. One
positive is they can be fun. There are many gaming apps like Pokémon Go, which
use GPS location to make the game interactive and exciting. There are also GPS
based apps like Family Locator that can be used to find family members, which
is useful. Lastly they can be helpful in finding places to eat or visit when
you visit an unfamiliar place.
I have
concluded that you can be smart about location-based apps and make them useful
to yourself. If you have strict privacy settings on your social media profiles
and only allow those you feel comfortable with to be your friends then you shouldn’t
have to worry too much about them knowing you are away from home. You are running
a risk when you have no privacy settings and any one has access to your location
at any time. As with any social media the responsibility rests on the users to
use a little common sense and be smart.
good points, I feel like we don't hear about those warnings enough.
ReplyDeleteI agree, I think it would be wise to very carefully post about where you are or what you are doing. I have been robbed twice in my house because someone tracked down my daily routine and knew when I wouldn't be home.
ReplyDeleteI have never really been concerned about the fact that if someone wanted to they could track down and see if I am home or not through these location based platforms. That is definitley a big problem that should be considered.
ReplyDelete