[iDC] Spy on Your Workers with Google Latitude

Sun Feb 8 16:50:31 UTC 2009

I'm guessing that Google didn't intend for the ability to manually set  
one's location to be subverted into a "lie about where you are"  
feature. I'm just hoping that's how some users will utilize it.

-mz

On Feb 8, 2009, at 9:13 AM, James Grimmelmann wrote:

> I see no legal obstacle, however, to an employer openly demanding  
> that its employees carry Latitude-enabled phones with them (perhaps  
> supplied by the company).  UPS tracks its drivers using GPS.
>
> I largely agree with Michael's blog post (http://michaelzimmer.org/2009/02/06/with-latitude-google-actually-got-it-mostly-right/ 
> ) that Google did a better job thinking through the privacy  
> implications than it usually does.  The design of the "lie about  
> where you are" feature seems simple enough that people might  
> actually use it.  Still, when I think about some of the privacy  
> messes this will result in once it gets out into popular use and  
> people forget that they have it on . . . it gives me the creeps.
>
> James
>
>
> On Feb 7, 2009, at 10:50 PM, Michael Zimmer wrote:
>
>> Threats of surveillance by employers, stalkers, obsessive friends,  
>> etc, have existed long before Latitude, and most methods are must  
>> easier to employ than surreptitiously activating a service on  
>> someone else's phone
>>
>> The PI press release is a bit over the top, IMO. Although I agree  
>> with them that GOOG should create a more persistent warning/ 
>> reminder for users that the service is active. See <http://michaelzimmer.org/2009/02/06/with-latitude-google-actually-got-it-mostly-right/ 
>> >
>>
>> -mz
>>
>>
>>
>> -- 
>> Michael Zimmer, PhD
>> Assistant Professor, School of Information Studies
>> Associate, Center for Information Policy Research
>> University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
>> e: zimmerm at uwm.edu
>> w: www.michaelzimmer.org
>>
>>
>> On Feb 6, 2009, at 7:50 PM, Lucia Sommer wrote:
>>
>>> Hi Michael,
>>> to my mind the concerns surrounding surveillance in this case  
>>> aren't limited to privacy, but extend beyond that to include human  
>>> rights issues like workers' rights. Surveillance by ones'  
>>> employers may not be optional if one wants to keep the job.  
>>> Concerns have also been raised about Google's security safeguards  
>>> -- quoting:
>>>
>>> However, London-based Privacy International says it has identified  
>>> several potential methods for covertly tracking the locations of  
>>> mobile devices without the knowledge or consent of their users.
>>>
>>> [edit]
>>> For example, the privacy watchdog said enterprises could provide  
>>> their workers with phones on which Google Latitude has already  
>>> been enabled, allowing the movements of staff members to be  
>>> tracked by senior management without their knowledge. Any phone  
>>> left unattended would be vulnerable to having Google Latitude  
>>> installed without the knowledge of the handset's owner, the group  
>>> warned. Additionally, phones given as gifts would potentially be  
>>> subject to the same privacy violations.
>>>
>>> Masking Movements
>>>
>>> The documentation for Google Latitude says users can mask their  
>>> movements any time they wish. "You can hide your current location  
>>> from all friends or from individual friends at any time," Google  
>>> said. "When you hide your location, your friends will not see your  
>>> photo icon on a map and will not see a location for you in their  
>>> list view."
>>>
>>> But Privacy International warns that the same masking technology  
>>> could be used by others to prevent smartphone users from realizing  
>>> they are being tracked.
>>>
>>> "The only means of minimizing this threat might be a regular  
>>> message sent to a phone advising that it has been Latitude- 
>>> enabled," the watchdog said. "However, according to Google, this  
>>> function is available only in certain circumstances" and may only  
>>> apply to "certain unspecified phone types."
>>>
>>> As it stands now, Davies noted, Latitude could be a gift to  
>>> stalkers, prying employers, jealous partners, and obsessive  
>>> friends. "The dangers to a user's privacy and security are as  
>>> limitless as the imagination of those who would abuse this  
>>> technology," Davies said.
>>>
>>> http://www.sci-tech-today.com/news/Misuse-of-Google-Latitude-Feared/story.xhtml?story_id=012001GSW8JC
>>>
>>>
>>> Best,
>>>
>>> Lucia
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Fri, Feb 6, 2009 at 8:04 PM, Michael Zimmer <zimmerm at uwm.edu>  
>>> wrote:
>>> Rarely am I a Google apologist when it comes to privacy, but  
>>> they've actually done a pretty good job with this one. It is fully  
>>> opt-in, you can fine tune precisely who gets to see your location  
>>> (and how granular you want that location-data to be), and,  
>>> according to their own privacy help video [1], Google doesn't keep  
>>> a log of all your pings to the system.
>>>
>>> [1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9H4xaTspaQ
>>>
>>> --
>>> Michael Zimmer, PhD
>>> Assistant Professor, School of Information Studies
>>> Associate, Center for Information Policy Research
>>> University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
>>> e: zimmerm at uwm.edu
>>> w: www.michaelzimmer.org
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Feb 5, 2009, at 11:14 AM, Lucia Sommer wrote:
>>>
>>>> another one for the normalization-of-surveillance files:
>>>>
>>>> Spy on Your Workers with Google Latitude
>>>> http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/158975/spy_on_your_workers_with_google_latitude.html
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> -- 
>>> Lucia Sommer
>>> 60 College Street
>>> Buffalo, NY 14201
>>> (716) 359-3061
>>>
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