There was a story that came out of 9/11 about a woman who switched on the TV to see the two towers falling. This was something of a shock to her as her husband worked in an upper floor of one of the towers.
However, the only loss she was going to suffer on 9/11 was the loss of her marriage. She immediately called the husband’s mobile. “Are you ok? Are you safe?†she asked. And contrary to the apocalyptic reality, he replied with a yawn: “Of course I am, just sitting here at my desk working away.†Busted. He had sneakily skipped work that day to spend it in bed with his mistress.
Undone by his mobile.
Then of course there are all those movies where the bad guys are tracked down by their mobiles. The process is known as Triangulation, and I first heard the term in the movie Ronin.
It seems now that the day has arrived where we can all be tracked, and not just by wives or the secret service. Google has launched a new service called Latitude. This service allows Mobile Phone Users to track the movements of everyone in their contacts book. Now your wife or husband can anonymously check in on you at any time of the day and track your movements (Of course, a good counter surveillance technique would be just to leave the Mobile in the drawer of your desk).
Latitude plots the position of your Mobile user by finding out which phone masts or internet hot spots you are near to. Your position can then be viewed on Google Maps.
There are some restrictions you can apply to this. Firstly, you have to agree to it. But for many people, if your spouse approaches you and says: “Wouldn’t it be lovely if we could know where each other are at ALL times of the day?†Regardless of any guilty little secrets, the only answer to that is Yes.
Then there is the boss of course. How can you call in to tell him that someone left a sofa on the tracks and the train is delayed when your Google Maps Pin is planted firmly on your home address?
Google have added a Twitter element to this service, if you agree to your spouse tracking your every movement, you can provide a commentary with status updates to tell them exactly what you are doing. No dear, I am not in the pub. I am in the library next door
Jim - Prosperity.ie
Tags: Google Latitude