Building on the success of social media competitor Foursquare, Facebook will now offer members based in the US a feature to share location information with their online friends.
According to an article posted on the Guardian website:
“The feature allows users to ‘check in’ at locations which will then be shared with their friends and Facebook network but it is likely to raise concerns over safety. Users will also be able to browse shops, clubs and nearby venues to see which friends are nearby, leading to concerns it could put individual’s security at risk.
‘What we see with Facebook is a massive learning curve. Every time they make a change, consumers scramble to figure out the privacy settings,’ said Rainey Reitman, spokeswoman for Privacy Rights Clearinghouse in the US. ‘Location data is tied to people’s safety – if people know where you are, they know where you’re not. Your location data is some of the most sensitive data we have. I expect we’ll see from the get-go people who don’t understand how to control the privacy settings.’
Cue the inevitable privacy backlash!
I wonder how long it’ll be before Facebook will grant British users the chance to try out this feature?
Read the Guardian article here.
