The conversation and the controversy on privacy also around mobile apps the their collection of only partially anonymous data will go on and with Google’s latest announcement it won’t get any better. And my point to accept sharing data with out loosing anything but for the benefit of a greater good gets lots of support through this:
If you use Google Maps for mobile with GPS enabled on your phone <..> your phone sends anonymous bits of data back to Google describing
how fast you’re moving. When we combine your speed with the speed of other phones on the road, across thousands of phones moving around a city at any given time, we can get a pretty good picture of live traffic conditions. We continuously combine this data and send it back to you for free in the Google Maps traffic layers. It takes almost zero effort on your part <..> and the more people that participate, the better the resulting traffic reports get for everybody.
Google’s response to your immediate privacy concerns is
We understand that many people would be concerned about telling the world how fast their car was moving if they also had to tell the world where they were going, so we built privacy protections in from the start. We only use anonymous speed and location information to calculate traffic conditions <..>. We use our scale to provide further privacy protection.
I do not think a “I’m doing 120 here on this little road – there can not be any congestion here” message from my mobile phone will hold enough usable evidence to fine me for speeding. And should I consider robbing a bank or killing my neighbor and have the intention to escape by car and know that this is my only weak spot to not be caught, I will seriously consider to opt-out of the service before departure.
If you’d like to stop your phone from sending anonymous location data back to Google, you can find opt-out instructions here.
Cant wait to see this work in Europe/Zurich/Stuttgart(?)…
Read more details on the Google blog at http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/08/bright-side-of-sitting-in-traffic.html
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If you use Google Maps for mobile with GPS enabled on your phone your phone sends anonymous bits of data back to Google describing how fast you’re moving.