[David Strom's Web Informant] 21 June 2010: Becoming more location-aware

[David Strom]

Web Informant 21 June 2010: Becoming more location-aware

With the news that earlier this month that the Air Force launched a
new GPS satellite that can resolve your location down to a few feet, a
growing number of location-based services are getting lots of
attention for their ability to create new social opportunities. Just
the other day I met up with an acquaintance at a local grocery store:
he was updating his status on Foursquare as I was checking to see who
else I knew on the service was in the store. I looked around and said
hello, and we both went about our business, back to interacting with
our iPhones.

While Foursquare.com is the most popular, there are numerous other
services including Yelp.com, Google’s Latitude, Whrrl.com, Loopt.com,
Brightkite.com, and Gowalla.com. There is even a site called
checkinmania.com that will track updates on three of these sites and
mash them up on a Google map together. These services all work in a
similar fashion: you download the app to your smartphone or use an
ordinary Web browser to indicate your current location. The smartphone
apps can make use of the built-in GPS to determine where you are and
present you with a list of potential businesses nearby. You claim one
of these as your current location (or create a new listing) and the
app notifies all your contacts where you are. The downside is that you
need to create a new network of contacts for each service, although
some of them can leverage your existing Twitter or Facebook address
list. Users get awarded points for frequent check-ins and get to
display that they are “mayors” of places that they frequent. (For some
odd reason, I am the mayor a drug store near my sister’s apartment in
New York City. Go figure.)

But apart from providing new opportunities for stalkers and thieves
(pleaserobme.com is one notable site that used to list homes that were
unoccupied based on the occupant’s status messages), what can IT
managers learn from these apps?

First, if you are going to get involved with these services, decide
early on which one you are recommending, if you are indeed going to
recommend any, for your user base to get behind. Each service has its
own network and can’t share information elsewhere, other than on
Twitter or Facebook. The Wall Street Journal now has an icon where
readers can click on an “add to Foursquare” button similar to the
numerous “ShareThis” sites.

Second, understand the privacy issues that you create if your
employees start using these services frequently. Should you be able to
monitor someone’s whereabouts during off hours? What if they are
supposed to be a business trip to Boise, but are really having a
soiree in Boston? Do the usage of these apps fall under the
responsibility of the human resources, legal, or IT departments?
Certainly, you should take a look at your existing privacy policies
and make sure you are covered. An article that tackles the larger
issues (think EZPass toll collection devices and red light cameras)
can be found on the Electronic Frontier’s web site here.
http://www.eff.org/wp/locational-privacy

Next, if you don’t have any corporate policy with what employees link
to their Facebook and Twitter accounts, even their private accounts,
now is the time to give this issue more thought. Should your people be
permitted or prohibited to tie these location services into their
status messages? Should you care that some of the status messages are
not suitable for the workplace?

If you have a retail business with an actual physical address, these
location services have become new ways to attract customers. You can
use the location services to publish limited time discounts or other
offers for frequent visitors. Many Bay Area restaurants are doing
this, for example, (and even a few here in St. Louis) and the entry
cost is minimal. Some consumer product companies are beginning to
pitch to Foursquare mayors as the influencers of their particular
locations. Writing for a blog seems like so yesterday. And I have
written about Aisle411, a startup company that is going very location
specific by allowing consumers to find the specific aisle in a big box
store that they are in.

Finally, these services can represent yet another tool in the arsenal
of digital background checks that hiring managers can use to research
your past. That means you might want to reconsider whether or not to
post that you are doing shots night after night at the local bar, or
even that you are at the local bar night after night.