In what may turn your friend, your mom or even you into a modern-day Big Brother, Google's newest application, Latitude, allows you to broadcast your exact location to your friends and family.
Available for any computer and on certain smartphones that are GPS-enabled, the application utilizes information from GPS satellites and cell towers to pinpoint a user's location.
On a computer, the application can be added to iGoogle and users can either manually enter their location or use their computer's WiFi to determine it.
Latitude displays users friends' Google icons on Google Maps, allowing users to call, text or instant message them quickly.
Users can also update their status messages.
Thus far, the biggest complaints leveled at Google's latest piece of technology have been about the issue of privacy.
Critics worry that Google will collect and store information on users' locations.
However, Google has said that it only stores a user's most-recent shared location on its servers.
Latitude is also entirely opt-in, as one must approve another user's request for them to see their location and vice-versa.
In the past, Google has had to overhaul its privacy policies and practices due to public - and even legal - backlash.
"As long as I have complete control over it and there is complete transparency, I wouldn't mind using it," Wharton and Engineering junior Sagar Shah said.
Latitude also allows users to set the city they are located in or completely go off the grid by hiding their location entirely.
Geosocial networking services have become more prevalent in recent years. Several companies have launched applications hoping to capitalize on the growing number of GPS-enabled phones on the market.
Flickr allows users to "geotag" photos with the coordinates of where they were taken.
Meanwhile, one competitor to Latitude, Loopt, pushes for its members to broadcast their locations in order to meet people nearby who share similar interests and tastes.
Although some see Latitude as rather pointless, others speculate that the application could be helpful.
"It would be useful when you are traveling and could spark conversation about where you've been," Engineering junior Rohit Chandra said.
Some, however were more pessimistic in their assessment of Latitude's usefulness.
"If you were kidnapped or your phone was stolen, it would help," College sophomore Sarah Kurz said.
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