Location Services will erode trust, smash hierarchy, and change the world
“Where are you?” Such a simple question. The raison d’etre of cell phones. And a question that will define the century. Location services are here to stay, and they will irrevocably change both the physical and psychological terrain of our planet. They will come to represent the apex of algorithmic intelligence– the endgame of targeted information. But in doing so, they will likely erode the foundations of truth and trust.
Really.
Location Services Can Bend the Truth
Let’s get to that last statement first, since it’s a pretty bold claim.
-
Say someone calls you and asks why you haven’t arrived at the [concert/meeting/date/train station]. If you tell them that you’re in a specific place, they believe you (unless they have a reason not to). But when location services are commonplace, it’s easy (trivial even) for someone to check if what you say is true. And at this point, two things will probably happen:
- If you are where you say you are, then you’re mentally categorized as someone who tells the truth—this time. (Fine, fine, I’m being a little cynical.)
- If you are not where you say you are, the relationship you have with this person might suffer permanently. The idea that someone would lie about things that are easily fact-checked is a pretty grave offense. Even if you think that no one will check, they do. Before location services, this was not possible.
- If you have your location disabled or if you choose not to display it, you will be mentally categorized as someone with something to hide. Just as a person who uses anonymous mailers or Web redirects is automatically suspect, a person who chooses not to display their location while indicating it verbally would be seen as untrustworthy.
- “Truth” then becomes synonymous with “revealing” instead of keeping things private. Opting out becomes seen as obstructing the truth.
People tend to err on the side of caution, and in this hypothetical future it’s seen as odd to not provide your location. It’s not inherently wrong: after all, it’s your right to do so. But it makes it seem as though you’re hiding something. Even if you aren’t.
“People Don’t Care About Privacy.”
Remember, none of this is due to some vague sense that people are less private in the future– it’s due to the fact that they already are. Mark Zuckerberg argued early in 2010 that privacy is “no longer a social norm” (garnering some heavy backlash, but he’s primarily still right). Parsons professor Bruce Nussbaum claims that the “backlash against Facebook has started“– in part because the college generation who it emerged to serve have now grown up and want to control who sees their personal data.
When you are 14 or 15, all you want in life is those 500 Friends. But when you hit 20, 21 22, you begin to want other things–love, [...] a great first job, family, maybe even privacy.
The generation that used Facebook to “share” are now furious that their employers (or the government) use it to look at their messages and photos — things they had once thought were “private”.
Kids grew up believing social media was their generation’s own special arena and now find it is not. After anger comes their efforts to shut out, narrow and control the images and content on Facebook. [...] By the way, my students tell me that their younger sisters and brothers don’t get their older siblings anger or quest for privacy. They’re still in the “Friending” stage, worrying about popularity, building their status, trying to get 500 digital friends, preferring distance, vague and safe relationships to real eyeball-to-eyeball relationships.
Are We Sharing Too Much?
The current generation of recent college grads have grown up surrounded by a technoculture of sharing, of over-posted indulgences and unwitting (and unnecessary) reveals, to the point where all this pour-your-heart-and-pertinent-demographic-data-out-online makes “the old folk” more than just uneasy: it turns them positively matriarchal. NY Magazine writer Emily Nussbaum (are they related?) writes:
“I feel bizarrely protective of [them], [even someone] I’ve met once—she seems so exposed. And that feeling makes me feel very, very old.
People are sharing more and more information—even if they’re often not aware of the future consequences of doing so.And nowhere is this more evident than in the rise of location-based services, or LBS (such as foursquare, loopt, and now facebook places).
Location, Location, Location
If you don’t know how Location Services work, basically you opt-in to a service that lets you voluntarily broadcast where you are. Typically these services are tied in to some kind of reward system: frequent visitors to a bar might get a free drink, or you might be able to find people you know at a new venue. However, it seems mostly of greatest use to advertisers. As a disclaimer, I’ve never really understood the point of these services (then again, I hated Twitter for two years: now look at me).
The potential implications of all this geolocation data was brought to a head in early 2010 by a website called PleaseRobMe. No, this wasn’t a joke—it simply showed the names and locations of anyone who had broadcasted (publicly) that they weren’t at home. This wasn’t meant to encourage robbery, any more than the typical 9-to-5 work schedule would. But it did serve to highlight just how much could be made of data that was being voluntarily shared without boundaries.
You might be thinking, “so what? If I don’t have anything to hide, and I’m not that interesting— I don’t care if people can find out all this data about me.” If you feel this way, the EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) provides some things to think about:
- Your employer doesn’t need to know things about whether, when, and where you went to church.
- Your co-workers don’t need to know how late you work or where you shop.
- Your sister’s ex-boyfriend doesn’t need know how often she spends the night at her new boyfriend’s apartment.
- Your corporate competitors don’t need to know who your salespeople are talking to.
To this I’ll add the appropriate “horrible person” rationale: your boss doesn’t need to know if you’re actually sick. Your teacher doesn’t need to know that you’re partying instead of studying. Your in-laws don’t need to know if you’ve gone to an AA meeting. Your friends don’t need to know you ditched them to go hang out with someone else. (Man, am I cynical or what? 
)
So what are we left with? Location services are here to stay, and doubtless will be used by the public at large once they hit “critical mass”—mainly to get a free smoothie, or tell their friends they’ve “arrived” (literally and figuratively). But all that data, and the simple connect-the-dots it enables for a whole range of undesirables (stalkers, governments, ad agencies, even irritating coworkers) is worth significant thought.
Location will make or break us, as a culture, in that it will fundamentally shape our future beliefs on personal privacy. The Web’s effect on privacy is still somewhat nascent: its disparate pieces are so scattered and disconnected that they don’t present a single “mode” of privacy or publicity. In fact, the only overriding decision one can make regarding Web privacy is to “opt out” entirely: don’t save cookies, don’t use ANY social media, don’t reveal anything about yourself, use anonymizers.
For most people, this isn’t practical or sensible—so online privacy becomes a matter of selectively opting-in at various websites. Much in the way that you give out your email address selectively, you also wouldn’t want it to accompany you to every website. But the “real world” is a real place, and your location is a pertinent piece of information in any context.
At some point in the future, when a large or perhaps even a majority of consumers are broadcasting their whereabouts, they’re almost guaranteed to give a different weight to the issue of privacy. Just as the current college generation grew up without any sense of the information they should keep private (something they are now trying to retroactively control), future generations will likely “opt-in” to more and more of these broadcasting services—that is, if they provide customers with enough value to be useful. (In the new economy, value is the driver of all consumer spending). These choices will, ultimately, define the “new norms” of private or public data. In other words, according to Zuckerberg we’ve already made that choice on Facebook. What choice will we make “IRL“?
What do you think of these ideas? Will our conscience, or our desire to appear “trustworthy”, force us into broadcasting our whereabouts? At that point, will we even feel forced, or will it seem natural and voluntary? Or will we decide to clamp down and keep ourselves “off the grid” unless there is significant value in changing our minds?
Or is all of this a sheer, unfounded paranoia? (I’m willing to accept that )
I’m really interested in your thoughts. Please, let me know what you think in the comments.
keyboard image by michaelaw
php image by kakaopor
broadcast from East 3rd St, New York
NEXT: Twitter Can Predict the Stock Market
PREVIOUSLY: Reviewed: the best iPhone finance tracking software
30 Comments
Trackbacks/Pingbacks
- Twitter Can Predict the Stock Market | App Culture - [...] Location Services Will Erode Trust, Smash Hierarchy, and Change the World [...]
- October Roundup: iPhone Finance, Predictive Twittering, & the Death of Privacy | App Culture - [...] Location services aren’t as harmless as you might think. People have been threatened, stalked, and burglarized– and that’s only ...
- The Appculture Ten-Week Report | App Culture - [...] RSS readers, our most popular posts have been on Location Services and the strange new world of Apple’s Mac OS ...
First-class info indeed. I’ve been seeking for this tips.
I was initially extremely pleased to find this particular web-site.I wanted to thanks for your time for this excellent read!! I absolutely loving every little bit of it and I’ve got you saved to look at brand-new information you post.
Yes, but perhaps these changes are not for everyone, it may be just fine. Some people do not want the world to help, do not want to change their view of reality, in the end I just do not understand why this is a problem. Sometimes, I just want to know something universal and utopian ideas are not only ungrateful people of the current situation arrise. If someone wants to make the world a better place, they only own the right decisions and habits, or just accept it.
Ear deformities, especially in children can become a target for
the less caring children resulting in the child being ridiculed and teased.
Purchase shampoo or other hair care products that are meant specifically for people with thinning hair.
Your hair protected the top of the head from the
elements.
Here is my web page: lasercap laser tag
lasercap laser tag recently posted lasercap laser tag
Quite a few treatment centers impose as per the time required each meeting.
They use a multi-therapeutic approach, trying to win the war on hair loss by using every possible angle.
While you’re trying to restore your tresses, try to
avoid them.
Feel free to visit my homepage … top hair growth products for women
top hair growth products for women recently posted top hair growth products for women
Marvelous, what a webpage it is! This web site
gives valuable information to us, keep it up.
Hotel Frankfurt Oder recently posted Hotel Frankfurt Oder
HCG does not occur naturally in men, however if used by men it would maintain a steady level production of testosterone.
It helps more when you have a fitness or weight reduction buddy.
4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0cm; mso-para-margin-right:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:
10.
Stop by my web page: best hcg drops to use
best hcg drops to use recently posted best hcg drops to use
Ron Jeremy Moby- Stars Sublime- Date Rape Kid Rock- Cowboy
Los Umbrellos- No Tengo Dinero Everclear- The Boys are Back in Town. There are many natural beauty products used, if you have one, replace them by a
similar option. Sun lab Inc is one of the many companies
that have come out with tanning solutions for the general public.
Feel free to visit my web-site :: fake tan reviews australia
fake tan reviews australia recently posted fake tan reviews australia
For one thing, the booth encourages more intimacy when the whole
family does get together for a meal. A kitchen must provide an efficient working
place, even while it looks good. Old electrical wiring in a house built 30 or more years ago could have failing insulation and be
a fire waiting to happen.
My web site … fort lauderdale liquid plumber reviews seattle
fort lauderdale liquid plumber reviews seattle recently posted fort lauderdale liquid plumber reviews seattle
Your syndicate agreement does not have to be a complex document.
I have been using products from Newfields Baits for a while and their green lipped
mussel extract is simply amazing. If you’re worried
about your stored wine going bad in the heat of your boat, you need to invite me over.
Review my web page dunnage tool boxes for trailers
dunnage tool boxes for trailers recently posted dunnage tool boxes for trailers
I was a full time atfiliafe for about a year and a half, and took some of my atfiliafe monies and opened up a gym(crossfitkingspoint.com) with my fiance. I look at it as a very long term and very profitable campaign. Never been happier!
Andriot Jean-Luc / Good evening,I see the retsitragion is now closed.Can we show up Monday and register on site or there no more room?Thanks,Have a great week-end
This herbal solution will help you achieve picture perfect hair once more.
To get hair loss reviews for both male as well as female hair loss treatments along with extensive advice ensure that you visit is
a fellow sufferer of hair loss and highly recommends the revolutionary
Hair – Max Laser Comb to stop thinning hair.
Any cosmetic plastic procedure could be a
worthwhile and extraordinary experience for both the patient
and surgeon, if this is done in the light of surgical standards in term of safety.
Here is my blog post – laser capsulotomy
laser capsulotomy recently posted laser capsulotomy
It’s you who will be making them money, and you, who will be driving the traffic to their offers.
There are exceptions to the general rule that all debts will be wiped out by a
Chapter 7 bankruptcy. CPAs do not follow in the personality trait footsteps
of their accounting brethren.
My blog post :: boca raton cpa john miller Cbs news
boca raton cpa john miller Cbs news recently posted boca raton cpa john miller Cbs news
This website was… how doo I say it? Relevant!! Finally I’ve found
something which helped me. Kudos!
Karin recently posted Karin
Thus we became noobs on the water when we purchased our 1957 Sea King with a 1964 Johnson motor.
Given a choice, our primates will eat nothing but bananas.
Her husband, Ian, is a pilot at the New River Air Station near Camp Lejeune.
My homepage – marine replace refrigerator gasket
marine replace refrigerator gasket recently posted marine replace refrigerator gasket
So they may have an employment contract for 2 or 3 years
subsequent to the actual sale of the business. Offer in Compromise: An Offer in Compromise is not an easy option to qualify for when you have Back IRS Taxes.
These “backlinks” are very important to your CPA website’s
search engine rankings.
my homepage: Boca Raton CPA masks
Boca Raton CPA masks recently posted Boca Raton CPA masks
You will now have an even better roadmap to CPA offers that
many experienced affiliates probably wish they had when they started
out — What are the different types of CPA offers. Harry
Reid says that an investor from Bain Capital admitted that Mitt
Romney didn’t pay taxes for 10 years. CPA is of great way to make the strategies related to business and financial strategies in such an effective way that can help to chart the business and
individual paths.
Stop by my webpage – boca raton classifieds uppababy stroller
boca raton classifieds uppababy stroller recently posted boca raton classifieds uppababy stroller
Your daily metabolism consists of 4 different components:.
If this new discovery could actually drain fat cells and transform to
positive natural energy, it might actually help people with obesity.
It is also essential that you have to include those foods that taste good in the
diet plan.
my blog post hcg weight loss online
hcg weight loss online recently posted hcg weight loss online
Spot on with this write-up, I really feel this site needs far more attention. I’ll probably be back again to read through more, thanks for the info!
Also visit my site jeu de casino estrie
jeu de casino estrie recently posted jeu de casino estrie
If you have a ton of email to go through using Rules
Wizard is like having a personal assistant
helping you organize Microsoft Outlook. This
can be challenging and you have to get the appropriate tools and materials that can certainly
help you pass the certification exam. If you don’t know the answer, it’s the proficiency to use the different applications that are part of the Microsoft Office suite.
Feel free to surf to my web page … Windows 7 Service Pack 1 Activator
Windows 7 Service Pack 1 Activator recently posted Windows 7 Service Pack 1 Activator
Thanks for every other excellent article. The place else could anybody get that kind of
info in such an ideal approach of writing? I have a presentation subsequent week,
and I’m at the look for such info.
piece of shit recently posted piece of shit
I just like the helpful info you supply on your articles.
I’ll bookmark your blog and test again right here frequently.
I am reasonably sure I will learn many new stuff proper right here!
Good luck for the next!
xbox live silver recently posted xbox live silver
Hi there colleagues, its fantastic article about teachingand completely explained, keep it up all the time.
download garageband for pc recently posted download garageband for pc
Informative article, totally what I wanted to find.
Feel free to surf too my site ceiling joist
ceiling joist recently posted ceiling joist
Ꮲlսmbегѕ ɑгe cօverᥱԀ wіtҺ іnsᥙгаnce ɑs a rеԛuігеmеnt.
Τɦiѕ wаʏ уօu ᴡіⅼⅼ Ьe ɑbⅼе tо ѕаνе ᥙp a lοt ߋf mοney bеϲаսѕᥱ
уoᥙ ԝօᥙⅼd not ɦаѵе to
sҺеlⅼ оսt tɦouѕands fог biցցеr геpaіг wогк.
Ԝhеn instаllіng
ρірᥱѕ, ⲣⅼumbᥱrѕ aге caⅼlеԀ bᥱcаսѕе ᴡіtҺоսt tɦᥱ ρгоpег іnstɑⅼⅼаtіߋn оf ρірᥱѕ,
we cannоt һaᴠе prоρеr ѡatег ѕᥙpρly ɑnd ѕanitаtіߋn іn οuг оfficеs and һοmeѕ.
Wһat ʏοս neeԁ іѕ ѕօmе геᴠiеѡѕ, and
tο fіnd a һiցɦly rерᥙtаƅlе ϲⲟmpany, ԝһeге сan үоu fіnd thіѕ.
ӏt աοսⅼԁ Ьe an aɗdeɗ aɗѵɑntaցе
if thе cߋmρany waѕ аѕѕосіɑtеԀ
ѡіtɦ a bеѕt рrɑctіcеѕ οrցаnizаtіοn. Ƭhе ԁаtа
ⲣlatᥱ pгⲟvіԀеs tҺе name and aɗdгеѕѕ
ߋf tҺе mɑnufaϲtᥙгіng ρlɑnt, sᥱгіaⅼ numƄeг аnd mοdеⅼ ɗеsіǥn, ԁatе οf manufactᥙге, a stɑtеmеnt that tһᥱ
ɦօmе cօnstгuctіⲟn cߋmρliᥱѕ ᴡіtɦ
thе ΗUᎠ ϲߋⅾe,
thе ϲеrtifіcаtiоn labᥱⅼ numƅᥱr(ѕ), ԁеtɑilѕ оf
fɑсtߋгy installеɗ
еqᥙiрmеnt, tҺе гⲟof lоɑɗ ᴢone ɑnd աіnd lоaⅾ
zone thаt ɑpρlіᥱѕ tߋ thе ɦοmе’ѕ ɗеsіɡn ɑnd tɦе aρⲣrⲟνing aցencу fοг thе Һⲟmе’s
ԁеѕіǥn. Ꮃoгɗ οf mοսtɦ aԀѵᥱгtіѕing іѕ оne ѡɑʏ tο fіnd а fаіг prісe fгⲟm
рⅼᥙmƅегѕ.
Τһοѕе ԝitɦ
no Ьaѕеmᥱnt уⲟu ᴡіll ɦaνе tо ⅾеѵiѕе a locatіоn fߋг ԁіscгеtе acϲеѕs.
Јߋint еffοгt ⲟf ρlumbіng engineегіng ᴡіtһ ߋtɦег Һߋmе Ԁеѕign ⲣrߋfesѕіonaⅼѕ іѕ
tɦe սltіmаtᥱ геɑѕоn that ᥱnsuгеѕ tһе Һօme іѕ buiⅼt
in an օгgɑnized fօгm ɑnd a рleasаnt ρⅼacе tօ liνе іn.
ᎢҺerеfοге rаtҺег tɦan Һігing ɑn ߋгԀinaгу рⅼᥙmbᥱг
ᴡе ѕɦοulɗ
cⲟntаct cⲟmрaniеѕ ᴡҺiϲɦ օffегѕ tɦᥱ hіgҺeѕt գᥙalіty plᥙmƅіng sеrᴠіces.
Ⅿy bⅼοg ρⲟѕt; Bathroom Remodeling In Pittsburgh
Bathroom Remodeling In Pittsburgh recently posted Bathroom Remodeling In Pittsburgh
Thanks for this site
Good content and Very helpful
Best of luck
Shayan recently posted Cubase pro 9 (audio editor) free download
Hello it’s me, I am also visiting this web page on a regular basis, this web page is truly fastidious and the viewers
are truly sharing pleasant thoughts.
Vastu Consultant recently posted Vastu Consultant
When I originally commented I seem to have
clicked the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and
now every time a comment is added I receive 4 emails with the same comment.
Perhaps there is an easy method you can remove me from that service?
Appreciate it!
Astrologers in Pallavaram recently posted Astrologers in Pallavaram
I was recommended this website by my cousin. I’m not certain whether or not
this submit is written by way of him as no one else understand such distinct about my trouble.
You’re incredible! Thanks!
Land Management Chennai India recently posted Land Management Chennai India