24/7 Alibi

In the BYU MOA a few months ago there was a very interesting exhibit.  The exhibit was a large white screen that had projected upon it a map with marker over the location of an individual.  This person had found himself a few years ago caught with out a solid alibi and was falsely accused of a crime.  Over time he was able to prove his innocence, but only after much difficulty.  Desiring to never be without an alibi again in his life he set up his own personal 24/7 alibi.

The man let the whole world know where he was at at all times.  What he did was pretty simple.  He kept a GPS constantly with him that fed his locational information back to a internet serve.  The server would then constantly display his location at all times to the whole world on an online webpage.  That way at any time he would always have a personal alibi.  He gave up his personal privacy for constant legal protection.  Today, anyone can do the same, but between friends.  I was introduced to this tool this last week by Morgan Wills called Google Latitude.

The tool is simple.  You don't have to set up your own server, nor carry a special separate GPS unit around with you.  All you have to do is download the application to your smart phone and turn it on.  By way tracking the time of you sms text to different towers it calculates your location and shares it with friends.  This offers new possibilities but also poses some new questions of privacy.

On what could be considered a positive side, it offers an extended hand for parents.  No longer will mom and dad have to call you to ask "Where are you?"  but instead they can track your every move as you are out with friends.  But on the scary flip side, you could only imagine the negative potential of the program if it were to be hacked into by someone of the seeking or stalking nature.

Is it worth the risk?