Comments on: on Women and location based systems

By: Alex

Alex — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 08:21:47 +0000

LBS systems would have to be very secure.
i wouldn’t use it to meet people around me on a random basis, but i would love to know whether people in a similar profession were around me. in fact, the main benefit in my eyes is being able to identify potential contacts in a Linked-In kind of way.

I think privacy settings would have to be very defined and easy to control and modify.

By: Uno

Uno — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 13:49:36 +0000

Thanks to all your responses!

I think the reason for my thinking is that most of the reviews you hear about a new location based web app are mostly from super excited geeks who really look forward to being able to chat up girls easier. And while I think guys might get really excited about being able to see who’s where, it’s going to freak girls out. They already have to deal with loads of unwanted attention, now even more!

And therefore, even though the tech is really really cool (in the geeky kind of way), we need to think about the unintended uses of technology and new apps, just because guys think it’s cool, doesn’t mean that girls will (which is, oh, 50% of the market)

By: Cath

Cath — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 12:13:15 +0000

Honestly, I would never want that kind of information transmitted anywhere. I am horribly private about my life and anal about it - I prefer to only let those people I know or want to have know such info, where I am, who I am and how I’m doing.

I would prefer my personal space and privacy respected at all times.

By: Kat Scholtz

Kat Scholtz — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 11:58:38 +0000

I have to agree with Eve. The idea of people knowing where I am coupled with private information about me makes me really uncomfortable, no matter how well I know them. I should be the only person with access to all that info. Even if I were single and looking, there’s just no scenario where “Hi, you have a really cute profile pic” isn’t a creepy introductory sentence.

By: SheBee

SheBee — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 11:56:01 +0000

I don’t know, it wouldn’t bother me too much to be honest. My info is available online in my blog anyway.

But to answer your question, would I really go and deliberately have it out there just so I could find someone? Hell to the NO!

I’m single, young and (sometimes) looking, but I definately don’t think I’d actually fill out an app like that purely to meet somebody.

By: Eve Dmochowska

Eve Dmochowska — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 11:48:47 +0000

Girl or no girl, I need to be 100% able to control what private information about me is available, and not just to strangers. I can think of countless situations where I would not want my location disclosed to even my nearest family (”I see you are by the store. Can you run in and get these thirteen things for me…”).

Of course, when circumstances change I can change my mind:-) At a 27 dinner, for instance, I would not mind letting all my friends (real or virtual) know that I am there.

Overall, I treasure my privacy. And I like being alone, a lot. It doesn’t happen often though, and to think that my hiatus from others could be interrupted because I was betrayed by my cellphone etc is not acceptable.

As for men knowing everything about me before I say a word, once again I do not limit that to just men in a bar. Ditto for my clients, future employers, my children, their friends etc. Basically, if I don’t want to see it plastered on the front page of a newspaper, I am not posting it. Granted, we can’t always control what is posted about us, but overall I think we at least can, and should, set a precedence of respectability.

By: justBcoz

justBcoz — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 11:38:50 +0000

No way!!!

I would never, ever want to broadcast that kind of info. There are some crazy people out there and I would definitely want to protect my privacy.