How have privacy advocates not jumped all-the-fuck over this one? I was sitting on the john just now, playing with my cell phone online, when I saw a new thing in the "What's Hot" section.. it was called "Find Things Nearby.."
I was like neat.. let's see what near me right now.. I'm in the bathroom of my work, but I can likely just put in the address and it will tell me. To my surprise, it KNEW. When I asked for directions, it GAVE ME DIRECTIONS FROM MY BUILDING.
Now I knew briefly that cell-phones could have GPS, because a friend of mine stole my old cell phone and sprinted down the street, promising to kill himself by jumping in front of traffic. This obviously concerned me, so when I called 911 I told them that he had my cell phone -- and they were able to use the GPS to track him down. I
assumed this was a feature my mother had opted-in for, since she had bought me the phone.
In shock, I went ahead and looked online for this and found:
http://archives.cnn.com/2001/TECH/pt...l.tracing.idg/
Someone with my cell phone number and the right access could pinpoint me in the world within 50 to 300 meters? How the hell does this stand up in courts?
(EDIT: for those wondering, I *did* wash my hands, because I pooped)