Facebook and Mobile Social Location - The Day Real Privacy Concerns are Realized

Last week I attended the Twin Tech media event in Washington, D.C, and one topic that kept popping up in conversation was the issue of privacy in this relatively new world of mobile social networking.  Mobile social platforms designed to keep track of users' locations are all the rage, just like VGA camera-phones were many, many moons ago.

Though we may not be at the point where everyone can be found at the touch of a mobile screen, that day is approaching rapidly.  Not enough people have the smart phones or data plans necessary to properly execute global mobile social location.  The social location platforms that are available make it clear as to how users can safely maintain privacy, which is a relief.  Beyond that, the people using platforms like Loopt and Brightkite are those that normally ride the crest of the technology wave and are savvy about privacy concerns.  

That group of people is most certainly not representative of the Facebook user community, sadly.  If you could design a Pong-like game application for Facebook that bounced users' social security numbers instead of balls between the pads, Facebook users would not only play it, they would also recommend it daily to every single one of their friends.  Facebook is in the position of being a perfect launching platform for technology like mobile social location, and has already made it known that it intends to do that very thing.  

The reason we should be concerned about mobile social location is that Facebook is working on adding mobile social location to its mobile platform right now; couple Facebook mobile locating with a society that is quickly adopting smartphones and data packages, and you have millions of little homing beacons begging to be stalked.  

I'm certainly not saying that everyone will misuse the technology, or that everyone will be as stupid as to use it without taking precautions to protect their privacy.  But if one person with bad intent uses mobile social locating to harm someone without the wherewithal to protect his or her own privacy, the government and media groups will be all over the "danger" that is technological advancement.  As we all know, what the government or media groups don't understand is a threat (or terrorism, as it is called today), and some Jack Thompson character will be shouting from a soapbox for laws that either ban mobile social networking or allow the government to monitor our social accounts.  

Even with the best laid safeguards, Facebook could be just too big of a platform for mobile social locating to be executed in a safe manner.  All we can do now is sit back and hope that by the time that the feature launch and the widespread adoption of next-gen mobile handsets meet, consumers have been made aware to the dangers of being too connected and available.