Location based services are making a huge push due to the overwhelming popularity of mobile devices. Social networks consume location data on a regular basis whether it's Facebook, Twitter, or Foursquare. Another niche that relies heavily on geography is location based search.
When a sticky-fingered thief pilfers your laptop, you rarely get a chance to track him down – unless you use Prey, that is. We've already covered how to use the GPS-enabled, screenshot-sending program to recover your notebook in just that circumstance, but creative researchers at MIT have started using Prey for a more humane effort. They've begun installing the software on second-hand electronics sent to developing countries in Indonesia, South Asia and Africa to help charities put a face to people who are helped by the donations.
A fun side-effect of the iOS secret-tracking fiasco is that a lot of other different types of location data and transmissions to and from your smartphone are being conflated into a huge pile of fevered paranoia. But! Don't freak out.
To simplify all this (hopefully), here's a chart that lays out what's happening on three of the major platforms.
The Next Web is reporting today on a plan in Beijing for the Chinese government to institute a program of tracking the citizenry using their mobile phones. If you think you know why they're doing this, you'd apparently be wrong. Officials claim the “Platform for Citizen Movement Information” will be used to monitor traffic flow. Sounds completely reasonable, right?
