A new mobile phone application, Google Latitude, was introduced yesterday. It's an interesting new addition to Google Maps.

According to Google, with Latitude you can:

  •  See where your friends are and what they are up to
  •  Quickly contact them with SMS, IM, or a phone call
  •  Maintain complete control over your privacy

Err… Complete control? True, only the friends that you add/allow are able to follow your movements and Latitude does have a manual override function. But complete control? Perhaps it would be more accurate to claim that there are strong controls.

Assuming that you remember to use those controls of course.

If you want to maintain complete control over your privacy, you probably won't be installing Latitude.



On the other hand, if you're willing to share some of your personal details, Latitude could prove itself to be a really useful feature.

Updated to add: Reader Daniel S. posted a comment, Google has modified their text to:

  •  Control what your location is and who gets to see it