TheFeature :: Location-aware Devices, Privacy, and UI Design

Location-aware Devices, Privacy, and UI Design by Howard Rheingold is a solid treatment of the tough trade-off between this possibly very useful technology set and the privacy issues that it raises. I’m also interested in the set of issues as it maps to online social networks. I’ve thought, several times, that a granular approach to profiles on sites like Friendster and Tribe.net would be a better approach than the all or nothing/almost nothing approach that these sites currently employ. After all, I would, for instance, want a potential mate to see a different set of things about me than a distant buddy that I hit the pubs with once in a while. Not, mind you, in the sense that there would be a lack of integrity between the two.