Should They Always Know Where You Are?

No 'They' should not and no I am not. Who the f$%# are 'they' anyway? Are 'we' Chattel?

As long as they wish to provide it as a service. And only track those that subscribe to their service I'm okay with it. What I'm not okay with is the implications what can be done with it. The tracking of individuals by government with out court order bypassing our right to privacy. The use by others with unlawful intent.

I don't know what laws have evolved with the development of GPS. It was developed as a navigational tool. To use it with out consent as a tracking tool I believe should be against privacy rights with out due process.

With that are these companies that have developed this application so secure in the storage of their data that it can not be accessed by others. We have seen over time that even parts of our governments that store personal data are not.

This I believe is another way big brother is watching. Just work it into society slowly as a service until it's over looked.

Do we really want anyone to know when we are taking a dump!

Would simply turning the phone off disable the GPS and therefore the tracking?

If entirely voluntary, and if it can be switched off at any time, then maybe it would be useful. But if it caught on and became widespread, then it could be open to abuse.

Governments could use it for law enforcements, initially to catch deliberate law breakers, which is something we would all like, and thus become enacted by public approval. And then by stealth new laws would evolve, based on this new technology. If the Govt knows who you are, where you are and when you are, then the temptation to impose new tax raising laws couldn't be resisted.

A selective pre-paid charge for city access by vehicles, but refined to include/exclude certain roads at certain hours/minutes on certain days for specific types of vehicles (and why not colour, or whether it is dry or raining, snowing?) all automatically changed daily with one hour notice - all in the name of efficient flow control by integrated traffic lights - then backed up by hefty fines for contravening the laws (automatically docked from your bank account because you had to register your credit with the Govt in order to obtain the original pass).

The computer controlling the daily parameters and traffic lights then programmed to trap vehicles in high penalty zones for the purpose of maximising the revenue from fines....and why not devise the same for people - free transport on public trains and buses if you have previously obtained a pass - but heavily penalised if not and if you got it wrong - for sitting in a seat facing the wrong way at 1.34 pm if the 3rd Monday of a month with an 'r' it, if you are married and live in an end terrace house - but not if the front door is pink.

Nice world!

Why is the GPS phone tracking tool always on by default? If the user is advanced enough to want to use this feature, then the user is probably advanced enough to figure out how to turn it on. A less advanced user is unlikely to even know that the feature exists, much less how to turn it off.

If I need directions to a restaurant, then I will activate the GPS mapping tool at the time that I wish to go there. What good reason is there for the phone company to be tracking and recording my position before have I even decided that I want my phone to tell me how to get to the restaurant?

I am totally opposed to tracking. Imagine if GPS was around during WWII. Hitler would have been able to track all his enemies and pick them up without any effort. Tracking can only promote a police state.

The last place I worked at had the Garmin navigator in my work truck and they had the tracking system on it. It never bothered me one bit to have them know whereI was and for how long.

It also helped me realize that my immediate manger was a lying sack of stuff. He would say I was some place I wasn't and chew me out over it from time to time. Fortunately the head manager took my suggestions to compare where he said I was and what I was supposedly doing to what the GPS unit said. As far as I know it proved I was right where I said I was when I said I was which meant I was most likely doing what I was supposed to be doing!

I have no problem with people tracking me. Going by what I do most days it would be a gawd awful boring thing to watch.

Tracking you at work is different from tracking you in your personal life. If your employer is paying your wages, he has the right to know if you are actually performing your job. But when one is on their own time, pursuing lawful but personal objectives, no one has the right to know what and where you are unless you choose to tell them.

Hello??????

Shades of George Orwell's "1984".......

You can run but you cannot hide