| |
| META TOPICPARENT | name="SecondPaper" |
|---|
| |
<
< | Under Second Review | >
> | | | | | |
<
< | Taking Your Online Social Network Into the Streets | >
> | Grappling with Grindr | | | -- By BradleyMullins - 12 Dec 2009 | |
<
< | I’ve been a member of plenty of social networking websites, but have never questioned the effect these sites have had on my real-life friendships. With the transition of social networking to the mobile phone, however, comes a new opportunity: now not only can I know what things my friends are doing, but I can know where they are doing them. Yet Location-based social networking is not constrained merely to interactions among friends – some see it as having the great potential to operate as a convenient dating service, aligning potential mates not only by shared interests, but also by physical proximity. Some of these services, such as Skout operate simply: users are shown basic profiles that include the pictures of other members and a measurement of how far away the other members are from the user. A user is then able to initiate private conversation, as well send a more specific location. Other services, such as the UK’s StreetSpark, allow users to create more detailed profiles, which facilitates the ranking of potential mates’ compatibilities. One such service in particular has garnered a significant amount of media attention: Grindr. | >
> | With the transition of social networking to the mobile phone comes new opportunity. Some see Location-based social networking as having the great potential to operate as a convenient dating service, aligning potential mates not only by shared interests, but also by physical proximity. Some of these services, such as Skout operate simply: showing basic profiles, primarily pictures, and measurements of distance between users. Other services, such as the UK’s StreetSpark, allow users to create more detailed profiles, facilitating the ranking of potential mates’ compatibilities. One such service in particular has garnered a significant amount of media attention: Grindr. | | | | |
<
< | The Appeal of Grindr | >
> | Grindr’s Appeal | | | | |
<
< | Grindr is a GPS-enable social-networking service geared towards gay men (a version intended to be more inclusion of all orientations, however, is envisioned for the future). iPhone users are able to activate the service, whereupon a number of other users will appear. For each of these users, Grindr displays how many feet away that potential hookup is standing, along with a picture, a tagline, relevant characteristics such as age, height, and weight, and often a declaration of interest (some stated in more graphic terms than others). | >
> | Grindr is a GPS-enabled social-networking service available on the iPhone and geared towards gay men (a more inclusive version is envisioned for the future). For each user, Grindr displays how many feet away that potential hookup is standing, along with a picture, a tagline, relevant physical characteristics, and often a declaration of interest (some stated in more graphic terms than others). | | | | |
<
< | The founder of Grinder describes the goals of the service as relatively benign: to harness the power of the phone to allow users to escape their solitary lives, imposed by technology, and “reacquaint ourselves with our community.” Yet the obvious reality of Grindr is less broad. It is less a tool of social inclusiveness than a way to find a quick hookup with going through the hassle of posting a Craigslist ad. While such a service certainly holds an appeal to some segment of the population (and a quick survey of users in the Morningside Heights would indicate that its appeal is not limited by age or ethnicity), the enormous privacy concerns accompanying Grindr’s use seem to have been lost in most discussions about it. | >
> | The founder of Grinder describes his goals as relatively benign: to harness the power of the phone to allow users to escape their modern solitary lives, imposed by technology, and “reacquaint ourselves with our community.” Yet in reality Grindr is less a tool of social inclusiveness than a quick way to find a quick hookup. While such a service certainly holds an appeal to some segment of the population (and a quick survey of users in the Morningside Heights would indicate that its appeal is not limited by age or ethnicity), the enormous privacy concerns accompanying Grindr’s use have been lost in most discussions about it. | | | | |
<
< | Privacy in the Grindr World | >
> | Privacy and Grindr | | | | |
<
< | Grindr is essentially a tool for finding a sexual encounter among nearby strangers. Ignoring the fact that physically proximity is hardly a great indicator of sexual compatibility, Grindr also places sex, something that at least used to be considered a fairly private activity, in a very public sphere. It is therefore surprising that, in reviewing a number of articles about Grindr and similar services, only one actually raised privacy concerns. | >
> | Grindr is essentially a tool for finding a sexual encounter among nearby strangers. Ignoring the fact that physically proximity is hardly a great indicator of sexual compatibility, Grindr also places sex, something that at least used to be considered a fairly private activity, in a very public sphere. It is therefore surprising that, in reviewing a number of articles about Grindr and similar services, only one raised privacy concerns. | | | | |
<
< | The privacy concerns associated with Grindr come in numerous forms. One is associated with all location-based services: personalized advertising based on a user’s location. Many services intend to profit by providing advertisers with information about users’ locations, thereby allowing the advertisers to send deals based on that location. Grindr’s privacy policy explicitly allows this, although it claims to only share aggregate information unlike to specific users’ Device Information Codes (“DIC”). Still, it may be quite disturbing to see a lunch special from a local restaurant appear based on the fact that you are searching for a quick hookup in the area. | >
> | Privacy concerns associated with Grindr come in numerous forms, concerns that are present even if geolocation information is secure, as other experiences demonstrate is unlikely. One privacy concern is personalized advertising based on a user’s location. Many services intend to profit by providing advertisers with information about users’ locations, thereby allowing local advertisers to send deals. Grindr’s privacy policy explicitly allows this, although it claims to only share aggregate information unlike to specific users’ Device Information Codes (“DIC”). Still, it may be quite disturbing to see a lunch special from a local restaurant appear based on the fact that you are searching for a quick hookup in the area. | | | | |
<
< | A second privacy concern relates to the misuse of the information provided by Grindr to other users. (stalking, personal information, complacency, chat roulette, constitutional protections) | >
> | A second privacy concern relates to the misuse of the information provided by Grindr to other users. This is primarily a fear of stalking, as Grindr’s provision of location makes it possible, if not easy, for an overly persistent admirer to track a user down. Grindr’s own privacy policy admits that sophisticated users of the service may be able to determine another user’s location, even if the display of location information is turned off. | | | | |
<
< | All of the above mentioned location-based social networks present privacy concerns. All also attempt to alleviate these concerns in some way. For services like foursquare, which are primarily directed more towards sharing location with an already-established group of friends, the privacy concerns may be less substantial. Foursquare allows users to go “off-the-grid,” meaning that friends will be able to see that a user has “checked-in” at a certain time, but not the user’s location. Interestingly enough, however, foursquare’s privacy policy does not once mention users’ location information. While foursquare does generally promise not to sell users’ “personal information,” it leaves open the ability to distribute users’ locations. This is clearly beneficial to foursquare, as it intends to make it profit by facilitating advertising between businesses and nearby foursquare users. Users, however, may find it obtrusive, not to mention creepy, to be presented with a new offer every time they walk by the local Pizza Hut. | >
> | The third, and perhaps most pressing, privacy concern is that use of services such as Grindr will make users more amenable to the sharing of what was once considered very private information. This, in turn, may lead to greater complacency when it comes to other forms of surveillance. Grindr functions only through users sharing information about their sexual lives in a very public manner. Just using the service basically indicates that a user is looking for sex in a particular location. Many users convey many more details – either through explicit details mentioned in profiles, or through conversations with users through Grindr’s messaging service. What is unclear, however, is what Grindr does with these conversations. Due to its geolocation abilities, Grindr not only knows who you are talking to and what you are talking about, but it can actually determine whether you move closer to that person (movement which may not be difficult to analyze). | | | | |
<
< | One of foursquare’s competitors, Gowalla? , is somewhat more straightforward in its privacy policy. It even attempts to instill a bit of privacy concern in its users, stating: “Please note, though, that by its nature, your location information is subject to abuse, misuse, and over-monitoring by others including, perhaps, by your friends, family, or acquaintances.” Gowalla places some of the responsibility for maintaining privacy on the users themselves, by requiring users to adjust their privacy settings to prevent their location from being shared publicly. Gowalla also explicitly states that it “does not share your personally identifiable information or personally-identifiable location information with other, third-party companies for their commercial or marketing use without your express consent.” Note that “location information” is qualified by the term “personally-identifiable” – this implies that there is some degree of location information that may be shared, but not how this information is delineated. | >
> | Grindr attempts to soften privacy concerns by noting that it does not require users to register, thereby alleviating the need to assign names or email addresses to users. Yet Grindr is directly tied to a user’s iPhone, which likely has many other linked apps that may raise other security concerns and contain other personal information, such as Facebook. By not requiring users to register, Grindr may actually be creating a false sense of anonymity that lures users into complacency about privacy in the search for a quick and convenient hookup. | | | | |
<
< | Privacy concerns become even more apparent with services that do not limited the sharing of location information solely to a user’s selected friends. While a service like Grindr only provides distance and not directional information, it would not be difficult to see how such services could be used to facilitate stalking – never mind the awkwardness of turning on the service to find a bevy of other users zero feet away. A service like foursquare can also present a risk, even with privacy settings limiting information to friends. All it takes is for one user to “check-in” at a house party for a private address to be shared with the entire foursquare community. | >
> | Reaffirming the Value of Privacy | | | | |
<
< | Finding a Balance | >
> | While services such as Grindr may initially seem to provide a somewhat reasonable trade-off between privacy and convenience (and admittedly did seem so to me), a more careful examination shows that it is a dangerous tool for even its small target audience. It is particularly dangerous because it represents another step towards a complete societal acceptance of zero privacy in even the most intimate aspect of one’s personal life.
It is important that people think before using a service such as Grindr, and this thinking should be promoted through education. Part of this education should occur with the use of a service – explicit indications in terms of use that a service, by its very nature, abrogates privacy. But terms of use are rarely read, so education the increasing manner in which information technologies impeded upon privacy needs to be imparted on society more broadly. Rather than focusing only on cyberbullying and internet predators, and educators should encourage frank conversations about how public the internet really is. Users should learn to question new technologies rather than trust than, something I am just learning to do. At the very least, a Grindr user should be aware that there is a good chance that his picture and hookup attempts will be put up for discussion and ridicule on a very public website. | | | | |
<
< | Location-based social networks offer a number of potential benefits, but at the cost of privacy. Because these services are based upon the utilization of user's location, however, most users will likely at least consider the impact they may have on privacy before signing up. For this reason, the privacy concerns are somewhat less alarming than those presented by other services that record and use users location in a more clandestine manner, such as Sprint's sharing of customer information. As for location-based social networks, if their use actually result in more people engaging in face-to-face communication, perhaps that benefit will outweigh the privacy cost. | | |
- Bradley, you have to be kidding. Surely it occurs to you
| | | activity would seem like an almost good idea to someone. You
might want to narrow down the analysis to the range it really
needs.
\ No newline at end of file | |
>
> | * Prof. Moglen, thank you for your frank comments. In my first draft, I diluted my analysis by casting far too wide a net. In this revision, I attempted to focus only on a single geolocation service, one that is geared just towards the group you mentioned: those seeking a hookup. When I did so, I was forced to grapple with the realities of the privacy concerns involved, rather than glossing over them as part of some reasonable trade off. I hope that this revision somewhat clarifies things, but I would of course appreciate any further comments. | | | \ No newline at end of file |
|