[PCWorld]

Post your comments for Girls Around Me: One Woman's Defense of the 'Stalking' App here

[ClaudeD]

this app is a natural development and direct offshoot of facebook and twitter social type services. Some of us could consider this as useful app for perverts but to the less street smart crowd its a really neat tool. Additionally whats so interesting about this is there will be more of these privacy invading apps made for users who are to inept to understand that the "security" they constantly cry about is a big 0 on a scale of 1 to 10 compared to apps like this that is an 11.

[wildcatherder]

It's perfectly fair to extend the "knows my name" argument to grown women. Every successful con game depends on prior knowledge of the target. Whether you are conning someone into bed or out of their inheritance, pretending to know someone is the best first step.

[JimJones]

ClaudeD, on 03 April 2012 - 08:00 AM, said:

this app is a natural development and direct offshoot of facebook and twitter social type services. Some of us could consider this as useful app for perverts but to the less street smart crowd its a really neat tool. Additionally whats so interesting about this is there will be more of these privacy invading apps made for users who are to inept to understand that the "security" they constantly cry about is a big 0 on a scale of 1 to 10 compared to apps like this that is an 11.

Is it an invasion of privacy if you deliberately and methodically make these things public?

[ChrisFein]

wildcatherder, on 03 April 2012 - 08:00 AM, said:

It's perfectly fair to extend the "knows my name" argument to grown women. Every successful con game depends on prior knowledge of the target. Whether you are conning someone into bed or out of their inheritance, pretending to know someone is the best first step.

Exactly. And let's not forget that you only have to be 13 years old to have a Facebook account, and lots of not-yet-grown women are running around with smartphones. So we aren't just talking about "grown women" here.

If anyone wants to blame those who "share too much," would it be too awfully much to ask Facebook and other social apps to be more up-front, more user-friendly, and less sneaky and underhanded regarding privacy settings? I don't want to be looked up by people I knew 30 years ago, so my privacy walls stay sky-high (I *think*). But for those people who DO want to be found by old friends -- and there's not a thing wrong with that -- I wonder how they navigate the user-hostile myriad of ever-changing pages involved in Facebook's privacy settings, and strike a good, safe balance (without being nailed for "sharing too much")?

[Bn0yi]

wildcatherder, on 03 April 2012 - 08:00 AM, said:

It's perfectly fair to extend the "knows my name" argument to grown women. Every successful con game depends on prior knowledge of the target. Whether you are conning someone into bed or out of their inheritance, pretending to know someone is the best first step.

Yep! Here's the risk. A woman is leaving the grocery store. A stranger comes up and says "Hi! You are Susan, right? I know your brother Paul. He and I go to State U. together. Listen, I'm having a little bit of trouble with my car. Would you give me a hand for a sec?"

Growing up female means that you learn very early not to trust strangers in parking lots. But, this guy isn't a stranger, is he? He knows my brother.

But that said, there is probably no stopping this. Privacy in the public sphere is history. About the best we can hope for is that some enterprising young woman will create a "Block me from appearing in GAM" app.

[Alfinisti]

Data hates a vacuum. If you commit data to social sites,or the cloud fully expect it to be used in a manner that may not be to your liking, and you will have no recourse.

[Alfinisti]

Data hates a vacuum. If you commit data to social sites,or the cloud fully expect it to be used in a manner that may not be to your liking, and you will have no recourse.

[unbound]

A lot of things wrong with the article, but I'll just focus on one:

"Certainly, there's the argument that grocery stores give when there's a lost kid wandering the aisles -- don't say the child's name over the intercom, because a child is more likely to go with someone who knows their name (even if that someone is a stranger). But I don't think it's fair to extend that argument to grown adult women."

The kid isn't going to walk out with a stranger in that circumstance...the kid is looking for the parent and the store isn't going to hand the kid over to some stranger the kid doesn't know just because they know the kids name. This is one of the most painfully stretched strawman arguments I've seen in quite a while.

[MarioGutierrez]

I think you've made several invalid assumptions here:

(1) That only geeky nerds and maybe dashing young bachelors will use the app. On the contrary, it is quite likely that it will be embraced by genuinely creepy people.

(2) The already pointed out assumption that only "grown" women will be visible.

(3) That the stalker will need to come up with a pickup line and be socially convincing. Check today's headlines for the unfortunate end of the case regarding the barista who was kidnapped at gunpoint in Anchorage. You think the perpetrator bothered with a pickup line?

[AdminMalvern]

unbound, on 03 April 2012 - 09:29 AM, said:

The kid isn't going to walk out with a stranger in that circumstance...the kid is looking for the parent and the store isn't going to hand the kid over to some stranger the kid doesn't know just because they know the kids name. This is one of the most painfully stretched strawman arguments I've seen in quite a while.

You're assuming that store staff has the kid. More often the parent goes to store staff and says "My little girl, Sarah, is missing". It's in this case that the store announces "There is a missing child wearing a blue and white dress". The article is correct. They don't give the child's name for EXACTLY the reason described.

[LuisLopezel1l]

ClaudeD, on 03 April 2012 - 08:00 AM, said:

this app is a natural development and direct offshoot of facebook and twitter social type services. Some of us could consider this as useful app for perverts but to the less street smart crowd its a really neat tool. Additionally whats so interesting about this is there will be more of these privacy invading apps made for users who are to inept to understand that the "security" they constantly cry about is a big 0 on a scale of 1 to 10 compared to apps like this that is an 11.

Within less than 30 seconds I was able to find out so much about you, it is almost comical.

Your real name, your activities, photos all your family members, even your dog. Your address, your hobbies....

If I was out to hurt you, I could make a guide and a plan in about an hour.

[FSocialStuff]

To all you foolish lemmings and sheeple: This is your fault. You can never stop the "public" from reading your publicly accessible data. None of you have met Zuckerberg, but you give him your life. Your child-like trust is your downfall, not his willingness to profit from your naive Internet policies. If you put your name on your mailbox, anyone can read it. Is that the postal service's fault?

[FSocialStuff]

LuisLopezel1l, on 03 April 2012 - 10:10 AM, said:

Within less than 30 seconds I was able to find out so much about you, it is almost comical.

Your real name, your activities, photos all your family members, even your dog. Your address, your hobbies....

If I was out to hurt you, I could make a guide and a plan in about an hour.

In 3 seconds I was able to learn more about you. Mainly that you are a devious, arrogant, trolling snoop with low self-esteem and a crying desire to impress strangers with your Internet skills. Your post reads like a carefully veiled threat. Forethought and reserve might be useful pursuits.

[flamed]

Alfinisti, on 03 April 2012 - 09:22 AM, said:

Data hates a vacuum. If you commit data to social sites,or the cloud fully expect it to be used in a manner that may not be to your liking, and you will have no recourse.

I don't understand why so many people don't agree with you. I agree 100%. I was taught young that Privacy is a priveledge and not a right. It was awarded to me when I was good and had earned the trust it came with, and when I hadn't my room got searched, and my locker was searched, and so forth and so on. I also learned the biggest lesson in regard to privacy that so many parents aren't willing to teach their children "NEVER commit anything to film or paper that you would be ashamed for the world to see or read"

[lotymoty]

Bn0yi, on 03 April 2012 - 09:16 AM, said:

wildcatherder, on 03 April 2012 - 08:00 AM, said:

It's perfectly fair to extend the "knows my name" argument to grown women. Every successful con game depends on prior knowledge of the target. Whether you are conning someone into bed or out of their inheritance, pretending to know someone is the best first step.

Yep! Here's the risk. A woman is leaving the grocery store. A stranger comes up and says "Hi! You are Susan, right? I know your brother Paul. He and I go to State U. together. Listen, I'm having a little bit of trouble with my car. Would you give me a hand for a sec?"

Growing up female means that you learn very early not to trust strangers in parking lots. But, this guy isn't a stranger, is he? He knows my brother.

But that said, there is probably no stopping this. Privacy in the public sphere is history. About the best we can hope for is that some enterprising young woman will create a "Block me from appearing in GAM" app.

This app is not using anything that's not publicly available from facebook, foursquare, etc. It is your own fault if you decide to share too much about your life with total strangers. If you are an adult woman you have no one to blame but yourself.

[leebo]

Bn0yi, on 03 April 2012 - 09:16 AM, said:

Growing up female means that you learn very early not to trust strangers in parking lots. But, this guy isn't a stranger, is he? He knows my brother.

But that said, there is probably no stopping this.

Sure you can stop it. Un-plug your keyboard if you can't control yourself from publicly publishing personal information. If I'm understanding correctly, all this app does is scan for info you already made public.
If some sick person is going to use the Internet to seek out a victim, they can already do it. This argument is basically the same as the gun argument.
People are so quick to assume the only use for an app like this is for evil. Maybe that's because it's designed to only display info about women. I wonder if the app creator was planning on coming out with a "Guys Around Me" app before everyone panicked. Actually, had he been smarter, he would have come out with that one first. I bet no one would have made a stink about it. Then he could have followed up with this app.

[aa915]

aa915, on 03 April 2012 - 10:44 AM, said:

flamed, on 03 April 2012 - 10:27 AM, said:

Alfinisti, on 03 April 2012 - 09:22 AM, said:

Data hates a vacuum. If you commit data to social sites,or the cloud fully expect it to be used in a manner that may not be to your liking, and you will have no recourse.

I don't understand why so many people don't agree with you. I agree 100%. I was taught young that Privacy is a priveledge and not a right. It was awarded to me when I was good and had earned the trust it came with, and when I hadn't my room got searched, and my locker was searched, and so forth and so on. I also learned the biggest lesson in regard to privacy that so many parents aren't willing to teach their children "NEVER commit anything to film or paper that you would be ashamed for the world to see or read"

Actually privacy *is* a right, and a constitutionally protected one at that.

[Mike97225]

Good article, there is far too much hysteria over this app and it is not even the first app to do this. Of course, there will be outliers of deviants, etc., and this app adds to the availability of more personal information in a local/immediate/random encounter. But I illustrate this situation in social media presentations by asking people whether they would seriously consider standing on the street corner waving to traffic with their pants pulled down. Most people agree that action does not fit their personality, then we discuss the online analogue of posting too much information in a public (and even supposedly private) online space. Online activities run by the same rules as the old days: is this something you want to publicly discuss with your great aunt?

[Jaker232]

An app for tracking grown women around you is indeed privacy-invading. Everyone deserves respect, as well privacy. Why should we go around following women we don't know because an app on Apple allows us to?

I could see the issue here because women could (possibly) sue Apple for privacy invasion. I'd love to see Apple confess it wasn't their fault that app wasn't developed and put on Apples' iTunes. If Apple made this confession it wasn't their fault, how are they going to find whoever made this app so they can sue them? They would point the finger towards the person who obviously made this app.

It's a good action Apple did to the app once it was reported, or more of a guess, found by its employees. If every guy had this app, it would disrespect women and so forth. We're trying to make a point here; whoever made this app is really stupid, or just trolling to get our attention to download the app for a ridiculous price.