
Google Trusted Contacts - eipipuz
https://blog.google/products/maps/let-your-loved-ones-know-youre-safe-our-new-personal-safety-app/
======
natch
With regard to the cheerleaders saying there are no problems whatsoever with
this feature:

1\. The reason people raise concerns about Google, and less so about iOS, is
that Google and Apple are in different businesses. Google is in the business
of profiting off your personal data and that of your family members. Apple is
not, and iOS makes it significantly harder for rogue apps to get access to
personal data without the actual user's direct permission.

2\. Google (Android) and Apple (iOS) place different priorities on security
relative to other factors.

3\. Many of the naysayers are raising issues that do not single out Android,
however fair it may be to do so. There are some issues that remain the same
beyond the specific platform. For example: this kind of app creates social
pressure for people to be tracked by their family and show trust that they may
not sincerely feel.

4\. If you think they can "just" turn the feature off or "just" remove the
trusted contacts when they feel uncomfortable, you are not thinking this
through. These "trusted" contacts may be authority figures in the family and
may be able to examine any settings done by the actual users.

5\. If your kids are carrying a cell phone, it should probably be a secure
phone, with strictly enforced app store policies, and with a secure OS that is
not provided by a company with every incentive to gather and monetize personal
and private information. Your kids do not deserve to be the targets of this
kind of commercial activity. So even if you think the feature is good, it is
tainted by the interests of the provider. But whether the feature is good or
bad, Android is a bad way for children to get the feature.

~~~
Nullabillity
> If your kids are carrying a cell phone, it should probably be a secure
> phone, with strictly enforced app store policies, and with a secure OS that
> is not provided by a company with every incentive to gather and monetize
> personal and private information.

Pest or cholera. At least it allows you to tinker with it, as opposed to iOS.

~~~
natch
You are suffering from a common misconception, that you can't tinker with your
iOS devices. I tinker with my iOS devices all the time. As do many people,
with their own devices. With help, encouragement, and software tools provided
for that purpose by Apple. I just can't tinker with your iOS device.

~~~
pjc50
Can you install a non-webkit web rendering/JS engine with that process?

~~~
eropple
You can. It won't pass cert for the app store, but you can.

~~~
curt15
Don't you need a mac+xcode to do that though?

~~~
eropple
Sure. But that's part and parcel to doing _anything_ on there. It's not really
a big deal when you can get a Mac that can do it for $300 used--it's probably
going to be cheaper than the phone was.

------
cyberferret
I am guessing that the nay sayers to this app probably don't have young
children. I have two sons (16 and 13) who are always out and about socialising
with friends, or at sporting / musical activities. My older son gigs with his
band late at nights, and let me tell you - as parents, my wife and I do not
rest easy until we either pick him up or he gets dropped home.

Any app that lets us check on our kids' whereabouts quickly and effectively
without taking them out of the zone (Have you ever tried to get a teenager to
call to let you know "Hey everything is OK"??) is a blessing IMO.

An app like this would be restricted just between my wife and I, and our two
boys. No more than that. No more is needed. We are an 'absolute trust' group
and quite frankly, the idea that any of us would want to hide our locations
from each other is simply not even a thing.

~~~
erispoe
Do your teens (you're hardly a 'young child' at 16) share your enthusiasm for
sharing location at all time with their parents? I know I was not at that age.
Learning to be autonomous is part of growing up. Setting up a one-click call
for help with location is one thing, wanting to know the whereabouts of your
16 years old son at all times is something else entirely, that has little to
do with his actual safety.

~~~
cyberferret
Just to be clear, I don't want this as a 24/7 thing, but rather on those odd
occasions where a higher level of alertness is required, i.e. when my older
son finishes a band gig at midnight in the seedier part of town.

I think I have a pretty good trust relationship with my kids, but there have
been times where they have been half an hour late home from school or a gig
etc. and the worry button gets hit. In all occurrences, it has been simple
things like missing a bus, or staying back to get help with teachers etc., but
those are the sorts of things that I'd like to be able to check on quickly
before resorting to calling/texting.

The ability to notice something is amiss, then do a quick spot check to see
"Oh, its OK, he is still on school grounds" or "He's on the number 10 bus
homeward bound" is reassuring.

EDIT: I just realised that I forgot to answer your actual question re: Are my
kids OK with it (the monitoring).

Neither of them have pushed back much on this. In fact, last year I developed
a small iPhone app purely for the family to use to achieve the sort of
tracking this Google system does. My sons were actually quite helpful in
helping me design and test it out. End of the day I abandoned the app because
I just didn't have enough time to maintain it, and there were other third
party apps coming out that did the same thing.

As mentioned above, we have a pretty good trust relationship with our kids.
Its not as if we track their every movement, and we are quite flexible with
them spending a lot of time out with their friends and other sporting/social
activities. It is just on those outlying times where we feel the situation is
not completely 100% rosy that we like the ability to do a quick 'ping' check.

~~~
eternalban
> Just to be clear, I don't want this as a 24/7 thing, but rather on those odd
> occasions where a higher level of alertness is required, i.e. when my older
> son finishes a band gig at midnight in the seedier part of town.

The disconnect here for me is that your hypothetical is hardly a new phenomena
unique to our time. What would you have done in the 50s? 80s? 90s?

Let's put things in perspective here. The very fact that you can have real
time updates on the metrics off the /device/ that is expected to be carried
with your son means you have a direct channel of communication to your son's
device. Worried? Give him a call. Problem solved.

~~~
cyberferret
I would really like to think that this technology we surround ourselves today
would make things much easier to stay in touch, no? When I was a kid playing
in bands etc. in the 80's, I had to actually put myself in MORE danger
sometimes by walking down a street to a public phone to call my parent or
arrange a lift after gigs. I am glad my son doesn't have to do that.

"Giving him a call" is all fine, except if they are mid set or are tearing
down while another band plays - stages can be loud places, and not the best
things for talking on a phone, or even texting when they are busy moving gear.
A quick check to see "Oh, he is still at the venue" or "He appears to be at
the band's storage lockup right now" is enough for me to know that it is
pretty much ops normal.

~~~
eternalban
There is no question technology can improve things. The problem is not the
tech, it's society and actors in society. Google and alike are willynilly
becoming institutions and "pushback" is not against tech in the least (cell
phones are tech, right?).

------
gpm
Used as intended this sounds like a great idea. However used by an abusive
significant other or parent (even just an overbearing parent) it seems pretty
scary. To mitigate the potential harm I would hope for two things

1\. Make it hard/impossible to be forever telling your location to someone
(it's unclear if that's what the feel unsafe mode does in the first place, or
if it just broadcasts it once)

2\. Make it easy to 'enter an alternate location' to tell the inquirer

~~~
scarmig
Number 2 sounds like a pure win.

~~~
euyyn
Even for simple things like buying your Christmas present for your SO, you
want the app to let you lie sometimes.

~~~
sliken
Android allows this under debugging, click on "allow mock locations".

~~~
knz
Or just turn off location services.

~~~
btown
An abuser would know if the device was failing to report a location, or if the
victim were to turn off the system, and could take action accordingly.

When user consent can be subverted, otherwise benign opt-in features that are
deployed and marketed ubiquitously can have unforeseen consequences.

That said there is a utilitarian way to look at this, that for more situations
it helps parents to keep their kids safe. The ethical question is far from cut
and dry.

~~~
sangnoir
> An abuser would know if the device was failing to report a location, or if
> the victim were to turn off the system, and could take action accordingly.

As much as we would like, technology will not solve trust issues in any
relationship.

~~~
austinjp
Well, no, but it doesn't have to facilitate them. Introducing a service that
very obviously empowers abusers requires that the abused can be protected.

------
mrgriscom
I can't believe the amount of effort invested in this more cumbersome, much
more specific use case solution rather than just bringing back Latitude -- a
fully functional product (and exactly the same under the hood) that existed 6
years ago.

I trust my trusted contacts -- let me share my location all the time. (No,
some backwater tab in the G+ app does not count.)

~~~
Gustomaximus
I use the G+ version. Its useful for my partner or I to check each others
location e.g. your cooking dinner and want to decide to wait or eat. You
quickly check the app and you can see if they are at the office etc.

When I've discussed, generally people steer towards the creepy side of being
tracked and dont like it. Maybe this version finds a middle ground as it's
selling it as 'keeping you safe' while giving Google the right to track your
location to sell better targeted ads. Really, the latter is what this is all
about.

~~~
lettergram
If you think all that data is going to be used for is ads, you're probably
mistaken.

All that data is stored. They know all your contacts, how you write, what your
interests are, where you go every day. What if suddenly the country your in
makes it illegal to do X, or feel Z. They decide to arrest everyone who meets
the criteria, and there's nothing you can do.

Although, you are correct now, it is ads. But the risk is SO great I really
don't understand not taking precautions

~~~
xapata
If the government decides to "dissappear" you, there's very little you can do.
If you've been sharing your location with your family, they might be able to
do something. If you've been publishing your activities, it's even more likely
that your family can publicize your disappearance and help you.

So, in a way, this app is protecting you against an abusive government.

~~~
petre
With your family and Google. It's like inviting Google (a multinational for
profit corporation) intro your family.

~~~
xapata
I use a mobile phone on subscription and use a few credit cards. I guess a
number of large companies are in my family.

------
hakanito
Coincidentally (or not), Facebook presented this as an upcoming Messenger
feature today [1]

> If you can't find a friend and become worried about their safety, Messenger
> could one day let you send a request to see their location. A timer would
> begin on the friend's phone that gives them a chance to approve or deny the
> request. If the timer expires on its own, their location would be sent to
> you automatically.

[1] [http://www.businessinsider.com/mark-zuckerberg-reviewed-
cool...](http://www.businessinsider.com/mark-zuckerberg-reviewed-coolest-
facebook-hackathon-projects-2016-12)

------
kumarm
I am afraid most people are missing the target audience of this feature.

This is for people who live in unsafe areas and have trusted family member
than they do want to watch over.

This is an app that should have been released in India immediately after
Nirbhaya incident. For a Company thats supposed to move fast, Google
definitely blew timing of launching such a feature.

------
robteix
> Invite a trusted friend to virtually walk you home if you feel unsafe

As a parent, I find this tremendously useful. This is specially important for
people in certain countries where walking/driving home at night is
realistically dangerous.

~~~
sliken
Seems like false sense of security. It only updates every 10 minutes or so. If
you are really worried have them just call you and put their phone in their
pocket. That way you can listen in and call 911 if needed.

Waiting 10 minutes for a GPS update doesn't seem to actually increase safety
in any noticeable way.

~~~
jpravetz
I go out for mega long bike rides in areas with very spotty cell coverage
(Silicon Valley). This app is great because when my spouse wants to know where
I am she can initiate the request, and I can keep my hands on the handlebars
and keep rolling. I only wish they had thought to allow choices other than
'phone ring, wait 5 minutes'. I'd have prefered to set the notification type
and delay. I hope the GPS battery drain for this feature is low (as compared
with Garmin Connect, Strava or Glympse). 10 minute intervals sounds great.

~~~
mikecb
AFAIK, the largest battery drain in GPS is for an initial fix, and small
updates after that are much lower cost.

------
tatotato
An insinuation of this kind of tech is that if you aren't carrying a phone,
you aren't safe.

I'm seeing in the comments that the level of trust in companies is higher than
the trust in your government.

Both very sad things.

~~~
witty_username
Companies are more directly accountable through $$$. Government is only
accountable indirectly through elections; and you can win those with 51% of
the vote [0]; the other 49% could completely disagree.

[0] With the Electoral College, you don't even need a majority of the popular
vote.

~~~
dragonwriter
Many US elections, emphatically including those of Presidential electors, are
done by plurality rule, so you don't need a majority to start with -- which is
floor(votes×50%)+1, not 51%. With the structure of the EC, you can, therefore,
win with a minority of votes in states with a minority of the population.

------
potatosoup
Useful feature, yes, but I see this as a license to track locations of more
people at all times. Also see: Uber's recent "always track" update

~~~
scarmig
So, I've got some bad news for you:

Google is already tracking your location all the time if you're in the market
for this product. This just exposes that data for what seems like a very
useful user feature.

~~~
StavrosK
I realized this (well, "realized"... I knew it, but it became very creepy) the
other day, when my phone popped up a notification while I was in a restaurant,
saying "enjoying <restaurant name>? Why not take some photos for people to
see?" or something like that.

I've lately been getting into the habit of turning location services off
unless I actually need them on, and I would recommend it. It's a shame my
phone gets my location behind my back without any indication by default.

~~~
int_19h
You're lucky. A more creepy way of getting enlightened is having Google Now
tell you, "I see you're at work, and it's about your usual time to head home.
Traffic is heavy on the usual route, though, so it might take 15 minutes
longer than normal."

(This all without you ever telling which location is your work and which is
home.)

~~~
meowface
Do you see an issue with this?

~~~
int_19h
When it comes out of the blue, yes. It's a useful feature, but also very
intrusive, and that should be gated on a very, very clear opt-in.

~~~
pawadu
Isn't Google Now opt in to begin with? Doesn't it give you a huge EULA to read
before you activate it?

~~~
mikecb
It always has for me, and not in tiny-font or legal language either:

"To help you through your day, Google needs to: Use and store your location
for traffic alerts, directions, and more. User your synced calendars, Gmail,
Chrome, and Google data for reminders and other suggestions."

This topic does come up a lot here, and yet this is as direct and concise a
way to put it as I can imagine. I wonder what those who have been surprised by
the services they have opted into would suggest to improve their understanding
of what they are potentially agreeing to?

~~~
int_19h
Yes, it is opt-in, which is good. But I feel that for a casual user "use and
store your location" doesn't fully get across the point that it's going to
track your location in near real-time and make inferences like "this place is
your home" about it.

And this is a general problem - people share all kinds of private information
about themselves, without full understanding of the kind of analysis that is
possible on that data these days.

I personally don't have a problem with the tech (and I've used Latitude way
back, so it's not like any of it is new).

------
keypress
Bad name. How about: "I'm here.", or "Where are you?". Trusted contacts sounds
more like a FOAF vouch, or authenticated contact details app.

------
quickben
This just promotes obsession and anxiety.

~~~
krick
Well, of course. Would it be easier for me to sell you something if you were
calm, relaxed and would't really need anything more to be happy?

------
emilburzo
For anyone looking for a more privacy conscious version, I made Graticule[1] a
few years ago.

Install the app, start beacon, send anonymous and platform independent link,
done.

Optionally customize location technology (gps/network/passive) and beacon
interval (from the default GPS/1 second).

No registration, no contacts, nothing else.

You choose when you're sharing your location and with whom.

Partially inspired by the old Google Latitude.

[1]
[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.emilburzo....](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.emilburzo.graticule)

~~~
ComodoHacker
Does it have active users?

~~~
emilburzo
Yes.

------
CoryG89
I tend to feel that this is more for parents who don't trust their kids,
rather than those who do. Many parents will say, "My kids won't have a problem
with this because we have trust in _our_ family."

The truth is, if you trusted your kids, you wouldn't need the ability to
obtain their exact location without having to ask for it. Parents who trust
their kids will already know where their kids are supposed to be, or will just
ask them.

On the other hand, I see no problem with the feature that allows you to
request location and will automatically send location after a long non-
response.

Of course, most kids (beyond a certain age) are going to occasionally go
places their parents aren't comfortable with. This is a normal part of growing
up and it shouldn't be impossible IMO. Even in particularly bad or dangerous
cases, I would feel this calls for a normal punishment (maybe?). No TV,
chores, etc. Not constant location tracking.

~~~
was_boring
I'm not sure where you got that from. I couldn't find a single reference to
parents or children on the page.

~~~
CoryG89
It will be primarily used for parents to track their kids.

They don't need to specifically spell out that use case with parent/child
characters.

It seems obvious to me that this will enable parents (all kinds, good and bad)
to track their kids with a pretty scary level of control.

But you're right in that this isn't just restricted to parents and children.
In my post just substitute parent/child with a controlling
boyfriend/girlfriend.

------
nexxer
Shrug, yet another product we cannot even try in Cyprus due to Location
History being disabled country-wide, for some reason.

------
ocdtrekkie
It's always amazing to me how often Google takes something they... already
had... renames it, and then announces it as a brand new thing. I used to use
this six years ago, it was called Google Latitude.

~~~
natrius
User experience matters, and this works very differently from how Google
Latitude worked. Digital products are not about revealing the truth stored in
database records. They're elaborate fictions we tell each other about
meaningless database records.

------
waltkurtz
And now, Google injects itself directly within and throughout the level of
trust some people only place in their parents or spouses.

It used to be that certain truths were only know between two people, but now
for many, it will be those two people, and Google.

Even if it were any other company, the totality of awareness a single
organization has, from childhood on up should give us some pause.

Microphones, accelerometers, cameras, GPS, and now annotated depth of
relationship, instead of presumed depth inferred from ancillary metrics.

At this point it's getting a little strange.

With software and services these days, there's almost nothing people _won 't_
consume. It's as if people will eat everything in a package labeled as food,
even if most of the contents are inedible.

More and more, it feels like people know they're eating fish hooks, but maybe
they'll pass the foreign objects they've swallowed, before any fisherman tries
to tug the line and set the hook.

But even if you or I don't buy in, when everybody else does, the outliers
still get hooked and still lands in the boat, just by implicit association and
proximity.

The stakes are raised ever higher with each beat of this game. It's like the
quote from Apocalypse Now:

    
    
      Ah, man... The bullshit piled up so 
      fast in Viet Nam, you needed wings
      to stay above it.

------
achikin
Thelma requests Elliot’s location and in five minutes can see that his last
known location was...one block away from Julia's apartment ha-ha.

------
agumonkey
Google PI ;)

I very often wish for something similar, for instance when my mother is
running a bit late in a park. I don't want to mess with her jogging or walk.
But I'd like to be sure she's still fine.

Thing is, except for the current generation, smartphones are often silenced
and forgotten in some pocket. So unless it's an invasive constant-on tracker
.. it wouldn't work in my case.

------
exhilaration
_Here’s how it works: Once you install the Android app, you can assign
“trusted” status to your closest friends and family._

I've got an android phone but my wife has an iPhone, does that mean this is
useless for us?

Edit, it's in the works:

 _If you 're an iOS user, click here to get notified when the iOS app is
available_

~~~
aiiane
You can do one way sharing (from you to her) even now. You just won't be able
to do the opposite direction until an iOS version is available.

~~~
gvurrdon
It's inevitable that the forthcoming iOS version will require location history
to be turned on for one's Google account. Therefore, I'd much prefer another
cross-platform means of providing this information.

Owntracks hasn't been too bad for this; there are clients for iOS and Android
and the the backend is self-hosted.

[http://owntracks.org](http://owntracks.org)

The only problem I've encountered with it is that the Android client has shown
some instability from time to time, with high battery drain or missed location
updates.

------
reacharavindh
Should I think that it is coincidence that Uber wants 24/7 location data, FB
wants it, and Now Google officially wants it.. Now, people like me who prefer
to 'own' their digital lives, and not become part of this surveilled garden
would be labeled as 'tinhat'.

Thanks but no thanks.

~~~
ap22213
I know. This is just getting sickening. Can't they focus on delivering real
value without being just an 'advertisement company'. I know that advertising
is like the only thing that makes money anymore, but does it really help
people? No.

Be a science, engineering, and technology company, Goddammit!

Can someone brave please put their foot down and say enough? Someone?

And, it's even so much worse because they make it seem like they're such good
guys by releasing these 'free' or 'cheap' services. It's just outright
deceptive.

~~~
witty_username
Advertising helps people. Why are they paying for it then?

~~~
ap22213
When if ever has it helped you?

Meaning - yes, clearly it helps companies sell their products and services.
But, as an individual consumer, how many times over the past year have you
purchased something because its advertisement informed you of something that
you truly needed but didn't know about?

~~~
witty_username
0

------
themihai
>assign “trusted” status to your closest friends and family

Would be great if we wouldn't have to assign the "trusted" status to Google(or
any other 3rd party) too in order to use the app.

------
XorNot
Interesting. Me and my SO use glympse to coordinate pickups, but we've been
looking for a relatively low power consumption way to share location just
generally.

------
imh
>Because Trusted Contacts works even if a phone is offline, Thelma requests
Elliot’s location and in five minutes can see that his last known location was
in the middle of the canyon.

The cynic in me thinks this whole use case is intended to normalize the idea
of a company always knowing everywhere you go. See? Privacy is unsafe!

~~~
viraptor
> normalize the idea of a company always knowing everywhere you go

This doesn't really make sense. Google already has this information. They're
sharing what they already had access to with contacts you select. On the other
hand, there was an interesting feature a few years ago, where you could share
your location with friends without special requests. Since then it has been
moved from a separate google service to google+.

What I'm saying is - this is nothing new. It's actually a new, restricted
version of what's been available and happening for a long time.

~~~
imh
I meant normalize in the social sense that people become more comfortable with
google tracking them everywhere instead of feeling creeped out by it. It
doesn't have to be new. Most, or at least a large fraction of, google maps and
android users would probably be appalled to realize how extensively they're
being currently tracked.

~~~
viraptor
I heard that opinion for quite a while already. I wonder if it still holds up.
Do people still get creeped out, considering how in-your-face google now is? I
don't know many "normal" users, so don't have an answer really.

------
restuos
I wonder if this would work for when I need to pick my kids up or some friend
at the airport.

Basically tell them to wait inside while I share my location. Then have it
alert them when I'm nearby so they can come out.

This would be really helpful for the airport situation, as I wouldn't even
need to park.

------
wfunction
Is there any app that can send my location to a custom server of my own rather
than Google's?

~~~
arnoooooo
Owntracks does this

~~~
wfunction
Thanks!

------
kalkiYuga
If you have concerns you can always use this. I am planning to opensource this

[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.spacetime](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.spacetime)

------
gravypod

        blog.google
    

It sometimes escapes me how much power google holds over the internet. It's
moments like this that rekindle my fear in the "Don't be Evil" slogan (or for
that matter, the removal of said slogan).

~~~
delroth
$200K buys you a gTLD, it does not translate to any "power held over the
internet". [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Internet_top-
level_dom...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Internet_top-
level_domains#Brand_top-level_domains)

And the "Don't be Evil" slogan has never been removed.
[https://abc.xyz/investor/other/google-code-of-
conduct.html](https://abc.xyz/investor/other/google-code-of-conduct.html)

------
whyagaindavid
Such a live tracking service exists for openstreepmap based OSMAND already
(with privacy) [http://osmand.net/features?id=osmo-
plugin](http://osmand.net/features?id=osmo-plugin)

------
wfunction
The app isn't working for me. I keep pressing Continue on the welcome screens
and after the 4th or 5th screen Continue stops doing anything. Same thing when
I restart the app, etc... anyone have this problem?

------
etchalon
It's this just a Google version of Apple's "Find My Friends"?

------
rmc
What a great way for homophobic parents to keep track of their gay kids and
make sure they aren't hanging out at that LGBT centre, or with any LGBT-
friendly people!

------
bigethan
Is talking about distrusting this service due to government intervention a
violation of the "no politics" rule? What about if it's just a nosy parent?

------
symlinkk
How does it know your location when your phone is offline?

~~~
throwanem
It doesn't, but it knows where it last saw you.

~~~
symlinkk
They should just say that! The marketing is deceptive:

> This new personal safety app lets you share your location with loved ones in
> everyday situations and when emergencies arise — even if your phone is
> offline or you can’t get to it.

~~~
GavinMcG
It's tricky because the access to your location data _is_ available when your
phone is offline. They could have done better at explaining that, but probably
not with just one sentence.

------
bhstahl
Want an app just like this for iOS, today? Try out
[https://goguardian.xyz](https://goguardian.xyz)

------
koolba
Anyone want to take bets on how long until someone uses this to find his or
her spouse's secret lover?

My money is going to be on "not very long".

------
imaginenore
Or you can install Cerberus on your family's smartphones, and have all kinds
of useful features besides determining their location.

------
ComodoHacker
>assign “trusted” status to your closest friends and family

OK Google, we got the whole point of this app.

Nevertheless, it's a useful feature and can help many.

------
dayaz36
I already have an app like this that lets me share my location and everything
with my loved ones. It's called text messaging

------
sathishmanohar
Dad has requested your location.

Your location will be auto shared in 4min 59seconds.

 _Loud Music Notification Not Audible_

Son is in Strip Club. Thank you.

------
chirau
Reminds me of Google Latitude. Honestly, I prefer Latitude to this. This just
smells of eternal tracking to me.

------
richartruddie
This is nice. Definitely in response to Facebooks Safety Check and it's great
to see innovation that makes the world a better place. I wrote about this:
[http://richartruddie.blogspot.com/2016/12/facebook-google-
sa...](http://richartruddie.blogspot.com/2016/12/facebook-google-safety-
check.html)

~~~
puzzle
Uh, I think Safety Check was inspired by Google.org's Person Finder.

------
barnacs
\- google now has one more reason to collect your location and associate it
with the rest of your activities

\- you are encouraged to use your phone even more, because doing so signals to
your loved ones that you're ok. Using your phone pretty much means sharing
even more data with google, watching their ads and buying stuff from their app
store

It's a pure win. For google.

------
jakebasile
I wonder if Google Apps accounts can use this? I don't have an Android phone
to find out.

------
matt_wulfeck
iOS allows me to request location access as well as permanently or temporarily
share my location. It would be great to get a "last known location"
coordinate, but this feature is still very useful.

------
tonyplee
How does it work when it is offline? Via SMS?

~~~
NamTaf
It looks like it just caches the last known location which is pretty useless.

~~~
int_19h
It's plenty useful in some scenarios, like getting lost on a hike - it would
significantly narrow down the search area for S&R.

~~~
darrenkopp
It would depend on where you are. Here in Utah my cell service goes out within
the first 5 minutes of the hike I do by my house. The hike itself is about 2
hours in and an hour out.

~~~
int_19h
Hereabouts, I don't get mobile service on most hikes, but I do get it on many
trailheads. So, at the very least, it would tell them which trail I was on
when I disappeared.

This may be a thing that is specific to local conditions, though. It so
happens that I live in upper Snoqualmie River valley, which has trailheads for
many of the best and most popular hiking trails in the area. So, naturally,
this is where most of my hikes are. And the towers that provide signal for the
towns in the valley are on the surrounding mountaintops, so they provide
coverage for a good chunk of wilderness around, as well.

------
wineisfine
This is just an incident waiting to happen.

~~~
fixermark
Can you elaborate?

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cfv
How far are we from being required to use a Google Buttplug in order to use
gmail?

------
laktak
Just remember that Google will be your most trusted contact.

------
yersonperez
What's it?

~~~
GavinMcG
There's actually a whole article someone prepared to answer that question,
along with a video. If you scroll up to the top of the page you can click the
link and go there.

------
mcs_
I trust my contacts google. I don't trust your ideas. Got an idea... vote
before implement. You ask us if we want the new feature looking at our data.

Just kidding. I like the idea.

------
peterhadlaw
I'm not even kidding, I was thinking about this EXACT application /
functionality yesterday and was thinking about making it.

------
jonstewart
FTFY: Sometimes you just want to share your location with the Ad Sense team...

~~~
moxious
That's silly. They've had your location for years even without asking, they
don't need an app for that. The TOS says you're already BFFs.

------
ap22213
Geez. Google is just getting carried away with this tracking stuff. It's like
every day they release something new that seems to con people into letting
Google track them.

I know advertising is a trillion dollar industry. But, you'd think that
Google, of all companies, would be the ones to create real innovation and
value without falling to the lowest common denominator.

~~~
ap22213
WTF - I know Google employees troll this forum to build brand and influence,
but squelch criticism? Come on. What ever happened to the 'don't do evil'
company?

~~~
pgeorgi
Or maybe that "criticism" is just not very good and merely a rehash of the
same (weak) point made so many times on this very page already?

"con people into letting Google track them" \- how does this enable any _more_
tracking than existed yesterday? The only thing I see it enables is to share
the data that already exists about the user with the people that user appoints
(and trusts, hopefully).

Disclosure: Google employee, but nothing to do with location services.

~~~
ap22213
First, I really appreciate the reply. So, thank you.

It may seem a rehash (and, it partially is). But, there are readers who are
either unaware or have forgotten that Google doesn't give away services for
free. Google is an advertisement and tracking company, not a benevolent
technology supplier.

The Google collective is obviously way smarter than any of us. So, who really
knows how they plan to profit from this service. My guess: It gives them
further reach beyond Android devices. It requires people who may otherwise
quickly turn off location services to keep it on. And, it allows them to
bypass COPPA via implied parental consent.

Look, I've worked in this industry. And, tracking devices (AKA people) is
massively profitable. And, the profit increases exponentially. That is, the
profit per signal increases as the number of signals and devices grows.
Furthermore, at the highest levels of coverage density, it becomes possible to
even make accurate conclusions from the empty spaces (i.e. people without
devices).

~~~
pgeorgi
My (totally scientifically unfounded) suspicion is that people who decide to
turn off Location Services also won't install this app (or will enable the app
selectively, if they use LS that way so far)

------
castratikron
>When Elliot doesn’t show up at the coffee shop, Thelma starts to worry.
Because Trusted Contacts works even if a phone is offline, Thelma requests
Elliot’s location and in five minutes can see that his last known location was
in the middle of the canyon. Thelma calls the nearest ranger station, they
send out a rescue party, and find Elliot in a few hours.

Yeah because that has totally been a problem I've been needing a solution for.

~~~
twr
I don't need it either, but it's uncaring to imagine that millions of people
don't.

A young woman was abducted recently on a local trail. I don't believe she's
been found yet. Perhaps this would have made some difference.

~~~
SomeStupidPoint
But cant police use the tracking info already once you report someone missing?

This just seems like a way for busybody and manipulative people to stir up
drama.

~~~
twr
It can take many hours to surmise that someone has been kidnapped. Getting
people to pay direct attention to someone's whereabouts, without having to
constantly nag the person, is a huge win.

Anyone who has ever expected an at-risk person to make contact at an estimated
time can relate how worrying it is when that person is delayed.

------
shade23
This is not good. This basically gives a public opening into massive amounts
of data which they could legally collect till now but now use it as a product?
What happens when people disable location access.

And this:

>But if you’re unable to respond within a reasonable timeframe, your location
is shared automatically and your loved ones can determine the best way to help
you out.

This does not seem like consent.I can think of at least a 100 situations where
I was not near my phone and yet do not want to send my location.

Moreover how is this different from messaging someone/calling someone to ask
them where they are? The only time I am trying to reach a person and cannot
reach them is when they are out of coverage range.At that time, no app would
make a difference.

This is nice when its a part of other apps (Whatsapp,Uber etc) .On its own,
location based information as being the only purpose can prove to be quite
disastrous.

Edit 1: People seem to miss the intricacies of human relationships here.I'd
like to see folks tell their parents/loved ones/other close beings how they do
not want to add "trusted contacts" and share their location continuously.

~~~
caseysoftware
> _Once you install the Android app, you can assign “trusted” status to your
> closest friends and family._

Sounds like the consent is explicit at the time of configuration. As long as
it's a separate app an opt-in, I don't think this is bad.

More creepy is when it becomes a part of Android itself _and_ someone can add
themselves as "Trusted" either via physical access or an exploit. It's a
stalker's dream.

