Hello, Creepy Neighbor

I want to point something out.

If you have a smartphone, this message is for you. The rest of the groupies can take a backseat.

Let's begin by saying I have GPS on my smartphone; a phone that operates on (insert expensive national carrier here.)

I discovered a program on my phone that reveals sensitive information, my GPS coordinates on Earth, to other viewers. There are many like it, but this program is called Layars.

Its design is to create "an augmented reality," according to the developer's Web site.

The only reality I get from it is very creepy one.

It works fine. It works great. However, Twitter and other social network users beware, upon testing this free service, Layars revealed five Twitter users within 6.2 miles of my then-present location, precise to 19 feet, of their positions. Furthermore, it gave me Google Map directions to the point of origin.

A privacy issue?

Hmm. I think so.

So, if you have geo-tagging, geo-reporting, active GPS location, or anything that enables your phone to give your position away, please note this information winds up in the public domain. And shockingly, you need not download this program to reveal your location; your phone may do it automatically.

The feature can be disabled, if you wish, by following the instructions pre-packaged with your phone. Simply, turning off GPS locating. By doing this, it also disables weather reports and other services that require GPS set on.

As with any social network, please blog safely.

The best defense in this situation isn't an anti-virus for your phone (there isn't one).

I would dead-bolt my door.

The developer's Web site is located here: http://layar.com/