Google Buzz-Kill; A tool for Thieves and Rapists?
February 9, 2010 6 Comments
Earlier today Google released Buzz, which I happen to love so far. But I noticed something after I posted my first Buzz. Something I found actually quite disconcerting; unless you disable your exact location, Google’s Buzz will post your address. Imagine a complete stranger having your home address to do with what they please.
Now, let’s take a little step back into internet history with a site we have all come to love or hate, Craigslist. Craigslist was great when it first started to get some tickets, sell stuff, buy used equipment, etc. (which I still use a lot btw) but it has now being used by many thieves for scams like these two examples here and here.
A problem I can already foresee on Google’s Buzz, is crooks or rapists seeing a location that you are at when you Buzz about something. And having seen an older one of your Buzz’s locations, these people could possibly find out where you are at and look at older Buzz’s which now they have the address to your home. In turn they could clean out your house if they find out you are on vacation or at a meeting in another city.
For the female Buzzer, a stalker could view your photo on one of your Buzzes, and if attracted, they could conceivable track you down to the location you are currently at and follow you home. This could be particularly dangerous if you are walking home alone from an event you just buzzed about.
My suggestion: use the location map when Buzzing around town but not with a specific address, otherwise, you can surely expect the unscrupulous to provide you some unexpected company or become an uninvited treasure seeker into your home to grab your belongings while you are away on vacation – selling your items on Craigslist of course.
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Not good.
My first thought was how much weed is going to be sold on there. The possibilities are endless.
That is scary but most people don’t understand how to get around the location services to pin you down exactly. Android allows you to pick a nearby address. Not sure about the iPhone though.
Very useful being able to search what my family on? Twitter and Facebook are talking about a topic I am searching for without having to waste my time on either site viewing off topic communication.I love networking sites but I really don’t care what you ate that day. Only getting what I want from my coworkers is going to make them more valuable to me and keep me from getting sidetracked when I am trying to get real work done.
Judd Apatow movies aren’t all about the raunchiness – not sure how you come to that conclusion. His greatest directorial film, Knocked Up, has a a couple raunchy times, but its theme of a Peter Pan type finally having to grow older and accept responsibility for his decisions is a good message, and it was the rare movie that most male and female could enjoy together, it isn’t a chick-flick nor gross-a-thon. Alot of his other work treads similar ground. I like raunch, and I would have liked if there were more of it out there – the world needs more teenage sex comedies in these depressing times