The other day, I heard about a website called FourSquare for the first time. I was intrigued so I did some research to see what it was all about. One of my first thoughts was ‘why would I want people to know where I am at all times?’ I’ll admit this was also my first reaction to twitter, but twitter has changed tremendously from its initial launch. But FourSquare, as far as I understand, is really just a game based on the places you visit (businesses, restaurants, attractions, etc). Which means you are updating the world on where you aren’t. Probably not a good choice, right?
The people at ReadWriteWeb (more on the site later) apparently agreed. In a story published earlier today, they talk about a website that has risen in response to FourSquare and the explosive popularity of social media - PleaseRobMe. This site publishes a constant stream of individual’s check ins from FourSquare under a category that reads “Recent Empty Homes”. The site is clearly a commentary on how willing we are to divulge our every move to people we don’t know or have any reason to trust.
I don’t know much about the law in general, let alone within the complex subject that is the web, but I would say that this is totally legal. People are publishing this information freely elsewhere on the web, so PleaseRobMe has every right to take it and use it however they please. The nature of the site is a bit disturbing to me, but I understand that they’re trying to increase awareness. It just seems like a harsh wake-up call, especially when you consider that some people might suffer in the name of increasing awareness.
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