Over the weekend, the Girls Around Me app went from being virtually unknown to highly downloaded to being pulled out of Apple’s app store. The app integrated a mix public information, like maps, Foursquare check-ins, and Facebook pages to show the user who was in the area. Essentially, it could turn your phone into a low-budget, digital stalker. It didn’t, however, do anything a lot of other social apps are doing wrote John Brownly at Cult of Mac:
… it is just as likely to be reacted to with laughter as it is with tears; it is as much of a novelty as it has the potential to be used a tool for rapists and stalkers.
And more than anything, it’s a wake-up call about privacy.
In response to the article, Foursquare pulled the app’s ability to pull user check-in information; although, unprotected Facebook profiles were still fair game. Next the app disappeared from the App Store, while i-Free, the app’s developer, had its inbox stuffed with hate mail. i-Free claims to have pulled the app saying that it is being used as a scapegoat for what a lot of apps already do.
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