Google has released a new smart phone application called Google Latitude. This app allows you and your friends to create a "social network" that displays everyone's actual geographical location by means of GPS and cell phone towers.

Kids are gonna eat this up. Just think, "omg mommy, Jake and Alison are at Old Navy!! Can we go and hang out with them" or perhaps "OMG, did you see that Bob and Jane were at the movies together last night?!?". Ok, well, it doesn't give you quite that much detail, and you can set different privacy levels for your location.

The privacy seems to be decent, but Google keeps your last location on file; whenever you move, the location updates in real time. If you are at the mall, you could potentially see an ad for the Dippin' Dots kiosk right in front of you. Google could be on a digital ad goldmine here.

They could also use this information for data mining. For example, males 21-29 tend to hang out at bars X,Y,and Z on Fri and Sat nights. This type of data mining should scare you; at least it does me. Google's motto is "Don't be Evil", but why couldn't it be "Be Good"? I'm not sure what this type of application will hold for our future, but I do know that it will mean less privacy. Do you think that the State/Federal Police could force Google to hand over their logs?