Location-based services are becoming all the rage, particularly amongst social networking and mobile applications. So SkyHook Wireless has announced MyLoki a new service that lets users feed their “Loki” location—their physical location based on their current Wi-Fi hotspot— to social networking sites like Facebook, location directories like Yahoo’s Fire Eagle, and even personal Web sites, Google MyMaps, and “microblog” services like Google’s Jaiku.
“Hundreds of thousands of people have downloaded Loki already,” said SkyHook co-founder and VP of business development Mike Shean, in a statement. “MyLoki will make it easier to create new experiences in the physical world and share your experiences in the digital world.”
SkyHook argues that publishing personal location information makes it easier for people to meet in the real world, connect with friends, do new things, and share information about who we are and what we like. Privacy advocates also note some potential downsides to publishing location information: in theory, services like MyLoki could make it difficult to maintain personal privacy, as well as track a person’s location over time: information that could potentially be abused by attackers, law enforcement, and (of course) advertisers. SkyHook is quick to emphasize that it understands the importance of the confidentiality of location information, and promises that data will only be used in ways users can completely control.
MyLoki is based on SkyHook’s Wi-Fi Positioning System (WPS) that can take a guess at a user’s location based on known characteristics of the Wi-Fi hotspot from which a user is currently accessing the Internet. SkyHook’s location services are already being used in a number of high-profile applications, including the new location-based services now offered by Apple’s iPhone. So far, the service seems to lack the ability to selectively publish location information to selected individuals (MyLoki would seem to consider that sort of thing a third party opportunity) or to publish a general location area (say, city and state) rather than a precise location.
