Monday, Jun 10, 2013 at 19:41
The site from which I am linking is my own website, and access is controlled by username and password solely for people that I trust. Obviously there is the possibility that one of them might distribute their username, but that is unlikely as they understand the issues.
As you say, a blank profile and a geofence do indeed prevent anybody from getting too much information, but equally that limits the ability of people to share information. It is also depends on their location as to how much is given away. For example, for someone living in
Sydney a 1km geofence might include thousands of houses, but in a rural area 10km might only cover a couple. If that is added to a "useful" profile which includes a few photo's, a car make and model etc., then we are starting to narrow the odds.
The problem that I see is that the "undesirable" can, at present, look at the map and see those people who are local to them. A few clicks will then show whether those people have multiple tracks starting in that location (rather than just passing through), after which a bit of digging might indicate when and where the empty house is located.
It is a difficult subject. The website gains much from people sharing information, articles, photo's etc., but if that information allows them to be identified, and seen to be away from
home, it could compromise their security.
I suppose, for me, the best option would be the ability to embed a link without needing to make the track public, and also a search of tracking "name" such that with no public profile I can tell somebody to search for a particular ID and then enter the password. Thus no information is available to people to whom I have not specifically given my tracking name. Perhaps the option to segregate the tracking name from the
forum name might also be useful - that would allow the user to post pictures and articles without also telling the world they weren't at
home (if they didn't want to!).
Even more simple, perhaps, would be to remove the ability to click on the map and get to the profile of a user. I am not sure what benefit there is in the public being able to drill down and see "who" is in a particular town, and where they came from.... If the trackee wants to share that information, surely they would have provided their friends with a suitable link?
I would also recommend a large geofence, whether by default or by new user "guidance"! But that is not specific to my problem, that's just a general warning!
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