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MIT's iFind Service: Page 5 of 6

Privacy Concerns

Location-awareness capabilities, such as those in iFind, seem to be compatible with business functions that involve a lot of human interaction, like sales, service and support. There are, however, some drawbacks to its use in a corporate setting. Many people don't want their location available to co-workers, for instance, but with a corporate location-awareness program, it might be required. In addition, iFind and other people locators require you to give up some privacy.

Nathan Platt, a Pennsylvania attorney practicing technology law, says these location tools raise several issues when used in a corporate setting. Location information could be used to determine when an employee visits a doctor, which would be a violation of HIPAA regulations. And location information might be abused, say, in the case of managers repeatedly tracking employees into the snack area or fitness center as part of an effort to negatively impact that employee's annual evaluation. Finally, Platt says, the notion of "evidence in plain view" might be changed, since, by yielding information about your location, you might be expanding the court's definition of what you have placed in plain view. This is an important consideration under Fourth Amendment search and seizure rules.

Still, iFind has several positive attributes. It's easy to use, provides a user's location and identity, and helps users communicate instantly. Best of all, it's free. It may be redundant if your system already includes collaboration and location tools from your IP-PBX vendor. If the location part is missing from that system, though, iFind could really be an asset.