Cell Phone Tracking Systems - Mologogo's Current Limits and Future Uses
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Unfortunately, Mologogo only works on Nextel phones or on Boost Mobile prepaid phones. Other cell phone companies have blocked the ability for programmers to use the information contained on the built-in GPS chips in cell phones. This is by far the biggest drawback of the Mologogo program. Cell phone companies other than Nextel may have made this move in order to ensure their customers’ privacy.
Rather than being compatible with Mologogo, companies such as Sprint and Verizon have launched their own services that incorporate cell phone GPS systems to track children or provide driving directions. These services are not accessible on all of their phones, however, and they usually charge a monthly fee for usage. Again, companies other than Nextel claim this is all in the name of protecting customers’ privacy.
One has to wonder, however, if locking away GPS capabilities from third party applications has more to do with money. By not allowing outside programs to use their phones’ GPS capabilities, companies like Verizon can capitalize on the profit gained from charging customers to use their proprietary programs and charging monthly fees for them.
In addition to just tracking friends or giving directions, GPS in cell phones could one day provide users with even more power and knowledge. Since cell phones can be used to retrieve information contained in databases, one day you may be able to be on a corner, look at your cell phone GPS, and be privy to information regarding house prices on that corner, recent crimes committed there, or even the phone numbers of people living there. This is just a peek into the power and knowledge that GPS applications on cell phones may give users in the future.
Mologogo is a new, handy application that can provide both functionality and entertainment for its users. It is free and currently has tens of thousands of users, and that number is sure to grow. The issue of privacy protection and not technology is what is mostly holding it and other tracking programs back from becoming more widespread.
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