AutoNavi Gaode map app raises concerns with new location tracking feature for families
- Alibaba’s Gaode map app has a new feature allowing 12 family members to track each other’s location in real time
- Facing backlash for privacy concerns, Alibaba says the feature requires each party’s consent
Depending on who you are, a map app that lets you see where a family member is in real time sounds either really useful or really creepy. AutoNavi liked the idea enough to include it as a new feature in its Gaode map app, also known as Amap. But not everyone is enthused.
“I uninstalled Gaode right away… [in case] where I go is all public,” one person commented under a Weibo post from Gaode about the feature.
The feature called “family map” lets users invite up to 11 other family members to join and share their location with each other. It also allows users to get alerts when someone leaves or arrives at a designated location and see location history for the past 72 hours.
Gaode is one of China’s most popular map apps, and its operator AutoNavi is a subsidiary of Alibaba, which also owns the South China Morning Post. The app says the new feature is meant to help people ensure their family members are safe. In the Weibo post about the feature, Gaode also said that it lets people more easily show their love for family members compared with phone calls and messages.
Not everyone was creeped out by the new location sharing feature. Many people online welcomed it as a way to keep an eye on elderly family members and help improve their own safety.
