World's Creepiest iPhone App Pulled After Outcry 459
Hugh Pickens writes "Ben Grubb reports that an iPhone app that essentially allowed users to stalk women nearby using a location-based social networking service has been pulled from the iTunes app store by its developer after an outcry of criticism including a comment by Gizmodo labelling the 'Girls Around Me' app as the 'world's creepiest' app and a comment in The New York Times Bits blog, which said it 'definitely' won the prize for being 'too creepy'. The 'Girls Around Me' app utilized publicly available data to show a map with women who had checked-in to locations nearby using Foursquare and let users view Facebook information of those ladies if they had tied their Facebook account to their Foursquare account and if their Facebook account privacy settings were lax enough to allow any user to access it. The promotional website used for marketing the app states that the service 'helps you see where nearby girls are checking in, and shows you what they look like and how to get in touch, adding 'In the mood for love, or just after a one-night stand? Girls Around Me puts you in control! Reveal the hottest nightspots, who's in them, and how to reach them.' Foursquare yanked the Girls Around Me app's access to its data, which in turn led to the app's developer removing it from iTunes as it didn't work properly. In a statement to the Wall Street Journal, the company behind the app defended its creation: 'Since the app's launch till last Friday nobody ever raised a privacy concern because, again, it is clearly stated that Girls Around Me cannot show the user more data than [what Foursqure or Facebook] already does.'"
helpful clarification (Score:5, Funny)
And it filters appropriately! (Score:4, Funny)
The bonus is that you can find airheads. Just looking around you will only tell you that they are women, not that they're also careless about their personal safety.
Re:Good intentions pave the road to a stalking cha (Score:3, Funny)
Idiot. It's *ALWAYS* a man's fault. When will you get that through your head? The world, and indeed, the laws of nature and physics must all change because women aren't responsible for knowing or understanding them. Women are always the victim and are never responsible for consequences of their actions, inactions or their lack of knowing.
Meanwhile, if you're a man, you're just evil.
Re:Creeps around me (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Good intentions pave the road to a stalking cha (Score:5, Funny)
Speaking as a male and a avid Slashdot poster. I've never really had the problem of women stalking me before and wonder why it hasn't happened yet?