Social Networking: Find Your Pals with Cellphone GPS

An estimated 63 percent of mobile phones sold in North America in 2007 will be equipped with the Global Positioning System.

One new buddy-tracking tool is offered by Loopt, Inc., and is available from wireless operator Boost Mobile (owned by Sprint Nextel). It is one of many companies offering phones equipped with GPS receivers.

Once users download the application to their cellphones, and invite friends to do the same, they can click on an icon to view a map that will display their friends' locations as green dots.
Their friends, however, can elect not to have their location shared simply by clicking on a button.

Want to know where your children are? Sprint Nextel has launched its Family Locator, a $9.99 a month service that lets users track the location of family members, or at least the location of their cellphones.

There are some privacy concerns. A number of parents worry that someone could hack into the new services and possibly stalk them or their children. Some privacy advocates are concerned that the government could use location information to spy on people. Those who use the services, however, think the convenience outweighs the possible risks that may be involved.