Creative Guide for Teachers & Parents

SUBJECT & DISCUSSION IDEA #9 - iPhone and other Applications

How many of you have a cellphone? And how many of those cell phones have Internet capabilities? With phones like the iPhone and Blackberry, you can even download applications that do really cool stuff such as recommend restaurants, provide movie show times, and much more.

What you may not know about these "apps" is that with some of them, your location data is being broadcast across your cellular data network. While it is believed these servers are secure, there is really no way of knowing who has access to your location information.

It's important to play it safe with these applications, and to make sure you know what you're getting into. If you don't know if your information is being broadcast through an app or not, find out!

Discussion idea:

Have you or any of your friends used a GPS-enabled cell phone to track someone's whereabouts or to broadcast your own location? Location information is very sensitive and if you allow a dangerous adult to have access to your location, you could be at risk.