Let Yahoo! Track Your Every Move

Through a service known as Fire Eagle those with a Yahoo ID can volunteer to be tracked anywhere they go physically. Simply visit the website or use one of their apps to update your location on social networks or blogs for friends using a computer, or more commonly a cell phone.

And you people were worried about Google Earth?



When you go to the Fire Eagle website you simply update your location. You can put in a city or exact address. However, the real bread and butter of the site are the apps (because apps are, like, so the new "thing"). Fire Eagle has teamed up with a number of developers to bring you the latest and greatest in tracking applications.

Does this sound creepy to anyone else and just a little confusing? I'm beginning to think those crazies that wear aluminum foil on their heads might be on to something. Who needs the government following you when you just tell them yourself?

Fire Eagle is the brain child of Yahoo's start up division Brickhouse. Fire Eagle hosts a number of affiliated applications all working differently but with a common goal; to track your every move. Most work in conjunction with your cell phone.

Some like BrightKite work like a social network and social network updater, where the app is embedded into your Facebook or MySpace account and when you sign in your location is updated on your profile. Lightpole is a mobile phone app that will help you find local points of interest like restaurants, museums or parks. Map My Tracks will track your location using GPS through your cell phone. And there are dozens more being added every day, although I noticed these three types are the most common.

Unlike previous incarnations of tracking applications, all the apps Fire Eagle are only used when you sign in and update your location personally. I think that concept is supposed to make me feel better, but I'm still leaning toward this being creepy.

Call me a cynic and maybe a bit paranoid, (it's ok, I won't be offended) but I get the distinct impression that this is just one more thing websites are using to track the movements and buying habits of web surfers.

You'll probably want a new cell phone to use with these sites, so meander on over to the cell phone reviews to find the best one for you.

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