As the Facebook location service looms like an 800-pound gorilla, Foursquare has outlined its privacy settings to make things clear to users about what’s being shared.
The check-in service is generating a lot of buzz among early adopters but other location-based app providers have told me that privacy snafus could derail the entire industry. Because of this, Fourquare has set up a page called Privacy 101 to allay users’ concerns.
The bottom line is that we understand how important privacy is to you. From the beginning we’ve been working hard to build a robust range of privacy controls into the foursquare experience to give users control over the amount of information they share about their location. We’ve been a leader in the location-based services space – popularizing the concept of voluntarily “checking in” to places – and we aspire to be leaders in the way we educate our users on privacy issues related to location awareness.
Foursquare makes it clear that your location data is only shared with others when you decide to check in to a location. These are saved in a “check-in History” page but you can delete individual locations from that list and all your history is deleted if you decide to delete your account.
The User Settings page is given the spotlight and you can change multiple sharing options. There’s also an “off the grid” mode which allows you to check in to locations for your history and badges but it won’t go out to your friends.
This spotlight on privacy comes as Facebook is set to announce a location-based service later this afternoon. All signs point to the social network creating a location platform that companies like Gowalla and Foursquare will be able to build upon. Of course, Facebook has faced a lot of heat over how it handles users’ privacy and this spotlight on Privacy could help Foursquare stand out.
[Via Foursqaure