‘Color’ iPhone – Android app has no modesty
A new smartphone app and Web site named ‘Color’ are based almost entirely on the photograph, but it does not seem to have much to offer except someplace to display photos that the entire world can see.
All photographers like to share the photos that they have taken, even those that fall into the category of snapshots of your friends. A lot of opportunities for such photo sharing exists on the Web, and one was recently added which combines photos, geo-location and social networking together and gets a social network that makes it very easy (yea, too easy) to share photos with people near you.
Here’s how it works. Say you’re out in your neighborhood park taking a walk and you shoot a picture of one of your friends when you meet. If you’re a ‘Color’ member, you will be able to quickly and easily upload that picture to share with others, including the GPS location where the photo was taken. If your friend is a member of ‘Color’ she will be able to see it to, since the apps (currently available for iPhone and Android) sends it every member within 150 feet or so of where you took the photo.
The problem is so can anyone else who is a member and is within 150 or so feet of you. The program does not discriminate, period, and selects who to show your picture to based on your location (which is uploaded with the photo or video), the content of your photo or video, and the people with whom you have interacted on “Color.” You cannot designate friend, groups of friends, family, or restrict your photo in any other way.
So, that picture of the friend you met in the park might be going to a nearby serial killer, any dangerous perv close by, a totally whacko stalker, or an ex bent on revenge. The same is true of any photo or video she took of you and uploaded to ‘Color’. This might just be going way too far to avoid privacy restrictions. For safety reasons alone, although there is more, I would suggest passing on this particular smartphone app.
