Tracking me, tracking you

Lately

Location-sharing apps are growing in popularity, not just among families and Gen Z friend groups but with investors, too. (The tracking app Life360 made its Nasdaq debut earlier this month.)

If we're already passively sharing this information with companies almost all the time, why not share it with our loved ones?

Our guest, Dr Katina Michael, who was on the cutting edge of building location-based services in its earliest days, says that the trust and connection we desire when signing up for these apps is exactly what’s being lost by using them.

Michael is a professor at the school for the Future of Innovation in Society and the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence at Arizona State University. She researches emerging technologies and their corresponding social implications, and she’s published six books.

Also, Vass and Katrina discuss how boring it is to track Vass’ husband.

This is Lately. Every week, we take a deep dive into the big, defining trends in business and tech that are reshaping our every day.

Our executive producer is Katrina Onstad. The show is produced by Andrea Varsany. Our sound designer is Cameron McIver.

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