Google users will now be able to share their locations among a select group of friends, thanks to the search engine's latest offering - 'Latitude,' the new geo-locator service! The new feature allows users to also manually set their location as and when required, or even turn off the relay.

The Latitude service uses online maps to broadcast the location back to Google for putting it on view. It is by the means of GPS-equipped smartphones, mobile phone towers or Wi-Fi hardware that the user's location information is automatically updated. An "opt-in" version of the Latitude service is also available for the laptops.

Google Latitude can be of immense value to businesses as they can track service people and even delivery vehicles, while they are in motion during calls. The online facility to track specific people will help the bosses keep a watch over the activities of their charges.

However, it appears that Latitude may not be of much use for tracking a large number of people in one go.

The service - which has to be updated regularly enough to be useful - has increased manifold the concerns about safety, since most users may be unaware of it being activated. Moreover, via the Latitude service a lot of personal information which is sent to Google can easily be misused, and a person's privacy can be encroached upon!