The risks that accompany any location tracking app are present in Find My Friends, but to Apple’s credit, the company has taken several steps to mitigate risk. That said, the app is still not a wise choice for children, unless parents want to use the iPod Touch or iPhone as a tracking device for their kids.

The free app allows people to track where their friends are, but uses a permission-based system. No one can track you unless you give your consent first. (Kids, though, might let anyone track them in an effort to build a large cache of online “friends.”) It’s easy to stop broadcasting your location, but given people’s tendencies to sometimes forget simple tasks, it’s inevitable that users will sometimes inadvertently announce where they are when they would rather not. Functionality-wise, it’s not dramatically different than other location sharing services, but it does the job well and includes enough additional features (such as temporary location sharing) and controls that it might be worth checking out — if the user is age appropriate.

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