Tom Mighell and I have recorded another episode of The Kennedy-Mighell Report podcast and it’s now available on the Legal Talk Network and on iTunes, with an RSS feed here. The episode is called “Geolocation: Where Everyone Knows Your Name AND Location” (show notes here), and it’s sponsored by Clio. A special thank you to readers of this blog who listen to the podcast – consider trying out an episode or becoming a regular subscriber through iTunes or our RSS feed.

Here’s the episode (#37) description:

In real estate and on the Internet today, the key is location, location, location. Facebook Places, Google Latitude and Foursquare have opened our eyes to the potential benefits and concerns of geolocation services and features. Why are we voluntarily and publicly disclosing so much personal location information today? In this episode, co-hosts Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell discuss the growing role of geolocation services, how you might participate in and benefit from them, and how to make good choices about opting in and opting out of this brave new world.

In the last few weeks, use of web-based services that make use of your current location have become a hot topic. The combination of mobile phones, mobile devices, GPS, location apps, location services and the seemingly-unlimited willingness of people to share information about their current location has opened our eyes to a new stage in the evolution of the web.

The title of the podcast is especially interesting in light of the quote I just saw tonight from Google’ Eric Schmidt: “We can suggest what you should do next, what you care about. Imagine: We know where you are, we know what you like.”

We start with a look at the location-based “check-in” services, starting with Foursquare and the high-profile launch of the new Facebook Places. These services allow people to “check-in” and announce that they are at certain places through social media tools. the idea is that you can potentially identify other “friends” at the same location, find restaurants, et al. Sometimes, there might be “game” aspects where you might get recognition, points or awards for checking-in multiple times at a location.

Tom likes these services and uses them. I’m far more wary of them and am uncomfortable with giving up location information. We take a bit of a point/counterpoint approach to the pros and cons of these services.

We also make some predictions about the way these services might affect lawyers and the practice of law. My take is that there are probably some ways these services will have an impact, possibly significant, in some areas of the practice of law, and there are some interesting opportunities for creative lawyers to use these services in their practices. However, I’ll need smelling salts if lawyers take to these services in a significant way in the next year or two. If you are an innovator, put on your thinking cap and you might find that you can capture some areas long before anyone else gets there.

That is, if you are comfortable with the whole idea of giving up location information to the public. I must admit that I find it interesting to see people freely giving up information about their movements and whereabouts on the Internet when there would be a firestorm if government agencies announced that they wanted to collect the same location data. Geolocation is a trend worth watching simply for what it shows about our evolving sense of privacy.

In our “stuff Tom and Dennis have been talking about” segment, Tom reveals that he has recently purchased an iPad and I take advantage of the time slot to ask some specific questions that will impact on my own buying decision. Tom’s answers will be quite useful for anyone contemplating an iPad purchase.

We end the podcast with our Parting Shots – practical tips you can use right away. Tom solidifies his position as DropBox’s #1 fan, and highlights some new features of this highly-praised online file storage and sharing service from DropBox. I point you to the recently-released 2010 Inside Legal / ILTA legal technology survey and the insights it will give you about trends and developments in legal technology today. Rodney Dowell has a great podcast interview with JoAnna Forshee and Jobst Elster of Inside Legal covering the highlights of the survey.

Give our new episode a listen and let me know what you think. Show notes for the podcast are here. And try some of the back episodes as well. You can also now follow the podcast on Twitter at @tkmreport.

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (https://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

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Now Available! The Lawyer’s Guide to Collaboration Tools and Technologies: Smart Ways to Work Together, by Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell. Visit the companion website for the book at LawyersGuidetoCollaboration.com. Twitter: @collabtools