Google Latitude offers individuals, as well as small businesses a very handy tracking tool.

When I tried to invite my friends to join me on Google Latitude so I could give it a proper test run, most were too creeped out to click on the link.

Many of them couldn’t believe I would voluntarily broadcast my whereabouts, updated constantly via my BlackBerry Curve. It had the feel of “Big Brother” all over it and initial reactions were either negative or incredulous. One friend even called me after receiving my e-mail invitation, asking if it was a hoax.

Some privacy groups had similar gut reactions to Google’s newest proof it is an all-knowing entity.

Critics have warned that micro-managing bosses would begin to track their employee’s every move, or that stalkers have been given a gift, or that jealous spouses now have a new tool to spy on their significant other. But I don’t see how that can be the case.

After exploring Latitude and examining its privacy settings, I've concluded that it isn’t an invasive application. In fact, the privacy settings are totally within the user’s control. Latitude offers up a useful service that will change the way people socialize. It will come in handy to small businesses that now have a free tool to track employees around the world.

With Latitude, Google is offering up another incredibly useful free service that's totally controlled by the user. It could become one of the search giant’s most popular services if people can move past the unwarranted paranoia that their movements would be tracked surreptitiously.

Privacy

You can access Latitude either from your mobile phone – compatible with most colour BlackBerrys, Windows Mobile 5.0 and up, Symbian S60 devices and soon the iPhone – or as a gadget in Google’s personalized homepage, iGoogle. Either way, the privacy options are the same.

First of all, when you share your location, you aren't offering that information to everyone on the Web. For instance, not just anyone could type “Brian Jackson” into a Google Maps search to locate me, but only friends I invite to view my location.