German law blocking mobile location based social networks (and why Google is breaking German law)
A while ago, the law in Germany around location based mobile services changed. Due to the changes, it’s not allowed anymore to show your location to other users, unless you have given your WRITTEN consent to the service provider. So, if you want to use Nulaz in Germany, you have to write us a letter. We had a lot of problems with this, and our service in Germany (which is connected to all the operators for location) has become pretty lame because of it. This also means that all locations based services that can be used in Germany are breaking the law, including Google’s Lattitude.
If this law would be generally applied and your little brother would ask you to tell your mother where she should pick him up, you would have to tell him to write you a letter with his written consent to give his location information to a third party.
The fun part of this sage is that we have actually received a letter, which we have framed and has got a special place in our office.