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A new service focused around the use of cell phones has been announced, it’s called “My Mobile Witness.”  Upon first seeing the name, I immediately felt like I wanted to bash it for being some sort of invasion of privacy-enabling service.  Turns out that isn’t the case.  My Mobile Witness is actually what it calls “a personal security device.”  It actually sounds a bit useful if not hard to anticipate when to use it.

The service works by the user taking a picture of the area they are in, a license plate, a suspicious person, or something similar.  The picture (or text message) is uploaded to a server that is apparently only viewable by police.  The situations the press release describe would prove the service to be useful: taking a picture of a street sign in an unfamiliar area, taking a picture of a marker on an unfamiliar hiking path during a storm, among others.  The information, if used for a crime, can apparently be used in court as well.

The service is pretty nifty, but it’s hard to say when one would need to use it.  People don’t usually expect to get involved in some sort of crime or getting lost or anything else.  I could see people either overusing the service or just forgetting to use it.  It could be almost like Twitter on your cell phone, you know it’s there, but you rarely ever use it because it just doesn’t cross your mind (at least that’s what happens to me).

Read [PR Newswire]