One of my concerns with new iPhone-based dating networks like Skout is they they have to face off with huge, well established players like, which are slowly releasing their own iPhone applications. If they decide they like their new acquaintance, they can they optionally choose to reveal their exact location. From here, users can strike up a real-time chat. The application presents users with a list of nearby strangers, arranged in a grid of photos (you can click on a photo to see their personal profile). Grindr displays how far away they are (distances can range from a few feet to miles away). Rather than plotting each user on the map. Grindr deals with these issues by obscuring a user’s absolute location by default. Without proper security measures, bigots could easily download such applications and use them to pinpoint targets for hateful slurs and potentially even violence.

While privacy is an issue for all location based social networks, it is of the utmost importance on gay networks. We’ve seen a handful of dating applications that cater to the straight community, and today brings the launch of Grindr (iTunes Link), one of the first iPhone applications geared towards gay and bisexual men. The iPhone is a hotbed for location-based social networks, which tap into the phone’s geolocation features to help users find nearby friends and strangers that they might like to meet.