A firestorm erupted last week when a mobile app by the name of “Girls Around Me” started to make the rounds, raising all sorts of privacy concerns. The iPhone app, which has subsequently been removed from the App Store, pulled in publicly-available information that women had posted on Facebook and Foursquare. It then made that location-based and personal information — including name, photos and relationship status — available to anyone with the app.
In this highly-charged environment, Seattle upstart Eye Saw You is hoping to cut a different path. Developers Mike Mercer and Yakup Trana want to be crystal clear: Their new app is no “Girls Around Me.”
They stress that there’s no chance for stalking, since it does not use GPS to track other individuals’ locations. In fact, they described the entire “Girls Around Me” concept as a bit creepy.
“Our app is completely the other direction — not only by philosophy but by technology as well,” Trana tells GeekWire.
Unlike “Girls Around Me,” Trana said that Eye Saw You does not use location information or a person’s social networking profile. It does, however, serve the purpose of possibly connecting two soul mates who may have passed one another at the dog park, the coffee shop or the office elevator.
“Eye Saw You lets you take action on that mutual attraction and spark fun and flirty connections via secure messaging…. It’s like a virtual bulletin board,” according to a description. “Connect with that eye-catching cutie by simply locating the venue where the encounter happened … with the option of sharing a photo to make sure you connect with the correct admirer.”
Of course, the concept is not entirely new, with similar offerings in alternative weekly newspapers such as The Stranger and on Craigslist via the “Missed Connections” section.
“It became very clear that people all over the U.S. and other countries were posting every day about ‘missed encounters,'” said co-creator Mike Mercer in describing the new app.
The app is free at this point, and the company plans to offer a 99 cent version with expanded features. It also is exploring options related to advertising.
“Our main focus now is building the community of users,” said Mercer, who works in the mortgage business is moonlighting with the new startup. “With this app, critical mass is a must.”
That effort starts Thursday night, with the company hosting a private launch party at a club in Bellevue. Will the app spark some new love connections? We’ll have to wait to hear.
Here’s a demo showing how it all works. What do you think? Creepy or cool?
