Sina Weibo Adds LBS Features to Mobile Apps, Feels Like an Invasion of Privacy

Sina (NASDAQ:SINA) has added some location-based services (LBS) to the mobile apps for its microblogging platform, Weibo. A new update to both its Android and iOS apps allows users to search for nearby users or tweets, and puts a familiar pin logo in the top toolbar above your timeline.

This could cause a backlash from some users who might not want to be located so easily. The updated Weibo apps seem to be able to position people to within a few hundred meters – even those who have not geo-tagged their posts. And so the official Weibo mobile app seems to be discerning where users are using GPS – and where their tweets were posted – without very specifically okaying this with people. I have inputted my city of residence in my profile – as have many people – but the app is now showing me people who live and work on my street. And most users likely don’t even realise.

The updated Weibo app for iOS now has a ‘nearby tweets’ and ‘nearby people’ feature within the ‘discover’ section of the app, while the Android version seems to only have the latter function:

Sina already has its Weilingdi LBS app – made by Finnish location-services experts GeoSentric (HEL:GEO1V) – which is a separate download. But this week Sina seems to be integrating much of those location-specific aspects into the regular Weibo mobile apps. And so Weilingdi is now pretty much obsolete now that microbloggers can ‘check in’ to a venue in the plain Weibo app.

There are third-party apps for Weibo which make a better choice in terms of aesthetics than Sina’s, but it seems that whichever app you use to post from, you’re tied-in to these new features.

We’ve reached out to Sina HQ for comments on this issue, and will update if we hear back.

Let us know in the comments if you think this is a privacy concern, feature bloat – or a useful new feature.

[Hat-tip to 36kr for spotting this new feature]