(ft) Google is set to draw scrutiny to the privacy implications of “location-aware” mobile services with the announcement on Wednesday of a service that allows users to track the whereabouts of their friends automatically. The service, Google Latitude, will take the web search company into the increasingly crowded mobile social-networking business, opening another front in its rivalry with mobile carriers. By downloading software on to their mobiles, users in 27 countries will be able to broadcast their location to others constantly. Privacy controls will make it possible for people to select who receives the information, or to go “offline” at any time. Recipients of the information will be able to track their friends’ whereabouts on a Google map, either from a handset or from a personal computer.

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