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Cellphone location app Karelog ignites controversy

TOKYO, Sept. 22 (UPI) -- A smartphone app by a Japanese company has been sharply criticized as being a huge invasion of privacy and a potential tool for stalkers, observers said.

The "Karelog" from developer Manuscript Co. was designed to allow an individual to trace where their boyfriend or girlfriend has been as well as view their phone records, The Asahi Shimbun reported Thursday.

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When installed on an individual's smartphone, Karelog allows the other party to determine where that individual is through the global positioning system and can also see when the phone has been turned off and on.

Karelog also offered an additional service of allowing the other party to view phone records for $26 a month.

While Manuscript says in the app instructions both parties must agree to the installation, it turns out that the app can be easily downloaded and installed without the knowledge of the smartphone owner.

A day after the service started Aug. 30, the company posted an apology on its Web site and said it was conducting a review of the service.

It shut down the paid phone records part of the service Sept. 3.

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"We created it as a way of checking if the other party was being faithful and wanted people to use it after both agreed," Manuscript Co. executive Yoshinori Miura said. "We never expected it to cause so much controversy."

The Karelog Web site now includes a warning that unauthorized installation of the app could be considered a crime.

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