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I think it would be a breach of privacy using geolocation data.

The reason I'm dismayed in this instance is that I can't work out how the connections are being drawn.

I'm just guessing.

Aught wrong with a guess, but that one could get quite creepy pretty quickly. Say you were at a small conference in a small building in the one room. And Google started to suggest those around you as friends - that could be quite useful - but equally it could blow someones cover.

Also you spot a large car with tinted windows nearby, and suddenly Google is suggesting that you might know a certain someone that maybe in that vehicle.

You might loose your privacy if you were living in a block of flats and this were the case.

Certainly an interesting idea as to whether they do use your geo-data.

Now I'm pretty sure that profile data such as where do you live, or publicly printed location data could be used. I.e. with Facebook, it's probably more likely to hook you up with people that are geographically close - but I'm speculating here too.

I was thinking about less granular grouping i.e city or state level.

A good question in itself, would be where do you draw a line. At what radius would you feel comfortable?

I'm posting from foo to a bar forum. Will bar tolerate someone from foo?

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