Foursquare to make users' names public

Geolocalization service Foursquare has announced changes to its policies, including plans to publish users' full names at each check-in and to share more data with businesses.

Geolocalization service Foursquare has announced changes to its policies, including plans to publish users' full names at each check-in and to share more data with businesses.

With the changes, the full name of the user -- and not a first name and last initial -- will display each time the user checks in somwhere. However, Foursquare points out that this full name can be modified as the user wishes in the Settings section of the website.

Businesses included on Foursquare will also now have access to more data on the users who have checked in at their establishments within the previous three hours -- although users can deactivate this permission.

Foursquare users received an email warning them of these changes, which will take effect January 28.

If Foursquare takes flak for its announced changes, it certainly won't be as much as that brought on by another social network, Instragram, whose policy changes earlier in December provoked widespread misunderstanding and dissent.