Vodacom`s Look4me offers millions more peace of mind

Issued by Vodacom
Johannesburg, 12 Aug 2004

Personal safety in SA has taken a giant leap forward, following news that Vodacom`s cellphone tracking service, Look4me, is now available to Vodacom prepaid customers.

Currently, 30 000 Vodacom contract customers have registered for the service enabling them to determine the general location of tens of thousands of consenting Vodacom prepaid and contract customers, which has obvious value in emergency situations.

"About 80% of SA cellular customers are prepaid users. So the fact that Vodacom prepaid users can now subscribe to Look4me by visiting a Vodacom dealer with their ID, completing a form and paying a R10 fee, is welcome news for security conscious South Africans," said Mthobi Tyamzashe, Group Executive - Corporate Affairs of Vodacom. Tyamzashe added: "Look4me users are discovering numerous applications for the service, from checking that their children are at school, to tracking their own cellphones when they are lost or stolen."

The fact that no person can be tracked without their specific consent and knowledge has added to Look4me`s popularity.

To register for Look4me simply SMS the word REGISTER to 31888. Once registered, you will be able to locate up to 10 other cell numbers, provided the users have consented to being located. Subscribers pay R10 per month for the service, and R1.69 per search.

You can also do searches from the Web site, www.look4me.co.za at 99c per search. The Web site also allows you to set up alerts whereby you can, as an example, receive an SMS if your child is not at school at 10am.

In addition to the tracking functionality of Look4me, subscribers can now also use Look4help to send a "panic SMS" with your location to a maximum of four other cell numbers. Dial *120*888*888# to set up Look4help.

For more information on Look4me, Vodacom customers can go to www.look4me.co.za, or make a free call to Vodacom Customer Care on 111 from their Vodacom cellphones.

The following safety controls have been built into Look4me:

a) Before Look4me passes your location information to any person, you must specifically register and grant location rights by replying with a `YES` SMS to the invitation message.

b) Look4me will only pass your location information to the specific cell number which you have explicitly granted location rights to.

c) Only cell numbers to which you have granted location rights to will be able to locate you.

d) After registering and granting location rights you will receive SMS reminders that you may be located, indicating how to cancel locating users should you wish to. These reminders will be timed as follows: one reminder 48 hours after sending a consent SMS and one reminder every 30 days.

e) At any time you may view those cell numbers that you have granted location rights to either via your cellphone or the Internet.

f) At any time you may view a report of the previous three months location requests made for your cell number, either via your cellphone or the Internet.

g) At any time you may cancel or suspend the location rights of cell numbers that may locate you.

h) You may block your phone to new locators, ie block you child`s phone once you have added your cell number as a locator, this will help ensure that only you may locate your child.

i) You can set the days and times during which you are locatable.

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