Pokemon Go attracts 50m users despite traffic, safety concerns

As popularity of the new smartphone game Pokémon Go soared to 50 million users around the world within 10 days of its release, experts are still warning about the potential traffic, security, and social dangers that may arise from the game. 
The game works by determining the geographic location of the user to help them search for a Pokémon to catch, guiding users via a map to different locations.
“I downloaded the game, and it poses a great danger in terms of traffic accidents, as well as security and criminal issues,” said the head of the Research Center and a Fiqh expert at the League of Arab States, Eissa Al-Ghaith. 
However, technology expert Abdulrahman Al-Zahrani said that there have been no discoveries about gaps in the game with regards to recent reports that it basically a game to spy on sensitive locations, noting that the game has become quite popular around the world. 
That said, one of the dangers of the game is that it may cause traffic accidents, he added, noting that the servers and maps in the game are the same ones used in other applications, such as Snapchat or Twitter, to determine locations while capturing daily moments. 
According to Dr. Khalid Al-Harthy, a psychologist and family counsellor, the addiction to such games is only increasing, which may cause some users to be socially isolated. 
In the opinion of fans, like Omar Al-Harthy, the game is helpful in that it also gets users walking around and moving everywhere. Others, like Nahed Al-Sharif, said the game has spread among youths, who travel by car to different places to catch a Pokémon and increase their points, but agreed that the app may have caused traffic accidents as drivers were distracted by the game. 
Mohammed Al-Qarni, who personally does not participate in the game, said his little brother is a huge fan and walks around the neighborhood in order to catch a Pokémon. 
The game is a form of virtual reality technology, as it uses the phone’s camera to see Pokémon as though they were real. A Pokémon can be trained and developed by spending funds or exchanging Pokémons, as well as obtaining candy, which allows users to advance to higher levels. 
The game is only available in the American and Australian iTunes store, and not on the Saudi store, which has prevented it from spreading locally.

Source: Arab News