Handy launches on Android and updates iOS app so you can stalk your cleaning service in real-time

Handy, a mobile app that offers consumers cleaning services on-demand, is launching on Android today and issuing an erie update to its iOS version — real-time tracking of service professionals.

At 15 minutes prior to your booked appointment, a push notification will alert you that the cleaning professional is on his or her way. A map pops up in-app, showing your Handy professional in transit to your home. That person is tracked from 15 minutes before the job, until it’s complete.

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The new feature feels necessarily invasive. The tracking functionality, seemingly aimed at especially paranoid consumers, essentially ensures that a cleaning professional is at your home at the agreed upon time working for the contracted amount of time. It nearly eliminates a need for trust, which is traditionally a component of cleaning services — or any service where a professional is entering your home while you’re not there. If the conceit of this new feature is to hack the need for trust, it seems like a short ride before Handy starts offering live-streaming of your cleaning professionals service. And some people already do have Dropcams and other home surveillance devices, but it’s a slippery slope for the privacy-concerned when companies start surveilling employees.