A Yahoo! press release describes Fire Eagle as an open platform, enabling its members to publish their actual geolocation on the website. Developers are enabled to access this information and integrate the data into their services. This model saves Yahoo! development costs and the complex construction of its own locality-based services.

Stated differently: Fire Eagle is not its own independent network, but rather a central data node for localized user data, enabled to be used by other applications – whether web, desktop or mobile.  User can thus determine which services may access their information.  According to Yahoo! Fire Eagle is already enabled with over 50 services, including Dopplr, Pownce, Moveable Type and Outside.in.  If the user changes his location, his new location can be automatically updated, for example by mobile phone, if so desired.  Users can also manually submit location changes using the Fire Eagle website or via SMS.  Thereafter all approved location services will be updated to reflect the new location, allowing those services to react and adjust their service offerings.

Users may decide freely on which and how much information may be passed to the partner services, but are also able to hide their location, amend approved services or erase their saved data on Fire Eagle. This however has raised some security red flags, according to a BBC report.  Although the user is able to delete their data on Fire Eagle, any previously shared data can still be stored by service partners and continued to be used.  Yahoo! also recognizes this danger and urges its users (via its Help page) only to trust their data to reputable/credible third-party services.