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Because everything they do is funded by selling ads that target people based on a heap of different factors, one of which is location. Honestly I wonder how an
by stephenr 9y ago
Because everything they do is funded by selling ads that target people based on a heap of different factors, one of which is location.
Honestly I wonder how anyone in tech doesnt know why google offers "free" services and pushes people towards their own non-private "solutions"
- hollander 9y agoYeah but they have my location by GPS, and still they need the Wifi-location service as well. Why?!?!?
- losteric 9y agoThey don't need it, but they'll keep asking in hopes that you'll click "yes" (by accident?)
- SCHiM 9y agoAfter which the option disappears deep inside some obscure setting, is conserved across multiple major updates, and synced across devices on all platforms. ;)
- wlesieutre 9y agoI used to be on Android and I eventually clicked yes out of annoyance.
- hedora 9y agoThey need it so they can train the wifi-location service. That way, they can violate your privacy later. Also, (if you're on wifi) they presumably infer the location of anyone using the same public IP as you, whether or not they are using android and whether or not they disabled location tracking/gps on location tracking on their device.
- vaishaksuresh 9y agoThat is to tie your wifi access point to a specific location. They can then use this information to deduce the location of users who are not using GPS too. They can use it to deduce relationships between people who are connected to same wifi at the same time. They can deduce what time you are at what location and predict where you will be next. The possibilities are endless.
- imglorp 9y agoThere's a little subtle tech behind wifi geolocation. Skyhook Wireless has some of this figured out, and their material even claims they are "defying standard OS limitations." In other words, they're finding you even when you prefer not.