6 ms·

I believe the relevant T-Mobile privacy policy (that I definitely read before signing up...) is: "With your consent. We may provide location-based services or

I believe the relevant T-Mobile privacy policy (that I definitely read before signing up...) is: "With your consent. We may provide location-based services or provide third parties with access to your approximate location to provide services to you." https://www.t-mobile.com/company/website/privacypolicy.aspx https://www.t-mobile.com/company/website/privacypolicy.aspx That is why a text message confirmation is required to get a cell phone's location from https://www.locationsmart.com/try/ https://www.locationsmart.com/try/ For those on T-Mobile, there are privacy settings that can be adjusted here: https://my.t-mobile.com/profile/privacy_notifications/advertising https://my.t-mobile.com/profile/privacy_notifications/advert... I already had all of them disabled, and I was still able to get the location of my cell phone from LocationSmart. I chatted with T-Mobile support yesterday to see if I could opt-out of them sharing my data. Not surprisingly, the support agent was less than helpful. "Don't worry, your data is secured" Are there any US carriers that respect privacy and do not share private information with 3rd parties? Or is that a pipe dream?

mohaine 8y ago
Well, the locationsmart fails completely on my Google fi phone.
- byproxy 8y ago
  I imagine Google wants sole access to your location.
- drbawb 8y ago
  ... well now I'm wondering if I should have stuck w/ my Pixel + Fi instead of the S9 + T-Mobile plan I signed up for today. Whoops.
  - tomaskafka 8y ago
    You are chosing between spyphone on spynet and spyphone on spynet.
- dylz 8y ago
  Are you using your Google Voice number? Fi numbers are GV and in cloud. Somewhere in your sim/about under settings you can find your underlying phone numbers for Sprint/TMO that you can look up.
  - 8_hours_ago 8y ago
    I would be interested to know about that... I don't see anything mentioned in the Project Fi Terms of Service (https://fi.google.com/about/tos/ https://fi.google.com/about/tos/) about Sprint, T-Mobile, or US Cellular. I assume that by signing up with Fi you are also subject to each of their privacy policies, but I'd be happy to be corrected!
    - dylz 8y ago
      My fi number has always been blocked from everything (banking, paypal, whatsapp, etc) for being VOIP. Doing some xda-dev stuff, I see two separate underlying numbers for the two profiles. I can't receive texts on either of them.
- 8_hours_ago 8y ago
  Switching from T-Mobile to Google Fi might be jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire ;) The Google Fi Terms of Service says they are collecting location data: "When your device is turned on or when you use the Services, we may collect and process information about your actual location. This may include information about your current activity (e.g., driving, running, walking, etc.), which lets us know when you may be moving between different mobile and Wi-Fi networks." https://fi.google.com/about/tos/#project-fi-privacy-notice https://fi.google.com/about/tos/#project-fi-privacy-notice I'm okay with Google collecting location information, insofar as they only use it to provide cell service, and not for advertising and don't provide it to 3rd parties. Unfortunately, their Privacy Policy states that they can use it for advertising: "We use the information we collect from all of our services to provide, maintain, protect and improve them, to develop new ones, and to protect Google and our users. We also use this information to offer you tailored content – like giving you more relevant search results and ads ." https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en&gl=us#infouse https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en&gl=us#infouse And they can provide it to 3rd parties. Note that they require "consent", just like T-Mobile's privacy policy: "We will share personal information with companies, organizations or individuals outside of Google when we have your consent to do so." https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en&gl=us#nosharing https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en&gl=us#nosharing So even if they are not currently providing information to LocationSmart, according to my understanding of their privacy policy, they are able to.
- e40 8y ago
  I'm on Project Fi and it worked for my phone.
  - thsowers 8y ago
    Same here
- mohaine 8y ago
  Well, now it works on my phone as well. I wonder if it is only when on/near my work campus. I was outside but they do have some repeaters for some carriers. (I often get a message saying my carrier has "disabled voice services" when on campus)
aarongray 8y ago
I think the ACLU did a report a while back and Cricket Wireless was the best largeish cell phone provider. Provider comparison: https://privacysos.org/blog/how-long-does-my-phone-company-store-my-data-how-easily-will-it-give-my-info-up-to-the-cops/ https://privacysos.org/blog/how-long-does-my-phone-company-s... Study details: https://privacysos.org/blog/att-stores-either-five-or-twenty-six-years-of-our-data-not-really-sure-which/ https://privacysos.org/blog/att-stores-either-five-or-twenty...
- 8_hours_ago 8y ago
  Cricket's Privacy Policy looks much better than T-Mobile's or Google Fi's: "We will not sell your personal information to anyone, for any purpose. Period." https://www.cricketwireless.com/privacy https://www.cricketwireless.com/privacy But they also say that they may share personal information (which may include location??) to 3rd parties with user "consent": "Do you share my Personal Information with other companies for them to market to me? We may share your Personal Information with AT&T and other AT&T affiliates for a variety of purpose, including so that they can market products and services to you. Except for AT&T and other AT&T affiliates, we will not share your Personal Information with other companies for them to use for the marketing of their own products and services without your consent." Can someone with Cricket Wireless see if LocationSmart has access to their location https://www.locationsmart.com/try/ https://www.locationsmart.com/try/ ?
  - moduspol 8y ago
    I'm on Cricket Wireless and I tried at your link, but I'm not getting the SMS message.
    - 8_hours_ago 8y ago
      That either means LocationSmart doesn’t have access to location data from Cricket, or it’s not working for some other reason. LocationSmart’s website says they can get location of 95% of cell phones in the US. I’m tempted to try and call their sales department and see if they would tell me which carriers they don’t support...
13of40 8y ago
Did T-Mobile have a breach recently? I got malware on one of my machines a year or so back and had to change my passwords everywhere, and T-Mobile was one of the two sites that was so assed-up I couldn't actually change it. I clicked your privacy link earlier and had to go through two separate SMS verifications and change my password because they said it was "old".

mohaine 8y ago

Well, the locationsmart fails completely on my Google fi phone.

byproxy 8y ago
I imagine Google wants sole access to your location.
drbawb 8y ago
... well now I'm wondering if I should have stuck w/ my Pixel + Fi instead of the S9 + T-Mobile plan I signed up for today. Whoops.
- tomaskafka 8y ago
  You are chosing between spyphone on spynet and spyphone on spynet.
dylz 8y ago
Are you using your Google Voice number? Fi numbers are GV and in cloud. Somewhere in your sim/about under settings you can find your underlying phone numbers for Sprint/TMO that you can look up.
- 8_hours_ago 8y ago
  I would be interested to know about that... I don't see anything mentioned in the Project Fi Terms of Service (https://fi.google.com/about/tos/ https://fi.google.com/about/tos/) about Sprint, T-Mobile, or US Cellular. I assume that by signing up with Fi you are also subject to each of their privacy policies, but I'd be happy to be corrected!
  - dylz 8y ago
    My fi number has always been blocked from everything (banking, paypal, whatsapp, etc) for being VOIP. Doing some xda-dev stuff, I see two separate underlying numbers for the two profiles. I can't receive texts on either of them.
8_hours_ago 8y ago
Switching from T-Mobile to Google Fi might be jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire ;) The Google Fi Terms of Service says they are collecting location data: "When your device is turned on or when you use the Services, we may collect and process information about your actual location. This may include information about your current activity (e.g., driving, running, walking, etc.), which lets us know when you may be moving between different mobile and Wi-Fi networks." https://fi.google.com/about/tos/#project-fi-privacy-notice https://fi.google.com/about/tos/#project-fi-privacy-notice I'm okay with Google collecting location information, insofar as they only use it to provide cell service, and not for advertising and don't provide it to 3rd parties. Unfortunately, their Privacy Policy states that they can use it for advertising: "We use the information we collect from all of our services to provide, maintain, protect and improve them, to develop new ones, and to protect Google and our users. We also use this information to offer you tailored content – like giving you more relevant search results and ads ." https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en&gl=us#infouse https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en&gl=us#infouse And they can provide it to 3rd parties. Note that they require "consent", just like T-Mobile's privacy policy: "We will share personal information with companies, organizations or individuals outside of Google when we have your consent to do so." https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en&gl=us#nosharing https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en&gl=us#nosharing So even if they are not currently providing information to LocationSmart, according to my understanding of their privacy policy, they are able to.
e40 8y ago
I'm on Project Fi and it worked for my phone.
- thsowers 8y ago
  Same here
mohaine 8y ago
Well, now it works on my phone as well. I wonder if it is only when on/near my work campus. I was outside but they do have some repeaters for some carriers. (I often get a message saying my carrier has "disabled voice services" when on campus)

aarongray 8y ago

I think the ACLU did a report a while back and Cricket Wireless was the best largeish cell phone provider. Provider comparison: https://privacysos.org/blog/how-long-does-my-phone-company-store-my-data-how-easily-will-it-give-my-info-up-to-the-cops/ https://privacysos.org/blog/how-long-does-my-phone-company-s... Study details: https://privacysos.org/blog/att-stores-either-five-or-twenty-six-years-of-our-data-not-really-sure-which/ https://privacysos.org/blog/att-stores-either-five-or-twenty...

8_hours_ago 8y ago
Cricket's Privacy Policy looks much better than T-Mobile's or Google Fi's: "We will not sell your personal information to anyone, for any purpose. Period." https://www.cricketwireless.com/privacy https://www.cricketwireless.com/privacy But they also say that they may share personal information (which may include location??) to 3rd parties with user "consent": "Do you share my Personal Information with other companies for them to market to me? We may share your Personal Information with AT&T and other AT&T affiliates for a variety of purpose, including so that they can market products and services to you. Except for AT&T and other AT&T affiliates, we will not share your Personal Information with other companies for them to use for the marketing of their own products and services without your consent." Can someone with Cricket Wireless see if LocationSmart has access to their location https://www.locationsmart.com/try/ https://www.locationsmart.com/try/ ?
- moduspol 8y ago
  I'm on Cricket Wireless and I tried at your link, but I'm not getting the SMS message.
  - 8_hours_ago 8y ago
    That either means LocationSmart doesn’t have access to location data from Cricket, or it’s not working for some other reason. LocationSmart’s website says they can get location of 95% of cell phones in the US. I’m tempted to try and call their sales department and see if they would tell me which carriers they don’t support...

13of40 8y ago

Did T-Mobile have a breach recently? I got malware on one of my machines a year or so back and had to change my passwords everywhere, and T-Mobile was one of the two sites that was so assed-up I couldn't actually change it. I clicked your privacy link earlier and had to go through two separate SMS verifications and change my password because they said it was "old".