5 ms·

Developers Can Now Access Locations of 250 Million Phones Across U.S. Carriers

30 points by bengross 16y ago

freejoe76 16y ago
I'm looking through all this, and one question comes to mind: you iphone users know when an app first asks if it can access your location data? Well, I'm thinking here: Does that mean it can access your location data even when you're not using that app?
- wmf 16y ago
  In the age of multitasking, I'm not sure that "when you're not using the app" is even defined. But yeah, it looks like this service can get your location even if you haven't installed an app at all.
  - ktsmith 16y ago
    It very much sounds like the carriers are selling out their customers location data. My first thought when I read about this was how the hell do I opt out. I'm guessing you won't be able to until the carriers are inevitably sued.
    - bengross 16y ago
      The company says the service is opt in this press release: http://www.location-labs.com/press_article.php?newsid=80 http://www.location-labs.com/press_article.php?newsid=80 and in the comments here: http://techcrunch.com/2010/06/21/location-labs/ http://techcrunch.com/2010/06/21/location-labs/ and here: http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/is_geofencing_the_next_evolution_for_location_apps_location_labs_thinks_so.php http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/is_geofencing_the_next_... Although, I have to say this is not at all clear (at least to me) from reading through their website or even by reading their privacy policy http://location-labs.com/privacy.php http://location-labs.com/privacy.php
      - fulford 16y ago
        Yes, it's 100% opt in.
      - 1337p337 16y ago
        This article seems to resemble PR copypasta, but over-looking that, it is a little comforting that the thing is opt-in. That kind of sheds doubt on the 250M figure, though. Do they mean 250M potential users?
        fulford 16y ago
        Exactly - 250M potential users is what they mean. Right now they probably have very few consumer opt-ins.
Judson 16y ago
Anyone have an idea about how they are getting the location data? Tower triangulation?
- fulford 16y ago
  Their contracts with the carriers allow for remote pings of the GPS chip (if there is GPS on the handset). Otherwise it's just cell tower triangulation.
alanh 16y ago
Not a word about opt-in vs. opt-out. Privacy, schmivacy?
- inerte 16y ago
  Reading the developer section of the company website, I understand it's opt-in (per app).
  - fulford 16y ago
    It is 100% opt-in, but there is no "app" needed on the actual phone - so you're totally right if by "per app" you mean "per developer" or "per use case." So I might allow one company to locate my phone for a family-finder scenario, and another company to locate my phone for local weather alerts, for example. No app required in either case. Hope this helps.
asmithmd1 16y ago
Don't get worried about privacy, in order to locate a phone a potential user of your location based service first has to create an account at http://www.veriplace.com/ http://www.veriplace.com/ Then respond to to an SMS to the phone number to opt in. As a developer you then have to have your application approved and only then do you have the privilege of using their 5 step process to try to get a phone's location http://developer.veriplace.com/devportal/developerguide http://developer.veriplace.com/devportal/developerguide A cell tower location will cost you around .02 and an attempt at a more accurate will cost around .05

30 points by bengross 16y ago

I'm looking through all this, and one question comes to mind: you iphone users know when an app first asks if it can access your location data? Well, I'm thinking here: Does that mean it can access your location data even when you're not using that app?

wmf 16y ago
In the age of multitasking, I'm not sure that "when you're not using the app" is even defined. But yeah, it looks like this service can get your location even if you haven't installed an app at all.
- ktsmith 16y ago
  It very much sounds like the carriers are selling out their customers location data. My first thought when I read about this was how the hell do I opt out. I'm guessing you won't be able to until the carriers are inevitably sued.
  - bengross 16y ago
    The company says the service is opt in this press release: http://www.location-labs.com/press_article.php?newsid=80 http://www.location-labs.com/press_article.php?newsid=80 and in the comments here: http://techcrunch.com/2010/06/21/location-labs/ http://techcrunch.com/2010/06/21/location-labs/ and here: http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/is_geofencing_the_next_evolution_for_location_apps_location_labs_thinks_so.php http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/is_geofencing_the_next_... Although, I have to say this is not at all clear (at least to me) from reading through their website or even by reading their privacy policy http://location-labs.com/privacy.php http://location-labs.com/privacy.php
    - fulford 16y ago
      Yes, it's 100% opt in.
    - 1337p337 16y ago
      This article seems to resemble PR copypasta, but over-looking that, it is a little comforting that the thing is opt-in. That kind of sheds doubt on the 250M figure, though. Do they mean 250M potential users?
      - fulford 16y ago
        Exactly - 250M potential users is what they mean. Right now they probably have very few consumer opt-ins.

Judson 16y ago

Anyone have an idea about how they are getting the location data? Tower triangulation?

fulford 16y ago
Their contracts with the carriers allow for remote pings of the GPS chip (if there is GPS on the handset). Otherwise it's just cell tower triangulation.

alanh 16y ago

Not a word about opt-in vs. opt-out. Privacy, schmivacy?

inerte 16y ago
Reading the developer section of the company website, I understand it's opt-in (per app).
- fulford 16y ago
  It is 100% opt-in, but there is no "app" needed on the actual phone - so you're totally right if by "per app" you mean "per developer" or "per use case." So I might allow one company to locate my phone for a family-finder scenario, and another company to locate my phone for local weather alerts, for example. No app required in either case. Hope this helps.

asmithmd1 16y ago

Don't get worried about privacy, in order to locate a phone a potential user of your location based service first has to create an account at http://www.veriplace.com/ http://www.veriplace.com/ Then respond to to an SMS to the phone number to opt in. As a developer you then have to have your application approved and only then do you have the privilege of using their 5 step process to try to get a phone's location http://developer.veriplace.com/devportal/developerguide http://developer.veriplace.com/devportal/developerguide A cell tower location will cost you around .02 and an attempt at a more accurate will cost around .05