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The now kind of forgotten Google row where it was discovered they were scanning all wifi networks while mapping speaks volumes to this. If you have a map that d
by weego 8y ago
The now kind of forgotten Google row where it was discovered they were scanning all wifi networks while mapping speaks volumes to this. If you have a map that details signal strengths you can infer someones location pretty accurately (not gps accurate, but within the ballpark) even if they have location services off just by logging and plotting them against your wifi coverage map.
- ndnxhs 8y agoMozilla also has an opt in service where you can upload WiFi details you pass. Its useful for locating your device faster than gps
- dubbel 8y agoThe thing that people were upset about was that Google Street View cars didn't only scan the public SSIDs, but also recorded all (open) network traffic. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2010/may/15/google-admits-storing-private-data https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2010/may/15/google-ad...
- geek_at 8y agooh yes I remember and they still use the data they collected. I lived in Vienna for 30 years and just recently moved to the country side. There are no wifi hotspots around me so when I set up my old wifi (same ssid as before and same hardware (bssid)) and checked my phone on google maps it was saying that I still am at the old place because it had not GPS at the moment and then google maps checked the SSIDs around me and looked up where those are located Was a very weird thing
- dredmorbius 8y agoBoth, actually.