4 ms·

Facebook may be gathering residential WiFi networks

44 points by dzink 7y ago

travisporter 7y ago
“ At least on Android, it is possible for apps to periodically scan the nearby Wi-Fi networks in the background and send it to servers. This functionality is often seemed important for companies that monetize data for advertisements” Is this true? If so I hope it’s not true for iOS/other mobile OS
- xenospn 7y ago
  I'm not aware of any API in iOS that exposes the list of nearby WiFi networks to an app.
  - lathiat 7y ago
    The ability to do this and all sorts of other stuff was sadly removed for precisely this reason.
  - angott 7y ago
    No, this feature used to be there in iOS 4 I believe, but was removed in subsequent iOS versions. To be honest, there is a private API for it. It is the one the AirPort Utility app uses for its built-in Wi-Fi Scan feature. In iOS 13 you can only know the name of the current Wi-Fi network, and you require location permission for it.
- Iv 7y ago
  Delenda carthago: we should ban advertisement. This is the root of all modern privacy invasions.
- retSava 7y ago
  On Android (ie meaning the OS, not the android version of the FB app), the wifi and bluetooth perform periodic scanning in order to provide better location services, it's said. I think this is helpful especially in urban environments where the raw GNSS position is very rough, but typically several wifi APs are broadcasting, so the RSSI of those APs beacons helps to reduce positional uncertainty. Th scanning is performed even with BT/wifi turned off. You can explicitly turn the scanning off in some settings submenu.
  - ahbyb 7y ago
    That's something the system does internally. We are talking about exposing that list of networks to 3rd party apps.
- ahbyb 7y ago
  Yes, it's allowed, but it requires location permissions which the user has to enable explicitly. https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/connectivity/wifi-scan#wifi-scan-permissions https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/connectivity/wifi...
stevenicr 7y ago
I'm wondering if they respect the "_nomap" thing that google's wifi gathering cars are suppose to use to not list networks?

44 points by dzink 7y ago

“ At least on Android, it is possible for apps to periodically scan the nearby Wi-Fi networks in the background and send it to servers. This functionality is often seemed important for companies that monetize data for advertisements” Is this true? If so I hope it’s not true for iOS/other mobile OS

xenospn 7y ago
I'm not aware of any API in iOS that exposes the list of nearby WiFi networks to an app.
- lathiat 7y ago
  The ability to do this and all sorts of other stuff was sadly removed for precisely this reason.
- angott 7y ago
  No, this feature used to be there in iOS 4 I believe, but was removed in subsequent iOS versions. To be honest, there is a private API for it. It is the one the AirPort Utility app uses for its built-in Wi-Fi Scan feature. In iOS 13 you can only know the name of the current Wi-Fi network, and you require location permission for it.
Iv 7y ago
Delenda carthago: we should ban advertisement. This is the root of all modern privacy invasions.
retSava 7y ago
On Android (ie meaning the OS, not the android version of the FB app), the wifi and bluetooth perform periodic scanning in order to provide better location services, it's said. I think this is helpful especially in urban environments where the raw GNSS position is very rough, but typically several wifi APs are broadcasting, so the RSSI of those APs beacons helps to reduce positional uncertainty. Th scanning is performed even with BT/wifi turned off. You can explicitly turn the scanning off in some settings submenu.
- ahbyb 7y ago
  That's something the system does internally. We are talking about exposing that list of networks to 3rd party apps.
ahbyb 7y ago
Yes, it's allowed, but it requires location permissions which the user has to enable explicitly. https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/connectivity/wifi-scan#wifi-scan-permissions https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/connectivity/wifi...

stevenicr 7y ago

I'm wondering if they respect the "_nomap" thing that google's wifi gathering cars are suppose to use to not list networks?