4 ms·

But Facebook, Google, Microsoft, et al are still free to sell phone location data acquired through apps (or Android itself in the case of Google), right? I won

But Facebook, Google, Microsoft, et al are still free to sell phone location data acquired through apps (or Android itself in the case of Google), right? I wonder if there is any hope of laws to limit the ability of companies to sell this data...

prepend 7y ago
Telcos are regulated carriers, facegoog are not. Maybe one day they will be.
- ta999999171 7y ago
  Their actions can be regulated. They don't exist in international waters.
londons_explore 7y ago
It's time to differentiate selling "Bob is in Location X" from "Show this ad to all people at location X". The first case is a far far bigger privacy concern to me, and seems to be what mobile networks were doing. Facebook, Google, and Microsoft are doing the latter.
- lonelappde 7y ago
  If you click on the ad or run its JavaScript, it has your device info matching the ad geofence
- caconym_ 7y ago
  +1. I care way more about the existence of an api that tells anyone with money exactly where I am (and where I've been) than I do about one that anonymously attributes (in aggregate) my ad interaction stats to some place I was at or interested in.
- underpand 7y ago
  Yes, there are a lot of malicious actors that actually sell data (apps, browser extensions, phone carriers, potentially ISPs, finance companies, etc.). Many of these actors even sell un-anonymized data. The big tech companies are very low on the totem pole of badness and will continue to stay that way for a long time because the incentives don't align for them to actually sell data.
- salawat 7y ago
  No, it isn't. Both are essentially workable to do the same bloody thing, and just mean the same outcome can be achieved with the minor inconvenience of an additional layer of indirection. Geolocation information shouldn't be considered a desirable dataasset to hold onto as a monetizable asset at all at the level of granularity that enables individual resolution.
deadmutex 7y ago
IIRC, Google doesn't sell your personal location data: https://safety.google/privacy/ads-and-data/ https://safety.google/privacy/ads-and-data/ Disclaimer: I work at Google.
- kevin_thibedeau 7y ago
  Do they refuse warrantless requests?
  - lonelappde 7y ago
    https://support.google.com/transparencyreport/answer/7381738?hl=en https://support.google.com/transparencyreport/answer/7381738...
- JohnFen 7y ago
  This is true, although it's engaging in a bit of hair-splitting.
  - thedance 7y ago
    It's not. The extent to which old-line businesses like telcos and banks will literally sell your data is way beyond anything Google has ever contemplated. I can call a credit card data clearinghouse and order all of the transactions of every age 30-35 male in Akron, Ohio in December 2019 and they'll put that in a spreadsheet and send it to me. It really is important to distinguish between "selling your data" and what Google does in the course of business, because if you are unable to make that distinction then you aren't aware of the terrifying scale and specificity of the data provided by other industries.
    - ta999999171 7y ago
      I'm more worried when I CAN'T buy that data - because then I have no idea what they're holding onto (for private deals, either with corps, defense contractors, .gov, etc).
veeralpatel979 7y ago
These companies don't sell your data and it's not in their interest to do so. Data is the cash cow that lets them sell ads. Why would they give away the cash cow and cut themselves, the middlemen, out of the picture?

prepend 7y ago

Telcos are regulated carriers, facegoog are not. Maybe one day they will be.

ta999999171 7y ago
Their actions can be regulated. They don't exist in international waters.

londons_explore 7y ago

It's time to differentiate selling "Bob is in Location X" from "Show this ad to all people at location X". The first case is a far far bigger privacy concern to me, and seems to be what mobile networks were doing. Facebook, Google, and Microsoft are doing the latter.

lonelappde 7y ago
If you click on the ad or run its JavaScript, it has your device info matching the ad geofence
caconym_ 7y ago
+1. I care way more about the existence of an api that tells anyone with money exactly where I am (and where I've been) than I do about one that anonymously attributes (in aggregate) my ad interaction stats to some place I was at or interested in.
underpand 7y ago
Yes, there are a lot of malicious actors that actually sell data (apps, browser extensions, phone carriers, potentially ISPs, finance companies, etc.). Many of these actors even sell un-anonymized data. The big tech companies are very low on the totem pole of badness and will continue to stay that way for a long time because the incentives don't align for them to actually sell data.
salawat 7y ago
No, it isn't. Both are essentially workable to do the same bloody thing, and just mean the same outcome can be achieved with the minor inconvenience of an additional layer of indirection. Geolocation information shouldn't be considered a desirable dataasset to hold onto as a monetizable asset at all at the level of granularity that enables individual resolution.

deadmutex 7y ago

IIRC, Google doesn't sell your personal location data: https://safety.google/privacy/ads-and-data/ https://safety.google/privacy/ads-and-data/ Disclaimer: I work at Google.

kevin_thibedeau 7y ago
Do they refuse warrantless requests?
- lonelappde 7y ago
  https://support.google.com/transparencyreport/answer/7381738?hl=en https://support.google.com/transparencyreport/answer/7381738...
JohnFen 7y ago
This is true, although it's engaging in a bit of hair-splitting.
- thedance 7y ago
  It's not. The extent to which old-line businesses like telcos and banks will literally sell your data is way beyond anything Google has ever contemplated. I can call a credit card data clearinghouse and order all of the transactions of every age 30-35 male in Akron, Ohio in December 2019 and they'll put that in a spreadsheet and send it to me. It really is important to distinguish between "selling your data" and what Google does in the course of business, because if you are unable to make that distinction then you aren't aware of the terrifying scale and specificity of the data provided by other industries.
  - ta999999171 7y ago
    I'm more worried when I CAN'T buy that data - because then I have no idea what they're holding onto (for private deals, either with corps, defense contractors, .gov, etc).

veeralpatel979 7y ago

These companies don't sell your data and it's not in their interest to do so. Data is the cash cow that lets them sell ads. Why would they give away the cash cow and cut themselves, the middlemen, out of the picture?