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>I'm not sure how "associating a publicly broadcast BSSID with coordinates" is tracking a person. But it's not just that is it? If you log in to a google site
by callmeal 5y ago
>I'm not sure how "associating a publicly broadcast BSSID with coordinates" is tracking a person.
But it's not just that is it? If you log in to a google site from that publicly broadcast BSSID, you will get tracked by association, even if you have your location tracking turned off.
- kllrnohj 5y agoNo you won't. What BSSID you're connected to isn't sent by any browser. Browsers (as in all of them, including Firefox, see https://location.services.mozilla.com/ https://location.services.mozilla.com/ ) will use the visible BSSIDs if the website asks for your location & you approve it, but it's not just silently done automatically. It's part of all the existing location permission & request flows (indeed it's how those work on laptops at all in the first place).
- bigiain 5y agoAm I being tinfoil hat grade cynical if my first thought there was "Sure, browsers might not send BSSIDs, but who knows what Android is doing underneath?" I wouldn't bet against Google being capable of exfiltrating BSSIDs via their broad swathe of 'Google Services' most Android devices are running (and probably most iOS devices too).
- kllrnohj 5y agoAndroid is reporting your GPS location along with visible BSSIDs, that's how this database is built and updated (so does Apple on iOS). Both have location privacy controls that govern that, and there's no particular reason to believe they ignore them.
- bigiain 5y agoLike I said, I may be overly cynical, but I do have a particular reason to believe the largest surveillance capitalism and advertising company in the world might be ignoring my privacy preferences... (And Apple might be too, but they've got different motivations and incentives around iOS user privacy that Google for Android users...)