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In their "steps to avoid location tracking of your phone", add this to the list: 5. Disable "high accuracy location" on Android phones. This mode enables a ra

by titzer 5y ago

In their "steps to avoid location tracking of your phone", add this to the list: 5. Disable "high accuracy location" on Android phones. This mode enables a range of data harvesting by Google Location Services that includes detailed sensor traces fused with GPS, WiFi, and others. Google claims that this information is used in an "anonymous" way to "improve their services", but location data is not, and cannot be, anonymized. The resolution of data harvested here is nothing short of Orwellian, and you just gotta trust Google (as well as all governments that have subpoena and NSL authority over it) now and in perpetuity. No thanks!

josefx 5y ago
> enables a range of data harvesting by Google Location Services that includes detailed sensor traces fused with GPS, WiFi, and others Brought to you by the company that got caught war driving while running Google Streetview and sniffing for passwords and emails transmitted. All signed of by management[1], despite initial attempts to throw the hacker they hired for it under the bus. [1] https://www.darkreading.com/risk/google-wardriving-how-engineering-trumped-privacy https://www.darkreading.com/risk/google-wardriving-how-engin...
- justinsaccount 5y ago
  "got caught" -> voluntarily disclosed "sniffing for passwords and emails" -> collecting unencrypted data broadcast to anyone nearby. If you believe them (which you might not, since you seem to have issues here) they never even looked at any of this data once they realized what the software was collecting.
  - josefx 5y ago
    > "got caught" -> voluntarily disclosed The first disclosure I could find insisted on exclusively collecting MAC and SSID. They also tried to push a "single developer" narrative in updates to it before the FCC investigation (involving fines and subpoenas) turned up several emails and a whitepaper approved by management that documented the whole war driving setup and possible use cases for the collected data. Next up Al Capone disclosed crime empire: "I might have forgotten to tip a waiter once".
autoexec 5y ago
One of the issues with 5G is that you're always handing over your location using "high accuracy location" resolution and you can't disable it. Your cell phone company always had your location but it used to be accurate within a mile or so, but because 5G will have "towers" everywhere you can be located within a few feet of where you're standing. Also I can't read the article, but hopefully disabling bluetooth is in there. Phones are being tracked via beacons that just collect the ID of every device that passes in range.
- titzer 5y ago
  I am not talking about triangulation via towers and signal strength, rather GPS, accelerometer, and WiFi traces recorded on-device.
  - dTal 5y ago
    And parent expanded on that.
wrs 5y ago
Recent iOS versions have a choice between precise or general location permission for apps, no longer just on or off. So of those few apps I give permission, even fewer get precise location.

by titzer 5y ago

josefx 5y ago

> enables a range of data harvesting by Google Location Services that includes detailed sensor traces fused with GPS, WiFi, and others Brought to you by the company that got caught war driving while running Google Streetview and sniffing for passwords and emails transmitted. All signed of by management[1], despite initial attempts to throw the hacker they hired for it under the bus. [1] https://www.darkreading.com/risk/google-wardriving-how-engineering-trumped-privacy https://www.darkreading.com/risk/google-wardriving-how-engin...

justinsaccount 5y ago
"got caught" -> voluntarily disclosed "sniffing for passwords and emails" -> collecting unencrypted data broadcast to anyone nearby. If you believe them (which you might not, since you seem to have issues here) they never even looked at any of this data once they realized what the software was collecting.
- josefx 5y ago
  > "got caught" -> voluntarily disclosed The first disclosure I could find insisted on exclusively collecting MAC and SSID. They also tried to push a "single developer" narrative in updates to it before the FCC investigation (involving fines and subpoenas) turned up several emails and a whitepaper approved by management that documented the whole war driving setup and possible use cases for the collected data. Next up Al Capone disclosed crime empire: "I might have forgotten to tip a waiter once".

autoexec 5y ago

One of the issues with 5G is that you're always handing over your location using "high accuracy location" resolution and you can't disable it. Your cell phone company always had your location but it used to be accurate within a mile or so, but because 5G will have "towers" everywhere you can be located within a few feet of where you're standing. Also I can't read the article, but hopefully disabling bluetooth is in there. Phones are being tracked via beacons that just collect the ID of every device that passes in range.

titzer 5y ago
I am not talking about triangulation via towers and signal strength, rather GPS, accelerometer, and WiFi traces recorded on-device.
- dTal 5y ago
  And parent expanded on that.

wrs 5y ago

Recent iOS versions have a choice between precise or general location permission for apps, no longer just on or off. So of those few apps I give permission, even fewer get precise location.