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Hmmm, yes, my wife used her iPhone. But who is "they"? Who has my precise coordinates?
by rorrr 15y ago
Hmmm, yes, my wife used her iPhone. But who is "they"? Who has my precise coordinates?
- DenisM 15y agoWell, there's your answer. iPhone sends GPS coordinates, wifi mac address, cell tower ids, and IP address to the mothership. Your browser can then send the same IP, and MAC, to get back the GPS location.
- jonah 15y agoBecause she used Google Maps over her home wifi with the GPS turned on?
- Samuel_Michon 15y ago"iPhone sends GPS coordinates, wifi mac address, cell tower ids, and IP address to the mothership." Apple does collect this kind of data, but they don't sell it (and especially not to Google). The Maps app on the iPhone doesn't send this data to Google either. Apple built the Maps app themselves, they only use Google's map data. It's in Apple's interest to keep the data they've collected to themselves, they're using it to build an alternative to Google Maps.
- byoung2 15y agoIt could have been anyone who came within range of the wireless router with a smartphone. That could be a postal carrier, electric or gas company meter reader, UPS/FedEx delivery person, you name it.
- rorrr 15y agoWhat's the "mothership"? I tried Chrome, FF, Opera and Safari - all of them showed my exact location.
- DenisM 15y agoSkyhook. They used to be the world's largest database of wifi MAC->GPS mapping. Apple us building their own (as is Google and probably many others), but they are probably still handing some queries (and data) over to Skyhook when their own database is found lacking.