The problem could also be said to start with software. Particularly Apple and Google for allowing specific location information to be used in the same app as ad

The problem could also be said to start with software. Particularly Apple and Google for allowing specific location information to be used in the same app as advertising. The problem is that all apps are granted access to the internet. Nip those two things in the bud and the problems will slow down, I think. But it's a pipe-dream, I know. In the early days of Android, I remember reading that Android was Android because you had to jump through all these permission hoops with j2me (Java 2 Mobile Edition). Hence, Android was better and more easy to use than j2me. Here we are, 15 years later with exactly the same set of permissions problems... with one exception, Android still gives out internet access without permission. Many devs here would be aghast at the idea of an app not being internet connected. I believe Google did it that way because Steve Jobs had done it that way in the iPod and iPhones. (I presume there's some HN'ers here that can refute this?) I remember my colleagues at the time remarking how refreshing it was to not have to deal with permissions (because customers disliked all the modal permissions that popped up in j2me)... and we all jumped on board the iPhone and Android development train, not knowing the problems that we'd have down the line.