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Companies use smartphone locations to help advertisers and even hedge funds

nytimes.com

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Re: Companies use smartphone locations to help advertisers and even hedge funds

#61

Post by inetknght »

bad_user wrote: post #29
wendigo wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nonetheless, I actually don’t enjoy seeing my search history accumulate on my device. Half of my searches are just spell checks anyway, the next 40% are just wikipedia shortcuts. Probably less than one in ten searches are genuine queries, to scour for a real result. The number is small enough that I pretty much can directly remember the thing I was thinking about, and why I searched for it. I don’t even want my devic…

Your preference is not very relevant for people that need to remember their searches though.

People that need to remember their searches should configure their preferences in such a fashion.

Re: Companies use smartphone locations to help advertisers and even hedge funds

#62

Post by JustSomeNobody »

kop316 wrote: post #55
bad_user wrote: post #9

iOS now forcing "While Using" option on all apps is the greatest thing ever. Before this, some apps where forcing the "Always" option on users. Uber and Waze come to mind. iOS also gives you a warning from time to time about apps using your location in the background. I think iOS right now has the best location management. --- People are surprised when seeing the Activity section in Google's account details, then fre…

I respectfully disagree on Google being entirely transparent about tracking location, especially if you run Android + Google Play Services. I have a tablet (Pixel C) that runs LineageOS + Google Play Services and a Phone (Nexus 5x) that runs LineageOS vanilla (no MicroG, no UnifiedNLP, no Google Play Services). Some things I have noted: - When you install MicroG/Google Play Services, they take over location services…

A-GPS is a feature. It exists because GPS is so slow.

Re: Companies use smartphone locations to help advertisers and even hedge funds

#63

Post by cityzen »

devit wrote: post #4

Why is selling this data not illegal and harshly prosecuted? You'd expect to find this data being stolen by trojans and sold for bitcoin by anonymous actors on blackhat sites, not by registered companies with offices and employees.

America is corrupt so corporations can spend a little money and shape legislation around these issues.

Re: Companies use smartphone locations to help advertisers and even hedge funds

#64

Post by Despegar »

kop316 wrote: post #55
bad_user wrote: post #9

iOS now forcing "While Using" option on all apps is the greatest thing ever. Before this, some apps where forcing the "Always" option on users. Uber and Waze come to mind. iOS also gives you a warning from time to time about apps using your location in the background. I think iOS right now has the best location management. --- People are surprised when seeing the Activity section in Google's account details, then fre…

I respectfully disagree on Google being entirely transparent about tracking location, especially if you run Android + Google Play Services. I have a tablet (Pixel C) that runs LineageOS + Google Play Services and a Phone (Nexus 5x) that runs LineageOS vanilla (no MicroG, no UnifiedNLP, no Google Play Services). Some things I have noted: - When you install MicroG/Google Play Services, they take over location services…

>Putting my tin foil hat, I hypothesize Google anonymously tracks your location even if your location services if off (allowing them to do traffic, how busy a restaurant is, etc.).

This has already been reported.

https://qz.com/1131515/google-collects-android-users-locatio...

Re: Companies use smartphone locations to help advertisers and even hedge funds

#65

Post by djhworld »

Just looking at location settings on my android phone, it says Google Play Services queried my location recently

But on looking in the settings for Google Play Services there's no option to disable the Location permission in the permission settings, which means location is permanently on (if you keep the location sensors on)

Re: Companies use smartphone locations to help advertisers and even hedge funds

#66

Post by eximius »

matty_makes wrote: post #34

Someone should create an app that translates a companies T&C into layman terms with simple stuff like "they track your location", "sell your usage data", etc. Just need a team of lawyers to interpret them, and a nice web site. Call it something like AppSideEffects.com "Things that may be harmful when using these apps/web sites"

Think bigger: companies should be required to present their terms in plain English. Not all things need lawyers.

Re: Companies use smartphone locations to help advertisers and even hedge funds

#67

Post by ThaJay »

bad_user wrote: post #27
jacquesm wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can't turn it 'off', you can 'pause' it. That's a linguistic difference, sure, but it is quite telling that there is no respect at all for a users desires even in the language that is hardcoded in. It's as annoying as 'not now' for 'no' or '10 different things you should know about "x"', when you really should not.

I agree, the language is annoying and they've also been guilty of dark patterns for getting users to re-enable it. But being an EU citizen, I'm confident that they can't turn it on, legally, without explicit permission.

They can't legally, but for them to stop someone has to go through the process of proving this in court.

Re: Companies use smartphone locations to help advertisers and even hedge funds

#68

Post by JustSomeNobody »

javajosh wrote: post #57
random878 wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would respectfully disagree. It is not acceptable to roughly the amount of people (and I include myself) who make a deliberate and self conscious decision to oppose it. This is a small, small group. I have a phone with Replicant OS, which puts me within a niche group of an already niche group (those willing to install alternative OS and strip Google on their phone). In a wider computing sense - what percentage of H…

Holy cow, you are using a phone without GPS ? https://redmine.replicant.us/projects/replicant/wiki/Replica...

Everyone has their own use case. But, yeah, I am pretty sure I'd just go back to a feature phone if I couldn't have GPS.

Re: Companies use smartphone locations to help advertisers and even hedge funds

#69

Post by inetknght »

random878 wrote: post #51
code4tee wrote: post #16

“We’re not doing anything not disclosed in our terms of service.” is rapidly becoming a no longer acceptable answer to consumers. Don’t tell me a weather app needs to know my location all the time to give me the best weather info then sell my location to the highest bidder. Don’t tell me that buried in some 20 pages of leagalese in your Ts&Cs is some vague references that make this “legal.”

I would respectfully disagree. It is not acceptable to roughly the amount of people (and I include myself) who make a deliberate and self conscious decision to oppose it. This is a small, small group. I have a phone with Replicant OS, which puts me within a niche group of an already niche group (those willing to install alternative OS and strip Google on their phone). In a wider computing sense - what percentage of H…

> Contrary to popular opinion, people are not ignorant to the behaviour of tech giants - they just don't care enough to stop.

Contrary to your* opinion, people do care enough to stop but they don't know how. Tech giants have insinuated themselves into literally every aspect of their lives by abusing the lack of knowledge of the users. Now, they don't see a way out without drastic change.

How can you get a job if you don't have a phone? How can you get a job when literally every affordable phone tracks you?

Even my apartment complex online portal tracks me. What the flying fuck?

The only way to actively stop is to not have any computing device whatsoever. Good luck living in a modern world like that: even then there's still facial tracking and vehicle tracking.

People that say that consumers don't care enough to stop is living in their own bubble insulated from real people.

Re: Companies use smartphone locations to help advertisers and even hedge funds

#70

Post by icebraining »

jacquesm wrote: post #23
bad_user wrote: post #9

iOS now forcing "While Using" option on all apps is the greatest thing ever. Before this, some apps where forcing the "Always" option on users. Uber and Waze come to mind. iOS also gives you a warning from time to time about apps using your location in the background. I think iOS right now has the best location management. --- People are surprised when seeing the Activity section in Google's account details, then fre…

You can't turn it 'off', you can 'pause' it. That's a linguistic difference, sure, but it is quite telling that there is no respect at all for a users desires even in the language that is hardcoded in. It's as annoying as 'not now' for 'no' or '10 different things you should know about "x"', when you really should not.

Where is the "pause" wording?
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