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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

#101

Post by bad_user »

inetknght wrote: post #61
bad_user wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Let's not talk past each other. An app can remember preferences and searches locally, without synchronizing them to a central server. Requiring that the server remembers those searches only if you agree to having your activity tracked is a dark pattern.

Which is what we are talking about.

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

#102

Post by bad_user »

dhimes wrote: post #89
JustSomeNobody wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Also because GPS is unreliable in cities with tall buildings that obscure the satellites. This is important in the case of needing to make a 911 call. I don't know what the laws are around mobile phones needing to be able to place a 911 call (I know you shouldn't have to guess a passcode to do it, or at least that used to be the case), but it's possible that some of these 'location-on' things are to comply with the l…

Indeed. When I visited New York and Chicago I was surprised to find that GPS is totally unreliable. I would find myself walking several street corners without getting a signal.

I'm used to European cities, crowded, but without skyscrapers and in my city GPS is very reliable, but I realized that's only because we don't have tall buildings.

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

#103

Post by catacombs »

afpx wrote: post #59

Hedge funds have been using location data to ‘predict’ corporate earnings for at least 5 years, that I know of. There’s also speculation that they use the data to identify locations of VIPs and where they’re going (by clustering activities of the VIP’s entourage). It’s unfortunate that news organizations as reputable and prominent as the NYT only get on these stories so late in the game. This information would have b…

> It’s unfortunate that news organizations as reputable and prominent as the NYT only get on these stories so late in the game. This information would have been more useful to the public back in 2013.

It's likely The Times just didn't have enough, or access to, this data to do solid reporting.

If there are people in and out of the industry who are willing to share data that can advance an important story, these things might get out faster.

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

#104

Post by catacombs »

berns wrote: post #88

The original title was much better: Your Apps Know Where You Were Last Night, and They’re Not Keeping It Secret.

You're likely seeing a version of the headline meant for social media.

Regardless, this is a better headline style wise.

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

#105

Post by [deleted] »

inetknght wrote: post #69
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…

> 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…

[deleted]

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

#106

Post by icebraining »

akovaski wrote: post #79
jacquesm wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://myaccount.google.com/activitycontrols All over the page. Paused this, paused that.

For those still wondering: the word "pause" appears in the pop-up information window when you toggle off one of the activities and appears next to "paused" activities.

Thanks; I was reading the docs, which do say "turn off".

https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/3118687?visit_id=...

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

#107

Post by lotu »

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.

I think 'pause' is a better word than 'off'. The reason is that a person is more likely to think that turning 'off' location history deletes the old location history, which it does not. 'Pause' makes this differences clearer to the user who might not be as familiar with technology.

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

#108

Post by kasey_junk »

froindt wrote: post #98
afpx wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, it is non-public data. I once spoke with a lawyer to see if I could legally use location data to do the same thing (for instance, it’s easy to correlate changes in activity at certain retailers with quarterly earnings), and I was told it’s risky.

Non-public and insider are two different concepts. I could send a satellite to space, take pictures of parking lots, count cars, and it'd be a pretty decent indicator to the relative success of a retailer. Add some other signals into the model and it'd probably be good. I don't need to give the public access to my satellite images. But if I wanted to make a subscription service for 100k/month, I could. It would be no…

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.thestreet.com/amp/story/136...

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

#109

Post by jacquesm »

lotu wrote: post #107
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 think 'pause' is a better word than 'off'. The reason is that a person is more likely to think that turning 'off' location history deletes the old location history, which it does not. 'Pause' makes this differences clearer to the user who might not be as familiar with technology.

> 'Pause' makes this differences clearer to the user who might not be as familiar with technology.

I'd love for the Googles of this world to really make things easier for people not as familiar with technology. For instance lightswitches do not have a pause button.

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

#110

Post by seslaire »

bad_user wrote: post #81
ThaJay wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Where I live there are consumer protection state agencies that handle the suing for you, if the case is strong enough. You just have to file a complaint and I've had great success in the past. And GDPR is taken seriously, the EU requiring and sponsoring agencies that check for compliance in all EU countries. Don't know how it is in the U.S. but I imagine that at the very least you can group with others in class actio…

In Hungary for instance, one can simply send an e-mail with the necessary details of the complaint to NAIH, the National Authority for Data Protection and Freedom of Information, and within the legally mandated period of 60 days, they will carry out the necessary investigation and enforce both national law and GDPR.
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