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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

#121

Post by zaroth »

bad_user wrote: post #101
inetknght wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

And this is very much still present in the latest version on my iPhone anyway. I still see a big prompt to turn on Web & App Activity I order to “Get the most from Maps” — which includes saving “Work” and “Home” favorites. Boo :-(

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

#122

Post by amgutier »

zanny wrote: post #99
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 at least get a substantial value add to my life having Google track me everywhere. It might be overly sentimental but being able to see everywhere I've been in the last ~seven years on Maps feels to me like one of the great innovations Google has made. If people accept Google will sell that data to subsidize the cost of persisting it you get a permanent record of everywhere you've gone. I think its cool to have. It…

I love that Google Photos is able to add location information to my old photos and pictures I take on my actual camera without manually mapping everything. It's surprisingly accurate and really enjoy seeing where all I've been over time.

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

#123

Post by Aeroi »

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…

Interested in these strategies. Is most of the location based data relevant to consumer companies and retail sectors? Trying to think of how hedge funds would apply this location data to other sectors.

I've wanted to use a weather mesh network for a while in commodities and other spaces, but the info has been hard to collect without building a private sensor network.

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

#124

Post by jonknee »

afpx wrote: post #90
kasey_junk wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because the hedge funds are by definition not insiders? They are literally not using non-public corporate data at all. Insider trading laws don’t exist to make sure there isn’t information assymetry, the market is all about that assymetry. Insider trading laws are about insiders stealing from other shareholders.

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.

That's not risky, it's done by tons of funds.

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

#125

Post by Redoubts »

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…

> People are surprised when seeing the Activity section in Google's account details, then freak out about Google tracking their location.

For the curious:

https://www.google.com/maps/timeline

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

#126

Post by asdff »

afpx wrote: post #90
kasey_junk wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because the hedge funds are by definition not insiders? They are literally not using non-public corporate data at all. Insider trading laws don’t exist to make sure there isn’t information assymetry, the market is all about that assymetry. Insider trading laws are about insiders stealing from other shareholders.

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.

Is it just as legally risky to go to a store with a little mechanical counter and count heads?

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

#127

Post by asdff »

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.

It’s astounding to me that this same country with HIPAA laws protecting name, ethnicity, age, and any identifying information in hospital records has nothing on the books to guard that very same information which can easily be bought and sold if it came from anywhere other than a hospital.

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

#129

Post by berns »

catacombs wrote: post #104
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.

This is the title of the New York Times article and as posted here before it was edited.
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