Costs of using Google Maps

The main thrust of this rambling article seems to be that Google Maps and location services more generally might not be misused by Google itself but instead shown wholesale to a third-party concert app which then leaks it to my "creepy stalker ex-boyfriend." Is there anything new in this article or rehashing familiar hypothetical scaremongering? Not saying that handing over data, especially very personal data, is to be taken lightly but this article adds nothing interesting to the conversation.

Edit: it's looking like the hypothetical sharing of your data with third parties is a fabrication from this article. Can anyone show how this sharing might happen?

> Not using Google Maps is difficult, but it can be done.

It's not difficult to use Apple Maps on an iPhone. You make it sound like Google are the only realistic maps provider available.

Takes him more paragraphs than I'm willing to read before saying anything substantial. With the tone of someone who's elegantly proving some really surprising truth.

Yes, Google makes money from all the data it collects. It also provides multiple valuable services to its users. Must it be a zero-sum game? I don't think so.

Second this motion.

It's a metoo article trying to capitalize on the data privacy wave to garner few cheap views. Skip.

Its incredibly annoying when non-advertisers try to write about adtech. Its like a local journalist trying to write about politics in the middle east. They have some good opinions, they do good research, but they can't possibly understand the intricacies of the ecosystem without living in it for years. The author makes good points but is blatantly wrong in a number of ways:

> Retailers (and investors in retail operations) are interested in actual foot traffic, not “estimates” of foot traffic. By merging mobile phone data with real-time foot traffic, retailers know the quality of potential customers as well as the quantity of them

Thats not really what foot traffic tracking is used for. You definitely can't see quality, but you can see quantity. I use foot traffic tracking to see how many users that were exposed to my ads entered a store. Its not very accurate thoguh

> Employers love location data. It helps them reconfigure building layouts to optimize placement of both individuals and teams. On the darker side, it also allows employers to know how often you use the restroom, if you and a colleague are having, ahem, a relationship, or how long you spend tethered to your desk.

Woooo that is 100% false. GPS is not this precise, you'd need nfc gateways (like bluetooth or maybe wifi).

> · The days of ambulance chasing lawyers are long gone. With location data, they can send ads to any mobile phone in the emergency room of your local hospital.

This is true. I've targeted hospitals before, but you don't really need geo data for it.

> law enforcement can watch known high-crime areas and merge that data with publicly-available mobile phone data — data that you freely provide

Its unclear what the author is saying here, but it implies things that are seemingly untrue.

> Is using location services worth you getting fired from your job?

> Is using location services worth being stalked?

> Is using location services worth your children being followed to school?

Fear mongering.