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Google Demanded T-Mobile, Sprint Not Sell Google Fi Customers' Location Data

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Re: Google Demanded T-Mobile, Sprint Not Sell Google Fi Customers' Location Data

#41

Post by Symmetry »

rightbyte wrote: post #19
cokernel_hacker wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Citation needed. Google makes it pretty clear that they do not sell any personal information to advertisers: https://safety.google/privacy/ads-and-data/

But they do. They let them target ads based on your location. It's the same thing as selling personal data. If someone clicks a location targeted ad the advertiser know the persons location. https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/1722043?hl=en "Google Ads location targeting allows your ads to appear in the geographic locations that you choose: countries, areas within a country, a radius around a location , or l…

A bill board also lets advertisers target me by location.

Re: Google Demanded T-Mobile, Sprint Not Sell Google Fi Customers' Location Data

#42

Post by skybrian »

izacus wrote: post #18
forgottenpass wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dragonfly.

Google employees risked their jobs to protest against Dragonfly.

Someone risked their job to leak it to the press. The average Google employee joining a protest isn't risking anything since Google has a tradition of internal debate.

Re: Google Demanded T-Mobile, Sprint Not Sell Google Fi Customers' Location Data

#43

Post by specialp »

Despegar wrote: post #2

I mean sure. Google certainly doesn't want wireless carriers to compete with them in advertising, and everyone having access to location data from smartphones just devalues Google's own access. https://qz.com/1131515/google-collects-android-users-locatio...

Google is not only worried about the competition, they are more likely more concerned with potential legislation. There is now bipartisan support for legislation to stop this practice. It could soon be next that there is regulation not allowing sale of this info or advertising based on it.

Consumers don't expect to be GPS tracked everywhere and have companies profit on that data. Granting location permission to us here means that because we know, but most people would consider giving weather.com access to your location just helpful to get your forecast. Even if it is nestled in the privacy policy. What is next? You download a camera app and then every photo is sent to someone who turns AI on it to learn about you? (could already be happening) Oh but it was in the privacy policy that we may share data with third parties.

Re: Google Demanded T-Mobile, Sprint Not Sell Google Fi Customers' Location Data

#44

Post by piyush_soni »

How people's sentiments change here based on who tries to protect their privacy. If it's Apple, "wow, they are god's own people with purest intentions of protecting users' privacy". When Google does it : "Yeah, because they want to sell it themselves so obviously they don't want any competition".

Re: Google Demanded T-Mobile, Sprint Not Sell Google Fi Customers' Location Data

#45

Post by danso »

x220 wrote: post #22
mden wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I understand the sentiment of this comment, isn't it still a good thing to reduce the number of companies with this data? As the companies that track your location goes down, it becomes easier to argue against the other ones doing it. Plus in the very least less places that could leak the data, so it would still be some form of progress.

>isn't it still a good thing to reduce the number of companies with this data? Maybe you want multiple companies competing in the same realm rather than Google handling most of the private data and becoming incredibly powerful. Maybe you want to unmask Google's motives so as to not play into their PR strategy.

When the product involves selling my data to anyone, including bounty hunters, how does having multiple competitors benefit me? Unless I’m the one buying data on someone else?

Re: Google Demanded T-Mobile, Sprint Not Sell Google Fi Customers' Location Data

#46

Post by protomyth »

piyush_soni wrote: post #44

How people's sentiments change here based on who tries to protect their privacy. If it's Apple, "wow, they are god's own people with purest intentions of protecting users' privacy". When Google does it : "Yeah, because they want to sell it themselves so obviously they don't want any competition".

Because its hard to believe Google is protecting our privacy instead of protecting its own turf. Google does that, Apple doesn't. The interesting case would be if Microsoft still had a horse in the game. Given Windows 10 you might see the same reaction.

Re: Google Demanded T-Mobile, Sprint Not Sell Google Fi Customers' Location Data

#47

Post by Ajedi32 »

Despegar wrote: post #2

I mean sure. Google certainly doesn't want wireless carriers to compete with them in advertising, and everyone having access to location data from smartphones just devalues Google's own access. https://qz.com/1131515/google-collects-android-users-locatio...

The big difference is Google doesn't sell that data to third parties; they just use it for ad targeting. There's a big difference between the company that makes my phone's OS knowing my location, and anyone willing to pay a few bucks knowing the same.

(Also it looks like in the situation described in the article you linked, they didn't even use the data for ad targeting: "we never incorporated Cell ID into our network sync system, so that data was immediately discarded, and we updated it to no longer request Cell ID".)

Re: Google Demanded T-Mobile, Sprint Not Sell Google Fi Customers' Location Data

#48

Post by greglindahl »

ThrustVectoring wrote: post #36
chomp wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep I was just going to say this. Google already sells your location data to advertisers, they are not the hero in this story.

They don't sell your location data, they sell targeting options for specific geographic locations. These are quite different. I'm okay with seeing an ad targeted at anyone within walking distance of a cafe. I'm not okay with my personal location getting sold to whoever thinks they have a valuable enough use for it.

Location information leaks from ad targeting. Maybe that doesn't bother you, but it might bother other people.

One way it leaks is that an advertiser generally knows what ad campaign a user clicked on. So if that ad campaign was only sent to a particular location, you know where the user was when they clicked on the ad.

Re: Google Demanded T-Mobile, Sprint Not Sell Google Fi Customers' Location Data

#49

Post by inequalitysir »

Despegar wrote: post #2

I mean sure. Google certainly doesn't want wireless carriers to compete with them in advertising, and everyone having access to location data from smartphones just devalues Google's own access. https://qz.com/1131515/google-collects-android-users-locatio...

It's nothing.

In India Google operates one of the largest Fiber Backed project called Railwire. It's a GOI enterprise, but we can say that officals are effectively bribed to participate in data harvesting schemes and enriching a few officials and one big American company.

Google offers this company internet technology expertise in return of harvesting data from railway stations, Users of the ISP called Railwire.

Basically, they set your DNS to Google's DNS and Google captures what websites are popular in these specific regions.

You can change your DNS obviously but 90% users don't bother and it doesn't save you from deep packet inspection.

Google also harvests non Https websites and run deep packet inspection of the traffic.

Why would it provide its tech expertise for free?

Re: Google Demanded T-Mobile, Sprint Not Sell Google Fi Customers' Location Data

#50

Post by rhacker »

warent wrote: post #6
Despegar wrote: post #2

I mean sure. Google certainly doesn't want wireless carriers to compete with them in advertising, and everyone having access to location data from smartphones just devalues Google's own access. https://qz.com/1131515/google-collects-android-users-locatio...

Yeah, I was going to say... Of course Google made this demand. It's a no-brainer. Not only does it help ensure their competitors aren't profiting from the same data that Google does, but also its a beautiful PR stunt. Not to say that they shouldn't be making this demand, but we should all keep in mind that they're not doing this out of the kindness of their hearts or because it's the ethical thing to do.

I much much much rather have the companies with a public image to uphold be the keepers of this data. There are soooo many scuzzy people out there. Beyond that, the US is highly due for both public records laws that make sense in the internet age, as well as digital data as a product, needs to have similar laws put in place.

To be honest, there really shouldn't be websites out there that know you and your family members and your phone numbers. This stuff should be under lock and key and require special PI licences to get access.

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