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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

#51

Post by TACIXAT »

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...

I think there is a difference between allowing ads to target an area and selling someone's real time location. I'm against the collection of data generally because that data can always end up in court, but Google has never given people access to my real time location.

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

#52

Post by penagwin »

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".

One is a massive advertising company that makes the vast majority of it's money on advertising and has a history of invasive privacy issues.

The other one AFAIK doesn't sell user data, has publicly denied to help the FBI (Have other companies done that? If not then they assume complied), and has put in a large amount of effort to protect privacy (It's one of the main arguments of why IOS/OSX is so locked down).

Obviously this doesn't mean apple doesn't do bad things behind the scenes, but based on the information available to us is why people trust them more with privacy then google.

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

#53

Post by [deleted] »

greglindahl wrote: post #48
ThrustVectoring wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

[deleted]

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

#55

Post by x220 »

kevinh wrote: post #33
x220 wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

people with perhaps the highest demand for their labor than any other professionals risked their cushy jobs to influence their company to not be complicit in the censorship of over a billion people with a regime that has committed genocide? that's superhuman dedication right there, good job Google superheroes

There are other tech companies doing related work in China. Are you saying that the employees of those companies are all complicit with genocidal actions?

Assisting a regime (which has committed genocide) with censorship isn't the same as assisting genocide. That should be clear from reading my comment.

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

#56

Post by dustinmr »

protomyth wrote: post #46
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.

Apple doesn’t do that?

You enjoy using iMessages on your android phone and Linux laptop do you?

Yeah, yeah, it’s different. Except that it’s the same in the areas in which each competes. There’s plenty of examples of Apple freezing out others from a market.

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

#57

Post by linsomniac »

So many people are saying "this is just further evidence of Google doing evil".

Unpopular opinion: I feel like this is further evidence of Google being good stewards of user data.

There are many reasons Google may want to protect this data: They don't want user backlash from revelations like this, they don't want to have to be legislated, they don't want the PR spend of having to recover from such reporting. Or it could be that it is a company built of people who find such protection to be important.

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

#58

Post by ucaetano »

protomyth wrote: post #46
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.

Oh, Apple does when it is required to make money, like in China. They handed over all iCloud data to the government.

Companies are companies, they don't "care" about privacy, or anything at all. Google, Apple, Facebook, they're all in this for the money. And that is fine.

The sooner we realize that, the better.

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

#59

Post by thefounder »

Ajedi32 wrote: post #47
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 networ…

As far as the advertising is concerned Google is no different(and so FB etc). Anyone with few bucks will know your location or better said will target you with ads. With Google they won't target only by location because as you said Google makes the OS so it knows pretty much everything about you.

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

#60

Post by ucaetano »

kodablah wrote: post #13

Let's translate PR speak here... > "We have never sold Fi subscribers' location information," In other words "we never directly sold the info, but we never contracted them not to do anything with subscribers' location information". In cases like this, I'd say you are responsible for downstream data use. This isn't some API or hole, this is a large b2b contract and Google should have contractually obligated them to wh…

> In other words, we had to ask and get a small statement because being open, upfront, honest, etc is not their approach.

You don't seem to understand how the press works. When you write an article about a company (or a public figure), you reach out to them for comment.

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