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iOS 13 now shows you a map of where apps have been tracking you

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Re: iOS 13 now shows you a map of where apps have been tracking you

#71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your IP address when on WiFi almost certainly can be connected to a specific address by a databroker. That doesn't mean location shouldn't be limited in resolution, but there are other ways to get the same thing.

The ip address is also not going to be shared with apps anymore starting in iOS 13

How? When an app makes an API request, the client IP address is (necessarily) exposed to the server.

Re: iOS 13 now shows you a map of where apps have been tracking you

#72
Does it show Apple itself? Unlike every other phone platform, iOS does not allow a user to get their GPS location without telling Apple what it was.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207056

"By enabling Location Services for your devices, you agree and consent to the transmission, collection, maintenance, processing, and use of your location data and location search queries by Apple and its partners and licensees to provide and improve location-based and road traffic-based products and services."

Re: iOS 13 now shows you a map of where apps have been tracking you

#73

Good gravy this would be an abysmal report on Android. In my experience many of the free utility apps and games I downloaded required location tracking for no good reason. I’m on iOS for that (and other) reasons.

Android also has a terrible issue with not having good options on this front. You have to either not download the video game that needs open access to your contacts or micromanage some sketchy looking app that will help you “block” these sorts of things.

You can selectively deny permissible requests after the app is installed, but what irritates me is that granting access to my location allows the app to continually track me while it's running in the background (even if you never open the app). I've heard this will change in a future version of Android.

I discovered this when I was scrolling through the DTEK app on my BlackBerry, which shows every time an app requests sensitive data access, and saw that a bunch of apps that I hadn't opened in a while (like GasBuddy) were accessing my location every 5 minutes.

Re: iOS 13 now shows you a map of where apps have been tracking you

#74
post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The ip address is also not going to be shared with apps anymore starting in iOS 13

How? When an app makes an API request, the client IP address is (necessarily) exposed to the server.

Oh, you’re right of course, I was misremembering that they won’t be able to get the ssids of nearby wifi networks. However, a vpn is a solution to the ip address problem.

Re: iOS 13 now shows you a map of where apps have been tracking you

#75

It seems a bit extreme to offer apps one of two extremes: either my sub-metre location or no location at all. It seems the reasonable default for location sharing should be something like sharing the rough suburb that I'm in. This solves most use-cases such as showing closest store locations, delivery options, dating apps showing nearby matches, etc. It's only the occasional navigation app that needs to know exactly…

People are actually working on something very similar to this in research [1]. By applying random noise to location data the user's individual privacy can be protected while still allowing for collection of usage (or in this case location) statistics etc. This is the key idea behind local differential privacy (which Apple also uses to collect anonymous statistics on usage data [2]).

[1] http://www.shivakasiviswanathan.com/ICDE16b.pdf

[2] https://machinelearning.apple.com/docs/learning-with-privacy...

Re: iOS 13 now shows you a map of where apps have been tracking you

#76
post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With trust, trade is unlimited. That said, we should be able to say NO - and this includes apple. For instance, why should we have to identify ourselves to apple?

AFAIK, you don't. An iPhone will work fine without signing in to any Apple service and you can opt out of all Apple data collection right in the device. I've set up several testing iDevices for work with no Apple accounts. The only thing you can't do without an Apple account is to use the Apple services like the App Store and iCloud and other paid services. I think even software updates can be done without an account…

What good is an iPhone without access to the App Store?

Re: iOS 13 now shows you a map of where apps have been tracking you

#77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can disable any app's location access from the iOS settings, it's fairly trivial. As for fake location, well, give it time. They seem to be willing to provide fake emails for the new Sign In With Apple service. So they might start actually obfuscating location in the future.

Fake location is necessary because apps may annoy users with popups until you grant the permission or give some benefits in exchange for location.

Apps can only show one request for location, once you approve or deny its final.

Re: iOS 13 now shows you a map of where apps have been tracking you

#78
post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

AFAIK, you don't. An iPhone will work fine without signing in to any Apple service and you can opt out of all Apple data collection right in the device. I've set up several testing iDevices for work with no Apple accounts. The only thing you can't do without an Apple account is to use the Apple services like the App Store and iCloud and other paid services. I think even software updates can be done without an account…

What good is an iPhone without access to the App Store?

An iPhone can do a lot without any apps installed besides the stock apps. Pictures, calling, texting, web browsing, many many services online with a web interface like banking tinder facebook and many other popular platforms. The limitations of the original iPhone had some issues but Apple has slowly integrated the best features. That brings me to another point, many features apple copied from jailbreakers and you can also jailbreak some versions of ios and run all sorts of apps not in the app store.

Re: iOS 13 now shows you a map of where apps have been tracking you

#79
post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

AFAIK, you don't. An iPhone will work fine without signing in to any Apple service and you can opt out of all Apple data collection right in the device. I've set up several testing iDevices for work with no Apple accounts. The only thing you can't do without an Apple account is to use the Apple services like the App Store and iCloud and other paid services. I think even software updates can be done without an account…

What good is an iPhone without access to the App Store?

People bought lots of iPhones before the App Store existed. Before Cydia even existed. They were pretty good. You could send SMS messages, browse the web, take photos, and play it like an iPod even.

Re: iOS 13 now shows you a map of where apps have been tracking you

#80

I support Apple trying to turn privacy into a major marketing issue, but I think we’ve basically already learned that consumers just do not care.

On the contrary, I think we’re learning that consumers do care if they feel like they have some basic knowledge and control of their personal data.
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