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Google made it nearly impossible for users to keep their location private

businessinsider.com

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Re: Google made it nearly impossible for users to keep their location private

#231

Post by Accacin »

azalemeth wrote: post #168
JCM9 wrote: post #13

There’s a huge privacy battle on the horizon in tech. The initial scuffles are just the beginning. Google and Facebook’s business models depend deeply on being able to track information that consumers are increasingly unhappy to share. Both companies attempts to diversify their dependency on such info for their revenue have been broadly unsuccessful (Google fiber or a Google car anyone?). Meanwhile the likes of Apple…

One thing I've been meaning to do for a while is try to use a 'hardcore' AOSP 'de-googled' Android rom, like ParanoidAndroid. I've no idea how much of a pain in the arse this will be. Heck, being rooted causes enough unexpected "why do you not work" moments for me. If anything, I feel Google has got more hostile to the privacy-conscious user over time. The trouble with privacy as a product is that it's _very_ hard to…

Do it! I switched from iOS to a Google 4a last week, and have flashed my phone with CalyxOS. I was very tempted by GrapheneOS, but having microg built into Calyx has meant the very few apps I want that aren't on fdroid work perfectly fine for me (so far, these are my banking apps).

CalyxOS turned out to be about perfect for my use case, and I've been incredibly happy with it.

They have a flashing tool, which basically involved me plugging my phone into my laptop and running a script. Only thing I really needed to do was follow the prompts.

Re: Google made it nearly impossible for users to keep their location private

#232

Post by mixmastamyk »

grammers wrote: post #151

What really devastated me was when I found out that even if you try to keep yourself private, you'll get exposed by your friends: Just by tracking that you are regularly close to others, for example meeting for a camping trip, you suddenly get camping advertisements - probably because your friends searched for something or booked the trip via Gmail or whatever. I don't really know how it works, but it's awfully scary…

They really like to tag and paste your telephone number into facebook messages as well. sigh

Re: Google made it nearly impossible for users to keep their location private

#233

Post by GoofballJones »

heavyset_go wrote: post #144
julianmarq wrote: post #135

I saw some people saying that this makes them want to switch towards iphones next. I'm not gonna lie, I considered it for a moment too, like a year ago... But apple is now engaging in its own share of dark patterns and is now collecting data too. There have been multiple articles on the matter shared here even. Thinking that apple is better than google for privacy (or, even if it is right now , that it will remain so…

> There have been multiple articles on the matter shared here even. Here are the threads I'm aware of off the top of my head. What other threads should I look into? - Apple's Cooperation with Authoritarian Governments [1] - Apple reportedly dropped plan for encrypting backups after FBI complained (2020) [2] - Apple puts more adverts in App Store after ad-tracking ban [3] - Apple to boost ads business as iPhone change…

1. Thanks..as it shows the article in question was full of holes, such as the Russians requiring an app be baked in and not being able to uninstall. This was false.

2. This is for iCLOUD backups. Yes, that's a problem. But you can turn off iCloud backups totally...and then use your computer to make the backup while tethered and THAT can be encrypted. If your security conscience, don't use iCloud back-up. Yes.

3. Adverts in the App Store aren't tracking you. They're adverts in the app store. I forget that when someone these days sees an ad, their face melts.

4. Again, Apple isn't sitting there looking over your shoulder watching everything you do for the ads. The ads are for the apps that are "free" and get revenue from the ads in their apps. Usually pushing people to pay the $1.99 for the app. Annoying, yes. On the level of Facebook or Google? Not even close. But keep an eye on this.

5. Apple took 3 years to fully cut ties with a supplier using child labor. Fully cut ties. They are no longer doing it...but took their sweet time. Again, hold their feet to the fire over this.

Re: Google made it nearly impossible for users to keep their location private

#234

Post by reader_mode »

yccs27 wrote: post #149
tobyhinloopen wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ad blocking works perfectly fine, wdym?

Got any recommendations for blocking youtube ads in safari?

YouTube premium subscription. Seriously - don't want ads on your services ? Pay for it.

Re: Google made it nearly impossible for users to keep their location private

#235

Post by edgyquant »

m463 wrote: post #228
QuadrupleA wrote: post #74

Google had a brilliant advertising business with AdWords originally, where the ads were simply based on the search term and not a bunch of Orwellian surveillance on the person searching. From the research I've seen, all this privacy-invading crap doesn't even improve ad performance much - it's small incremental gains at best. And per this article, those gains are clearly coming at the expense of user trust and goodwi…

The word advertising itself has been co-opted. It is like "freedom" or "justice" that is ambiguous and means one thing to advertisers and another to the public. I'm reminded of the vitamin water lawsuit "Coca-Cola criticized the suit as "ridiculous" on the grounds that "no consumer could reasonably be misled into thinking Vitaminwater was a healthy beverage" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_Brands#vitaminwater Th…

I really hate that “reasonably think” defense. Yes most people, including myself, did think that vitamin water was healthy until reading the nutritional sheet. It’s one step away from selling chocolate as, “good for you bars,” and claiming no reasonable person would think they’re good for you.

Re: Google made it nearly impossible for users to keep their location private

#236

Post by GoofballJones »

Drew_ wrote: post #178
arkades wrote: post #31

Earlier this week there was a post regarding Google and its utilization of private health information. A number of Googlers came forward to describe how very seriously Google takes user privacy and keeping inappropriate data from being shared across silos. I got the overall impression of Googlers taking the position of “you guys don’t know how seriously we take peoples privacy.” If any of those Googlers would please…

I think its pretty straight forward that privacy protection for Google means protecting the data it has collected from their users. Not refraining or preventing itself from collecting user data. Google protects the privacy of your information from outsiders (and insiders) not from its own apps and services. That is what's meant when Google says they "take their user's privacy very seriously". And its obvious that thi…

"We take very seriously your privacy and we make sure no one can see what you do...because THAT'S OUR JOB! Hey, you want to know what our customers are doing, we're more than willing to sell you the data and telemetry we collect, but ya gotta go through us! We take that very seriously."

Re: Google made it nearly impossible for users to keep their location private

#237

Post by folmar »

joshuamorton wrote: post #77
aforty wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This isn’t the point of the article. The point is that you can’t share your data with your friends without sharing that data with Google the company as well.

Going to have to say "duh" here. Short of an e2ee location sharing app, you have to send your location through an intermediary for your friend to see it.

> Short of an e2ee location sharing app

Delta chat can do it for you.

Re: Google made it nearly impossible for users to keep their location private

#238

Post by mattkrause »

dheera wrote: post #190
EastSmith wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

DuckDuckGo have said that they make less money, because they use only the search term not other data/tracking. But they still make money.

Big companies have "fiduciary duty" to do the thing that gets them the most money within legal bounds, and not the ethically right thing. As in, they have a duty to breach ethics for profit as long as it's legal. Stupid concept which I wish we could abolish but that's the way the economy is currently setup.

This thread has some discussion and case references regarding what companies are "obligated" to do for shareholders. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23393674

It's not much, and there's certainly room for considering ethics. In fact, you can do nearly anything that isn't actively repurposing part of the business for the directors' own use. For example, one of the landmark cases affirmed the Chicago Cubs' right to leave tons of money on the table because their president believed that baseball was a "day-time sport" and wouldn't install lights for night games.

Re: Google made it nearly impossible for users to keep their location private

#239

Post by xmprt »

fennecfoxen wrote: post #198
dheera wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Big companies have "fiduciary duty" to do the thing that gets them the most money within legal bounds, and not the ethically right thing. As in, they have a duty to breach ethics for profit as long as it's legal. Stupid concept which I wish we could abolish but that's the way the economy is currently setup.

That’s not what a fiduciary duty is. The fiduciary duty is for a broker dealer to act in your best interests rather than rip you off. A company’s management has a duty to shareholders to work on behalf of the shareholders and not on behalf of their own well being. That usually means profit because that’s what most shareholders own the company for, not for charity. But there is no particular duty to maximize it at all…

As an example, if shareholders invest in your company despite saying you will never show targeted ads then they can't sue you for not showing targeted ads to increase profits.

Re: Google made it nearly impossible for users to keep their location private

#240

Post by intellaughs »

About two weeks ago I got an envelope in the mail from Google saying they were offering to pay $1000 per month to install a special router into your home that tracked everything regarding your internet usage. They disclosed everything they'd be tracking and said all the information recorded would be viewable by google. They even sent a $1 bill (I guess to prove they were serious). It was quite strange but really made me realize how invasive Google is planning to be in the future.
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