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The new warrant: how US police mine Google for your location and search history

theguardian.com

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Re: The new warrant: how US police mine Google for your location and search history

#91

Post by dawnerd »

caymanjim wrote: post #65
dawnerd wrote: post #5

Is there a self hosted app to track your location? I use Google maps to keep granular history so I can use it later for whatever. But if I could self host that’d be better.

Do you want a self-hosted location tracker because you don't want someone else tracking you? Because it's not going to help. Your cell company knows where you are at all times, and even with location turned off, your OS is reporting enough information to either Google or Apple at all times to know where you are to within a few feet.

I know I cant avoid cell companies, but I can at least limit how much Google knows (or any other company that requires always on location). The problem is though, the data I can get from my location history from Google is really useful for me so it's been a privacy trade off I've taken.

Re: The new warrant: how US police mine Google for your location and search history

#92

Post by comeonseriously »

dawnerd wrote: post #5

Is there a self hosted app to track your location? I use Google maps to keep granular history so I can use it later for whatever. But if I could self host that’d be better.

Not _exactly_ what you were asking for, but I use this:

https://gpslogger.app/

I can export my data and then use that how I want.

Re: The new warrant: how US police mine Google for your location and search history

#94

Post by kelnos »

whoisburbansky wrote: post #57
dawnerd wrote: post #5

Is there a self hosted app to track your location? I use Google maps to keep granular history so I can use it later for whatever. But if I could self host that’d be better.

There's https://owntracks.org/ , which has iOS and Android apps and instructions on setting up your own server. If you run NextCloud self-hosted already, there's PhoneTrack ( https://apps.nextcloud.com/apps/phonetrack ), which has a list of supported/suggested apps that send data back to it in a compatible format.

I've been using OwnTracks (plus ot-recorder) for a few years now, in parallel with Google's location tracking/timeline, and I find that OwnTracks tends not to update all that well or frequently.

If I switch OwnTracks to "move mode", it's great, but then it drains battery like crazy. "Significant changes mode" doesn't really cut it to map out my track as I move around during the day. And it's especially annoying because I do have it set up to trigger some lights to turn on in my house when I get within 500 feet of home. Sometimes it'll finally trigger an hour or two after I get home, which isn't particularly useful. I've exempted the app from Android's "battery optimization" thing, and I'm using a Pixel 4, which shouldn't have any shenanigans like killing background apps frequently like some other manufacturers do.

Re: The new warrant: how US police mine Google for your location and search history

#95

Post by midnightGhost »

I remember that story about Zachary McCoy. This whole thing continues to get worse quick and will continue to get worse. I know people say we need legislation and regulation on data privacy and tech companies which we do. But before that gets taken seriously (at least in the US) it's going to take something real scandalous done by tech companies and actually affect the common folk where they actually start to care.

Right now the average user does not care at all about security and privacy except the small niche groups of us on HN, Reddit and other tech/Geek forums. The regular average user will continue to still use Facebook, Twitter, Google, Apple etc. As long as the average user keeps using their services and vote with their data and wallets I doubt much will change anytime soon.

Until we get some real data privacy laws and regulation we just have to matters into our own hands. I don't use Google search unless I need to, and always have my VPN on (Mullvad).

Edit: Then again, once we did get data privacy laws and regulation could we actually trust the companies and politicians and LE. Probably not. That's why I also feel the laws and regulation needed for tech is more of like a "The public thinks we did something" type of situation. There will still and always will be under the table deals.

If the regular user can realize eventually how they feed these companies with their data and what happens with their data it could also hinder or start to hinder data collection at the government level (NSA, GCHQ, Project Raven and so on).

Re: The new warrant: how US police mine Google for your location and search history

#96

Post by dawnerd »

progman32 wrote: post #55
dawnerd wrote: post #5

Is there a self hosted app to track your location? I use Google maps to keep granular history so I can use it later for whatever. But if I could self host that’d be better.

I have played with storing location history using Home Assistant. Works, data never lands anywhere other than my home server. EDIT: I use it to do home automation actions depending on where I am. I.e. when I leave, it automatically arms the alarm and turns off the lights.

I never thought about using HA to log location. I already use HA so this might make the most sense.

Re: The new warrant: how US police mine Google for your location and search history

#98

Post by ghaff »

Syonyk wrote: post #52
tpmx wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tricky to use e.g. Google's Waze then.

So don't. Check traffic before you depart, pick a route, and leave some extra time in case you hit unexpected traffic. I know I've been going on about it lately, but for almost every "How can we possibly do this without an app tracking every bit of data it possibly can?" sort of task, people were doing that, or something functionally equivalent, before cell phones, or on cell phones that aren't actively user-hostile.

Smartphones are useful but 15 years ago really weren't the Dark Ages because no one had a modern smartphone in their pocket. Even 25 years ago--before most people had cell phones at all--really weren't wither.

Yes, I carry and use a smartphone. But it's a convenience. I don't need to reach people or have them reach me wherever I am. I don't need GPS at all times. I don't always need instant access to information.

Re: The new warrant: how US police mine Google for your location and search history

#99

Post by [deleted] »

f38zf5vdt wrote: post #79
dimitrios1 wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't put it on a computer, don't say it within earshot of a computer, and don't have it visible to any computer's camera: getting pretty impossible to follow this advice.

How do I turn off my existence?

[deleted]

Re: The new warrant: how US police mine Google for your location and search history

#100

Post by midnightGhost »

AlbertCory wrote: post #69

Someone (Eric Schmidt? not sure) once said, "If you really want something to be private, don't put it on a computer." Still the best advice. Rather than storing it and then worrying about where it goes, just don't store it.

Eric Schmidt also said in a interview back when Google was starting up that they wanted to get Google right up to the "creepy line" but not cross it. This interview was also put in a documentary called "The Creepy Line." I'll see if I can find the interview though and link it to this comment.

Edit: https://invidious.snopyta.org/watch?v=mpmOL-MT5lQ

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