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maps.google.com now redirects to google.com/maps

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Re: maps.google.com now redirects to google.com/maps

#151

Post by frxx »

dbrgn wrote: post #59
canbus wrote: post #7

https://www.openstreetmap.org

If you need OSM on Android, I can recommend: - "Organic Maps" (a fork of the old MapsMe codebase) if you want a clean, simple user experience - "OSMAnd" if you want a very powerful, highly customizable map application, which comes at the cost of a steeper learning curve Both apps are open source and support navigation, offline maps and POI search. The things I miss most compared to Google Maps is live traffic informa…

Both Organic Maps and OsmAnd are available on iOS as well.

Re: maps.google.com now redirects to google.com/maps

#153

Post by avar »

It asked my for the permission earlier. I thought I'd granted it already and I didn't notice the sneaky domain switch, I've now revoked it.

I wish browsers had a more granular way to grant this and other permissions. E.g. Firefox just has allow/deny, and then "remember".

Granting it only if the user clicks the "show my location" UI element on the web page would be a closer match to user expectations, and would preclude pages from getting the permission in the background.

Of course that would introduce extra complexity, e.g. worrying about web pages sneakily making normal looking links the "get location" UX element.

There's probably no secure way to do it except for the webpage to communicate that it's a page that might want your location, and for the browser to show the "send my location" UX element itself (e.g. in the toolbar).

Re: maps.google.com now redirects to google.com/maps

#155

Post by [deleted] »

samwestdev wrote: post #128
gjadi wrote: post #121

Funny thing is, it depends on your threat model. Using google.com/XXX for all its services protect the user from being spied by external actors such as ISP because everything is hidden behind HTTPS. Whereas, with XXX.google.com, external actors knows that you are using service XXX.

DNS over HTTPS is the solution here.

[deleted]

Re: maps.google.com now redirects to google.com/maps

#156

Post by rkagerer »

__michaelg wrote: post #126

This is a fantastic example of motivated reasoning. This "change" (which apparently isn't even new) can have so many different reasons, some of which are less harmful and some of which are probably worse (privacy-wise) than the one mentioned here. There is no indication that re/mis-using permissions is specifically what they wanted to do here, there is also no example of them doing it right now. Don't get me wrong, t…

Even if it's entirely innocuous at present, that's still little better. It would signal modern-day Google engineers lack the nuanced understanding and user-first deliberation of their predecessors.

Given the breadth of services the company provides, a user ought to be able to restrict the permission to the scope of the maps tool.

Re: maps.google.com now redirects to google.com/maps

#157

Post by croes »

__michaelg wrote: post #126

This is a fantastic example of motivated reasoning. This "change" (which apparently isn't even new) can have so many different reasons, some of which are less harmful and some of which are probably worse (privacy-wise) than the one mentioned here. There is no indication that re/mis-using permissions is specifically what they wanted to do here, there is also no example of them doing it right now. Don't get me wrong, t…

I think the grand master of user tracking and the developer of the web's most used browser knows exactly what they are doing.

Re: maps.google.com now redirects to google.com/maps

#158

Post by gjadi »

Havoc wrote: post #129
gjadi wrote: post #121

Funny thing is, it depends on your threat model. Using google.com/XXX for all its services protect the user from being spied by external actors such as ISP because everything is hidden behind HTTPS. Whereas, with XXX.google.com, external actors knows that you are using service XXX.

The whole "threat model" thinking is useful for security, but I don't think it translates well to privacy and data sharing consent matters.

I disagree on the former, but I agree on the later, technology is not a good substitute for consent.

Regarding the privacy:

If you are using a VPN to protect your privacy, then you are effectively transferring your trust from your ISP to your VPN provider. The VPN provider is your new ISP. So you have to make sure you trust the VPN provider more than your ISP.

Re: maps.google.com now redirects to google.com/maps

#159

Post by agumonkey »

__michaelg wrote: post #126

This is a fantastic example of motivated reasoning. This "change" (which apparently isn't even new) can have so many different reasons, some of which are less harmful and some of which are probably worse (privacy-wise) than the one mentioned here. There is no indication that re/mis-using permissions is specifically what they wanted to do here, there is also no example of them doing it right now. Don't get me wrong, t…

Didn't know this has a name. It feels that it's the main mode of reasoning in society.
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