I have to give my age to my OS. Yet they can't write a law to make this basic practice illegal. Why do I feel like I'm not being represented _at all_?
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FBI is buying location data to track US citizens, director confirms
81–90 of 205 posts
Re: FBI is buying location data to track US citizens, director confirms
#82Who's selling the data is the far more serious issue here. Behind this is a remarkably well-structured syndicate. The supply chain looks something like this: consumer apps embed ad SDKs → those SDKs feed location signals into RTB ad exchanges → surveillance-oriented firms sit in the RTB pipeline and harvest bid request data even without winning auctions → that data flows to aggregators who don't have any direct relat…
Apple and Google are facilitating the data sales Specifically, these big companies revenue share with app companies who in turn increase monetization via selling your private information, esp via free apps. In exchange for Apple etc super high app store rake percentage fees, they claim to run security vetting programs and ToS that vet who they do business with and tell users & courts that things are safe, even when t…
If I have a free app that hits location services on the device and I sell this data, how does Apple and Google make money from me?
Re: FBI is buying location data to track US citizens, director confirms
#83That's the job of the FBI - to investigate domestic crimes. But, why do private organizations so willingly participate in the tracking ecosystem? I suppose they're in the, "you have nothing to worry about if you're not doing anything illegal" camp! Hopefully they understand that they have the most to lose.
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Re: FBI is buying location data to track US citizens, director confirms
#84Who's selling the data is the far more serious issue here. Behind this is a remarkably well-structured syndicate. The supply chain looks something like this: consumer apps embed ad SDKs → those SDKs feed location signals into RTB ad exchanges → surveillance-oriented firms sit in the RTB pipeline and harvest bid request data even without winning auctions → that data flows to aggregators who don't have any direct relat…
I think the pipeline needs to be plugged at both ends. We shouldnt allow this data to be sold without express consent. And we shouldnt allow the government to purchase this sort of data regardless of consent, protected under the 4th amendment. unless, iguess, express consent is given to be used by the government for investigative purposes, which no one would give since they dont have to under the 5th amendment
I think the user should be paid for the data that is being gathered up. If we want a source of UBI for the future where AI is replacing every job, well here is a potential source to fund it.
Re: FBI is buying location data to track US citizens, director confirms
#85Who's selling the data is the far more serious issue here. Behind this is a remarkably well-structured syndicate. The supply chain looks something like this: consumer apps embed ad SDKs → those SDKs feed location signals into RTB ad exchanges → surveillance-oriented firms sit in the RTB pipeline and harvest bid request data even without winning auctions → that data flows to aggregators who don't have any direct relat…
I think the pipeline needs to be plugged at both ends. We shouldnt allow this data to be sold without express consent. And we shouldnt allow the government to purchase this sort of data regardless of consent, protected under the 4th amendment. unless, iguess, express consent is given to be used by the government for investigative purposes, which no one would give since they dont have to under the 5th amendment
I think sale and purchase are too hard to police. Possession of data should be illegal, with a level of statutory damages that invites litigation.
Re: FBI is buying location data to track US citizens, director confirms
#86To be fair they are only doing that in order to track if his honeypot brib^de isnt cheating on him.
Might be cheaper than round the clock SWAT teams https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/23/us/politics/kash-patel-gi...
Re: FBI is buying location data to track US citizens, director confirms
#87Earlier quoted context omitted.
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The three letter agencies have a long history of ignoring the constitution, long before the Trump administration, going back to their inception, including as recent as the Biden administration [1]. [1] https://ij.org/press-release/fbi-caught-trying-to-sweep-its-... edit: downvoters, is this not true? this is a historic problem with the agencies . This doesn't mean it's not also a problem with this administration . Tw…
This administration has also expressed an interest in using that information to persecute citizens.
Every administration needs to deal with the conflict of protection versus privacy. They all do things that privacy advocates wish they didn't.
But not since the early 70s has one been so explicit that it wants to use the justice system to punish their enemies, without even the pretense of a criminal charge.
So I think you're being downvoted over the perception of both-sidesism.
Re: FBI is buying location data to track US citizens, director confirms
#88Yikes. Why are private organizations so happy to participate in mass surveillance.
A lot of them don't know they're doing it. The tracking itself is embedded in dependencies of dependencies. SDKs you add for legitimate purposes. Along the way it's sent from platform to platform. Analytics, add targets, and eventually data brokers. Data brokers then sell it to other data brokers or the government.
If you're lucky, it's pseudo-anonymous. Of course it's actually not - aggregated location data is inherently not anonymous.
Re: FBI is buying location data to track US citizens, director confirms
#89Apple should take care of this. I would pay. Sadly it has gotten to this point
Re: FBI is buying location data to track US citizens, director confirms
#90Who's selling the data is the far more serious issue here. Behind this is a remarkably well-structured syndicate. The supply chain looks something like this: consumer apps embed ad SDKs → those SDKs feed location signals into RTB ad exchanges → surveillance-oriented firms sit in the RTB pipeline and harvest bid request data even without winning auctions → that data flows to aggregators who don't have any direct relat…
Apple and Google are facilitating the data sales Specifically, these big companies revenue share with app companies who in turn increase monetization via selling your private information, esp via free apps. In exchange for Apple etc super high app store rake percentage fees, they claim to run security vetting programs and ToS that vet who they do business with and tell users & courts that things are safe, even when t…
And Facebook/Meta. Their trackers are everywhere.