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Density.io

density.io

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Re: Density.io

#41
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"They take privacy incredibly seriously" What does that even mean? They're tracking not only the number of people in a location, but where they go ... then sharing that with their customers. From their own website: Understand your business in the context of others: 1. Who you share customers with. 2. Where else your loyal customers love to go. 3. Where foot traffic in the city is trending. How is that respecting my p…

Definitely understand your concerns. In the system you're an anonymous datapoint. The information can't be used to determine who a specific individual is.

  "The real danger is the gradual erosion of individual 
  liberties through the automation, integration, and 
  interconnection of many small, separate record-keeping 
  systems, each of which alone may seem innocuous, even 
  benevolent, and wholly justifiable."

     — Personal Privacy in an Information Society
       U.S. Privacy Protection Study Commission, 1977
http://epic.org/privacy/ppsc1977report/

--

In your system, I'm just an anonymous flow of movements. In the shops billing system, I'm just a CC number and a set of purchases. For the billing provider, I'm just a name and address tied to a CC number. And then with a couple of small leaps, suddenly my whole life is compiled on a single page detailing every breath I take.

Re: Density.io

#42

Has there been any work on developing and commercializing personal RF "firewalls?" I'd buy one in an instant to block intrusive tech like this.

Have you seen the Off Pocket? https://offpocket.com/

Though in the UK I have unlimited 4G for £20 per month, so I just leave WiFi permanently disabled.

Re: Density.io

#43
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"They take privacy incredibly seriously" What does that even mean? They're tracking not only the number of people in a location, but where they go ... then sharing that with their customers. From their own website: Understand your business in the context of others: 1. Who you share customers with. 2. Where else your loyal customers love to go. 3. Where foot traffic in the city is trending. How is that respecting my p…

Definitely understand your concerns. In the system you're an anonymous datapoint. The information can't be used to determine who a specific individual is.

So if a shop signs up for the service, and on Monday morning they have one customer who comes into the shop and buys something ... then that customer goes to another shop and just browses. You'll likely have the name of the person because they paid by credit card. You'll also have the information that this customer went down the block to some other shop. And you'll know which customer it was because you only had one customer that day.

So tell me again how I can't use this information to identify who a specific individual is.

Re: Density.io

#44

Has there been any work on developing and commercializing personal RF "firewalls?" I'd buy one in an instant to block intrusive tech like this.

I was under the impression they were not entirely legal. I recall a movie theater saying they were going to install a 'deadzone' only to find out they weren't able to.

Re: Density.io

#46
I wonder if the market for 'dumbphones' will increase as/if this sort of thing becomes more common? Probably not, but it's fun to think about. I know Nokia are still making bare-bones, extra-long-life models aimed at developing countries (eg the 105, 220).

Re: Density.io

#47
post #42

Has there been any work on developing and commercializing personal RF "firewalls?" I'd buy one in an instant to block intrusive tech like this.

Have you seen the Off Pocket? https://offpocket.com/ Though in the UK I have unlimited 4G for £20 per month, so I just leave WiFi permanently disabled.

Is Off Pocket any different to putting your phone in airplane mode every time you put it in your pocket?

It's certainly more convenient, but also harder on the battery life as the phone continues to search for a signal.

Re: Density.io

#49
post #44

Has there been any work on developing and commercializing personal RF "firewalls?" I'd buy one in an instant to block intrusive tech like this.

I was under the impression they were not entirely legal. I recall a movie theater saying they were going to install a 'deadzone' only to find out they weren't able to.

It probably depends on whether they're using active jamming or passive signal blocking. And the jurisdiction, of course.

Re: Density.io

#50
I'm seeing people talking about MAC address issues.

But how does this device work exactly? Is every phone throwing around a mac address, even if it's not trying to connect to wifi?

For example I have my phone set to use 3G expect on my home network. Would I count?

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