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Append "_nomap" to your AP's SSID to opt out of Google Location Services (2011)

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Re: Append "_nomap" to your AP's SSID to opt out of Google Location Services (2011)

#41

Post by droopybuns »

oconnore wrote: post #19
bananas wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes I understand it entirely. There are enough AP's around me for Apple Maps to know if I'm in bed or having a poo. You can see the marker move. More services like this are bad. They already know who I am. What could possibly go wrong? Edit: when I say more services are bad like this I mean we should be opt-in for both collection and usage rather than opt out.

That problem is entirely due to you choosing to run Google/Apple software on a network attached computer that you carry with you everywhere (even, apparently, to poo). Mapping the source of radio signals is common and expected. Your Wifi router is basically a big bright lightbulb that flashes with a unique pattern, and can be seen through walls. You can't legitimately ask the rest of the world not to notice it, the s…

No. It shouldn't be expected that a $410b market cap company is out mapping this data and selling it to advertisers. Just because you can, doesn't mean you should. Not a trustworthy company.

Re: Append "_nomap" to your AP's SSID to opt out of Google Location Services (2011)

#42

Post by eli »

_wmd wrote: post #30
aviraldg wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you even read what this does? It's used to aid geopositioning. No data from the network is logged, other than its SSID/MAC address and its approximate location.

Except for that one small time in Europe when they "accidentally" captured live traffic en masse.. http://www.bit-tech.net/news/bits/2010/05/17/google-admits-s...

I don't think "en masse" is a fair way to describe a handful of stray packets per AP as the car drove by.

Re: Append "_nomap" to your AP's SSID to opt out of Google Location Services (2011)

#43

Post by droopybuns »

sneak wrote: post #33
ZoF wrote: post #13

Ehh... It's pretty fucking ridiculous that I should have to change my networks SSID in order to NOT be mapped. What if I had some established nomenclature. My old SSID was Nikola with a password some variant of Tesla... Nikola_nomap just doesn't have the same spark.

Stop broadcasting a unique identifier unencrypted on a public unliscensed band into the middle of your street, then. Google is doing nothing wrong here.

No, they are. Sorry. The population of wifi users that overlaps with HAMs is pretty minimal. This shit is fucking evil.

Re: Append "_nomap" to your AP's SSID to opt out of Google Location Services (2011)

#44

Post by billpg »

bananas wrote: post #14
LukeB_UK wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're so opposed to it, I hope you only ever use GPS and not A-GPS.

The only time I use GPS is with my Garmin and a landranger in hand.

Did you ask the satellite owner's permission before you read the signals that were being openly broadcast?

Re: Append "_nomap" to your AP's SSID to opt out of Google Location Services (2011)

#45

Post by simias »

Heh, after "Do Not Track" we now have "Do Not Map".

This hack does not resolve the ethical conundrum of indexing a huge amount of publicly available data for private use. We already have technical solutions if we want to make hidden access point, not having to rely on the good faith of an outsider.

What's next, if I don't want google street view to photograph my house I paint "Do Not Photograph" on the wall?

I don't even understand why google took steps to implement that. It means that they acknowledge there's a potential privacy issue but at the same time offer a solution they must know won't satisfy anybody who's concerned about this issue.

Re: Append "_nomap" to your AP's SSID to opt out of Google Location Services (2011)

#46

Post by furyofantares »

r0h1n wrote: post #20

Once upon a time the default privacy model used to be "opt-in". Which then became "opt-out" thanks in large parts to Google. Of course it helped that very few "lay people" take active steps to opt-out. It appears "rename and opt-out" is the latest model. I'm guessing even fewer lay users will take this step. Technically this allows Google to claim it gives people an easy way to opt out, but in practice nothing much i…

I assume you are referring to web crawling? When you put up a web page, your intention to make it public is pretty clear, barring a mistake. Your intention to have it crawled and indexed is a lot less clear, but you usually don't get a lot of say in how people consume things you make public. So I think opt-out makes sense for that.

When you put up a wireless network in your apartment, your intention to make it public is a lot less clear. You are putting it in public, so the argument for opt-out is at least coherent. But I don't buy it because it's clearly not most peoples' intention.

Re: Append "_nomap" to your AP's SSID to opt out of Google Location Services (2011)

#47

Post by droopybuns »

qKyuu wrote: post #40
r0h1n wrote: post #20

Once upon a time the default privacy model used to be "opt-in". Which then became "opt-out" thanks in large parts to Google. Of course it helped that very few "lay people" take active steps to opt-out. It appears "rename and opt-out" is the latest model. I'm guessing even fewer lay users will take this step. Technically this allows Google to claim it gives people an easy way to opt out, but in practice nothing much i…

Also once upon a time people knew what they were talking about before launching into a nonsensical speech filled with privacy cliches. They are mapping public WiFi APs, public data, it's well within their right and that of other to do so. Offering an opt-out is just going over and beyond to appease the stubbornly misinformed.

Why are you slandering anyone who thinks google is a shitty company and doesn't want them profiting on their data?

Re: Append "_nomap" to your AP's SSID to opt out of Google Location Services (2011)

#48

Post by chimeracoder »

I really dislike the new standard of making location tracking opt-out, not opt-in.

There's a startup that tracks the location of customers across stores using the MAC addresses of their cell phones, without their knowledge. In order to opt-out, you have to register your MAC address with them: http://nomi.com/privacy/

The key to both Nomi and (to a lesser extent) Google is that users don't even know when they are being tracked. Opt-out only makes sense when there is a reasonable expectation that the user knows that the tracking exists.

Re: Append "_nomap" to your AP's SSID to opt out of Google Location Services (2011)

#50

Post by qKyuu »

droopybuns wrote: post #47
qKyuu wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also once upon a time people knew what they were talking about before launching into a nonsensical speech filled with privacy cliches. They are mapping public WiFi APs, public data, it's well within their right and that of other to do so. Offering an opt-out is just going over and beyond to appease the stubbornly misinformed.

Why are you slandering anyone who thinks google is a shitty company and doesn't want them profiting on their data?

What does that have to do with the correctness of the statements?

And since when is publicly broadcast SSIDs are anyone's private data?

It's very unfortunate that zealots and hateful people are increasingly finding a home on HN.

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