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I’m confused. On iPhone you control which apps get location data. You also get warnings on the top of the screen when an app is using your location. How are these apps getting around that?
Stories like this, the Uber story, and the recent one about Google tracking location even when you opt out, are why I'm looking forward to Purism 5 with PureOS and kill switches.
I am really hoping that one day we can legislate respect for privacy and be able to use mass produced widely available hardware and software. A solution for a few outliers doesn’t really influence the big picture. I am very interested in what individuals/institutions support privacy at scale. I am aware of the EFF. Who else?
https://thebaffler.com/salvos/all-effd-up-levine
>A solution for a few outliers doesn’t really influence the big picture.
There's nothing stopping anyone from buying a Purism 5. If someone doesn't care about their privacy, they don't deserve it. Freedom isn't free, and all that.
I’m confused. On iPhone you control which apps get location data. You also get warnings on the top of the screen when an app is using your location. How are these apps getting around that?
From the article:
> Almost all require access to a user’s location data to work properly, like weather and fitness apps, but share that data often as a way to generate revenue for free-to-download apps.
My company analyzes iOS and Android apps en mass, using static and dynamic analysis. We've partnered with several major universities to provide data like this about apps. If any reseachers are interested in this data, please feel free to reach out. For location in particular, we see which location collection permissions the app has, as well as indirect methods like Bluetooth and Wifi. We also see the commercial integ…
How do researchers find this information? Presumably the apps are using encrypted network connections to submit your location data to surveillance backends. Is guardianapp reversing each application using jail broken devices? Using an iOS emulator to inspect the running app?
https://jimshaver.net/2015/02/11/decrypting-tls-browser-traf...
One thing to keep in mind is that ip addresses provide a pretty good location too. Even without GPS data, they at worst know what city you are in, probably down to the house depending on the ISP
How do researchers find this information? Presumably the apps are using encrypted network connections to submit your location data to surveillance backends. Is guardianapp reversing each application using jail broken devices? Using an iOS emulator to inspect the running app?
The good news is that only that last part is required if you would like to try this, now that the commonly used hostnames are published.
Folks can add the full list to a system such as Pi-Hole, and if they notice any hits for the listed servers, they can then route their device traffic through a tool such as Bettercap or Burp Suite in order to discover the offending app(s) and what information they are sending.
My company analyzes iOS and Android apps en mass, using static and dynamic analysis. We've partnered with several major universities to provide data like this about apps. If any reseachers are interested in this data, please feel free to reach out. For location in particular, we see which location collection permissions the app has, as well as indirect methods like Bluetooth and Wifi. We also see the commercial integ…
Please feel free to send a message at any time, even if you would just like to compare notes on all this (hello@sudosecuritygroup.com).
One thing to keep in mind is that ip addresses provide a pretty good location too. Even without GPS data, they at worst know what city you are in, probably down to the house depending on the ISP
What ISP attaches your home address to your IP?
I think maybe what's being implied is that some ISPs might sell that data...