Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Google Demanded T-Mobile, Sprint Not Sell Google Fi Customers' Location Data

motherboard.vice.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

101–110 of 163 posts

Re: Google Demanded T-Mobile, Sprint Not Sell Google Fi Customers' Location Data

#101

Post by Johnny555 »

warent wrote: post #6
Despegar wrote: post #2

I mean sure. Google certainly doesn't want wireless carriers to compete with them in advertising, and everyone having access to location data from smartphones just devalues Google's own access. https://qz.com/1131515/google-collects-android-users-locatio...

Yeah, I was going to say... Of course Google made this demand. It's a no-brainer. Not only does it help ensure their competitors aren't profiting from the same data that Google does, but also its a beautiful PR stunt. Not to say that they shouldn't be making this demand, but we should all keep in mind that they're not doing this out of the kindness of their hearts or because it's the ethical thing to do.

also its a beautiful PR stunt.

It's only a PR stunt if they publicized it -- it's not a stunt if they did it without making it public.

It's a PR win for sure, but that doesn't make it a PR stunt.

Re: Google Demanded T-Mobile, Sprint Not Sell Google Fi Customers' Location Data

#102

Post by peu4000 »

vanattab wrote: post #88

Ask HN: Is anyone here happy with Google Fi service? I ordered a Pixel 3 phone directly from Google Fi and signed up for service with Google Fi the end of December. When I ordered the phone it showed up as in stock and estimated I would get my phone by the 4th of January. On the 2nd I got an email saying that the phone shipping was delayed and I would receive an email when it ships. I have heard nothing from google s…

I have been using it for a little over 2 years (6p and refurb Pixel XL) and it's been fine. Though I haven't had to contact support...

Re: Google Demanded T-Mobile, Sprint Not Sell Google Fi Customers' Location Data

#103

Post by protomyth »

ucaetano wrote: post #83
protomyth wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every company follows the law of each country they are in unless they are criminals. China is a country that affords no privacy.

Yes, and faced with the option of making money in China and eliminating any and all user privacy, or not making money in China, Apple chose the former.

Comparing following laws in a country with willingly compromising privacy in a country that does not compel the company to do it is some serious false equivalence.

Re: Google Demanded T-Mobile, Sprint Not Sell Google Fi Customers' Location Data

#104

Post by arebop »

vanattab wrote: post #88

Ask HN: Is anyone here happy with Google Fi service? I ordered a Pixel 3 phone directly from Google Fi and signed up for service with Google Fi the end of December. When I ordered the phone it showed up as in stock and estimated I would get my phone by the 4th of January. On the 2nd I got an email saying that the phone shipping was delayed and I would receive an email when it ships. I have heard nothing from google s…

My Pixel 3 was delayed several weeks with no ability to cancel or understand why or get status info. Then it was delivered. So, really crappy fulfillment experience but the phone is great and the data service coverage has been a little better than it was with my old provider.

Re: Google Demanded T-Mobile, Sprint Not Sell Google Fi Customers' Location Data

#105

Post by annefauvre »

I hate the idea that we're so beholden to one company's ethical compass over another. It's so clear that we're in need for some sort of regulation to great guideposts around what is ok and what is not... sigh... not like the government will ever get its act together on this.

Re: Google Demanded T-Mobile, Sprint Not Sell Google Fi Customers' Location Data

#106

Post by piyush_soni »

noxToken wrote: post #85
icelancer wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, they just gave it to China.

Selling user data to a 3rd party company and turning over user data to a local government are two very different things. They both have their own sets of implications. Ideally, you'd wish that a company would never turn your personal data over to either. However, governments and 3rd parties are very much not the same.

Wait. Isn't everyone talking about how Apple is "fighting" the goverment / FBI for protecting their users' privacy in the US? But sharing with the Chinese goverment is ok because otherwise they won't be allowed to function there. Am I right? So that means they're not that big on fighting for your privacy is their business suffers because of that. In the US in fact their business is growing because of this little stunt they had with the FBI so they continue it.

Re: Google Demanded T-Mobile, Sprint Not Sell Google Fi Customers' Location Data

#107

Post by wtmt »

Pot, meet kettle. This is rich coming from Google, which doesn't respect users' choices in Android not to collect location data and yet the company wants others not to deal in that data from its other services. Perhaps it's just the worry of enabling other companies to make money off of customer information in any way possible, and wanting to be the only company that should be able to make money from this data. As far as the user is concerned, both are privacy violations and an expression of disrespect to them. The bar on privacy is so low that Google seems to be imagining that its behavior is "better than the others".

Re: Google Demanded T-Mobile, Sprint Not Sell Google Fi Customers' Location Data

#108

Post by jcfrei »

Ajedi32 wrote: post #47
Despegar wrote: post #2

I mean sure. Google certainly doesn't want wireless carriers to compete with them in advertising, and everyone having access to location data from smartphones just devalues Google's own access. https://qz.com/1131515/google-collects-android-users-locatio...

The big difference is Google doesn't sell that data to third parties; they just use it for ad targeting. There's a big difference between the company that makes my phone's OS knowing my location, and anyone willing to pay a few bucks knowing the same. (Also it looks like in the situation described in the article you linked, they didn't even use the data for ad targeting: "we never incorporated Cell ID into our networ…

That's pretty much a straw man argument. Any company in the ad business will exploit collected data to the extent possible by law. Whether that data resides solely with one company or with many won't change that. The fundamental question we should be asking ourselves is what a company is allowed to do with our personal data.

Re: Google Demanded T-Mobile, Sprint Not Sell Google Fi Customers' Location Data

#109

Post by wtmt »

linsomniac wrote: post #57

So many people are saying "this is just further evidence of Google doing evil". Unpopular opinion: I feel like this is further evidence of Google being good stewards of user data. There are many reasons Google may want to protect this data: They don't want user backlash from revelations like this, they don't want to have to be legislated, they don't want the PR spend of having to recover from such reporting. Or it co…

> They don't want user backlash...

When it comes to siphoning location data from Android devices, it looks like Google only cares about updating its help pages, and not really about addressing the actual points in such a backlash. There is no evidence on this topic that Google cares about a backlash or PR spend or anything else. All its actions show that Google wants more and more data, and that it wants to be the one that gets all the data.

Re: Google Demanded T-Mobile, Sprint Not Sell Google Fi Customers' Location Data

#110

Post by wtmt »

piyush_soni wrote: post #44

How people's sentiments change here based on who tries to protect their privacy. If it's Apple, "wow, they are god's own people with purest intentions of protecting users' privacy". When Google does it : "Yeah, because they want to sell it themselves so obviously they don't want any competition".

That's pretty easy to conclude based on the business models of said companies. Why would anyone want to reach a different conclusion, especially when Google has shown apathy towards location data collection on Android, bypassing Safari's cookie handling to track users, etc.? The writing on the wall is crystal clear.
Post reply on HN