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Tracking Phones, Google Is a Dragnet for the Police

nytimes.com

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Re: Tracking Phones, Google Is a Dragnet for the Police

#151

Post by Phlarp »

Jerry2 wrote: post #149
caprese wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like how “a lot less” is the new standard, compared to “at all”

Well, if you look at the study [0] you can see that you can get rid of the most of the tracking by disabling App Background Refresh, removing the Google apps and by running a content blocker. If you do all those steps, Big Google won't be getting much identifiable data about you. > Both Android and Chrome send data to Google even in the absence of any user interaction. Our experiments show that a dormant, stationary…

It's a shame google maps is so much better than the alternatives, but it's probably somewhat related to the amount of data they collect.

Re: Tracking Phones, Google Is a Dragnet for the Police

#152

Post by slenk »

caymanjim wrote: post #106

This isn't the best case to use as an example of police overreach and information dragnets. Yes, they arrested the wrong guy and held him for a week, but the right guy was using the wrong guy's car. I realize they initially identified him--at least in part--via the Google-provided information, but the reason they held him for a week is because it was his car that was used to commit the crime. At that point, it was ab…

It says in the story in the surveillance they can't make out the plates, so they don't know for sure it was his car.

Re: Tracking Phones, Google Is a Dragnet for the Police

#153

Post by maimeowmeow »

gist wrote: post #78
hopler wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Vegetables are good food. Swirls looks nice. These are things people enjoy, not distractions.

I did not say 'only reason'. Of course there could be other benefits. And I am guessing we are not talking about the same restaurant experiences either.

veggies are real cheap compared to meats. 1 pound of meat or seafood is 4-30 dollars wholesale versus 1-5 dollars a pound for veggies, so after markup, what are most dishes going to contain? Fillers: carbs and veggies.

Re: Tracking Phones, Google Is a Dragnet for the Police

#154

Post by warp_factor »

Something I never managed to fully confirm or deny:

I manually disabled all the data collection on my Google account (search and location history). Is Google still tracking my location? Would I still appear in that database? I'm pretty much Google-free at this point except for some spam emails and the need for a google account for Android Play.

Re: Tracking Phones, Google Is a Dragnet for the Police

#155

Post by wurst_case »

refurb wrote: post #150
HenryBemis wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I installed NoRoot Firewall, it has a "Access Log" tab, that logs all connections (allowed or block). My phone just didn't shut up'. Every other second some app (that wasn't in the foreground) was talking to some IP. My battery was getting slaughtered and my privacy as well. I proceeded to disable the "Run in background" almost every application, kept only a handful that are really needed (e.g. Signal). Since then my…

Question - does stopping apps from running in the background actually help privacy? Can’t the app just buffer all that data (including time stamps) and just send it when you use it again? Or is the app truly “turned off”?

This is how I do it. I cache everything I need to send and send it when I can. I do it in the context if sales information in places with poor connectivity like music festivals.

Re: Tracking Phones, Google Is a Dragnet for the Police

#156

Post by Macross8299 »

tgsovlerkhgsel wrote: post #60

The interesting thing is that from the article, it seems to me like the only data these searches are using is location history, so if that one is off, you should be unaffected.

I bet you anything that the "turn location history off" switch is just a placebo switch.

All it does is send the data with additional flag saying that the data shouldn't be displayed to the end user.

Re: Tracking Phones, Google Is a Dragnet for the Police

#157

Post by mirimir »

tssva wrote: post #125
andrei_says_ wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In addition to this, if the data exists, at some point in the future it will be compromised. The only way to avoid this is to not collect it. And to anyone who says “I have nothing to hide” — imagine your worst enemy having all this information about you easily searchable with the intention to weaponize it for their purpose.

I would guess that most of the people not worried because they have nothing to hide don't have a worst enemy.

Or at least, a worst enemy that they don't see as one.

Re: Tracking Phones, Google Is a Dragnet for the Police

#158

Post by mirimir »

duxup wrote: post #21
dvtrn wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reading that article reminds me of a rather prophetically-accurate movie starring Will Smith and Gene Hackman "Emeny of the State"[0]. Granted, for a film that came out in 1998 it probably wasn't too hard to guess where things were headed w/rt surveillance compared to how seemingly prescient writings from the likes of Orwell and Bradbury were for their respective times. What stands out to me about the movie (because…

I remembered watching that and thinking that it was apt.... but there's no damn way anyone gets access to all those different systems managed by different groups seamlessly. The bureaucracy involved would be immense, the various systems that can't talk to each other efficiently endless. I imagined all the overhead that would go into that and it hurt my brain ;)

Well, there's DEA's Special Operations Division (SOD). As I recall, they've done ~real-time busts of drug shipments. That is, from a cellular intercept in California to pulling over a semi on I95 for a broken taillight.

Re: Tracking Phones, Google Is a Dragnet for the Police

#159

Post by mirimir »

crankylinuxuser wrote: post #74
zelon88 wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But a Google or Apple smartphone can potentially contain the contact information about third parties who don't own Apple or Google smartphones themselves. Take a young person with an iPhone. Their 95 year old grandparents might not have a single piece of technology from 1990 onwards but because their grandson has their phone number, address, and birthday in his iPhone those people could potentially be vulnerable to t…

You'd be surprised how cheap a mask, crowbar, and a rental van is. Never underestimate this https://xkcd.com/538/ attack.

Sometimes you don't even need the wrench.

OK, so the feds were closing in on DPR. They knew that he had everything on his laptop, and that it was full-disk encrypted. One faction wanted to catch him in his room at home, by somehow doing a SWAT from a helicopter.

But cooler heads prevailed. They just tailed him for a few days. So he sits down in the public library, and starts working. Two agents pretend to be a couple having a screaming match. While he's distracted, another agent grabs his laptop.

Game over, and life in prison.

Re: Tracking Phones, Google Is a Dragnet for the Police

#160

Post by rando444 »

mrhappyunhappy wrote: post #110
HenryBemis wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I installed NoRoot Firewall, it has a "Access Log" tab, that logs all connections (allowed or block). My phone just didn't shut up'. Every other second some app (that wasn't in the foreground) was talking to some IP. My battery was getting slaughtered and my privacy as well. I proceeded to disable the "Run in background" almost every application, kept only a handful that are really needed (e.g. Signal). Since then my…

Can anyone recommend a good alternative for iOS to do just this?

You can probably find one in the app store just based on reviews.

Pretty much all "no root firewalls" work the same way.. The software pretends to be a VPN client in order to get the network traffic and filter it.

Since you're letting the software have control over all your network traffic, make sure you trust the software manufacturer.

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