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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

#171

Post by matz1 »

andrei_says_ wrote: post #100
sbov wrote: post #90

I turned off almost all tracking in Android a while ago, but never scanned the data it collected. I recently looked at what data was associated with my Google account, and there I saw: every voice command I ever issued my phone, and when I used what app. I could see at 9:30am I opened my camera app. I can see I viewed a notification at 9:45am. And so on. I deleted it all, but my guess is it probably still lives somew…

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.

It's not feasible. It requires all the players to cooperate and one leak will ruin it.

We will have to use punishment as deterrent for someone who is harming other with all of this information.

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

#172

Post by LuciferAdvocate »

caymanjim wrote: post #104
gist wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Even without Google or Apple, they police have the cell service providers Important to keep in mind that additional information provides corroboration at least in the mind of the jury and also detracts from issues regarding the information. This is illustrated by one of those Datelines' (or 48 Hours don't remember) that I saw recently. They exhumed a body to determine if the deceased was buried with contact lenses…

They need to bend over backwards with evidence because terrible shows like CSI and NCIS have convinced jurors that crime labs can perform magic and that they should acquit despite a preponderance of evidence unless there's a giant stack of lab reports and a manic pixie dream nerd testifying.

They should. Preponderance of evidence is for civil charges, criminal charges require proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

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

#173

Post by jxdxbx »

bestnameever wrote: post #140
tgsovlerkhgsel wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From the article, it sounds like the history you have access to is the same that was used for the dragnet searches.

right, I'm saying that turning off Google timeline doesn't stop Google from tracking your location.

correct. turning off “location history” only turns off the visualization, not tracking. your location is still associated with each piece of google activity—searches etc. there is no way to totally turn off location tracking other than tuning off “web and app activity”—which then locks you out of several google services entirely.

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

#174

Post by damian2000 »

speeq wrote: post #164
aembleton wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The app can't collect and buffer data if it is not running.

Are you sure? I’m currently learning how to develop apps for Android and during my testing I was surprised that you’re able to send silent data-only notifications to devices, even when the app is closed / removed from the drawer. You’re able to run background functions like update a local SQLite database but I haven’t tried making requests to a backend server yet (my guess is it works too) or accessing any sensors.

You're totally correct, you can do pretty much anything you want in Android running in the background. But the post you replied to is referring to Stopping an app .. via the app info in settings. In this case it stops the background service component until you launch it manually again. Noone apart from power users and developers would do this though.. most people likely don't know what the stop app function does.

There are OS battery optimisations which kick in eventually though, which result in most non system apps to be stopped automatically to save battery. Once again, they won't startup in the background again until being manually launched. This is my general understanding gained from working for a couple of years on an Android app that runs in the background and receives silent notifications.

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

#175

Post by ImaCake »

dvtrn wrote: post #19
kyrra wrote: post #6

Even without Google or Apple, they police have the cell service providers. In the case of the Austin bomber from a year ago[0], police got cell tower records from the multiple bombings and figured out who was at all the locations. Cell phones are little trackers unless you turn them off or don't carry one. [0] https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna85...

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…

>prescient writings from the likes of Orwell

While I agree some autocracies resemble Orwell's 1984, I hardly think western states fit the description. The powers undermining Western Democracies are a complex mix of corporate/state sponsored media, surveillance capitalism, and other more mundane forms of corruption and collusion. The fact that I can state these things without fear speaks volumes about the opposition to autocratic and anti-liberal forces. Bradbury's distraction based autocracy is a lot more interesting because it beats you over the head with a different type of control that in smaller doses could be used to disuade or control in a less Autocratic society.

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

#176

Post by nukeop »

sbov wrote: post #90

I turned off almost all tracking in Android a while ago, but never scanned the data it collected. I recently looked at what data was associated with my Google account, and there I saw: every voice command I ever issued my phone, and when I used what app. I could see at 9:30am I opened my camera app. I can see I viewed a notification at 9:45am. And so on. I deleted it all, but my guess is it probably still lives somew…

A smartphone is a device designed on all levels to be used against you, not by you. In a better world you'd have a choice on the driver level to give or refuse access to any data you choose, or to send fake empty data. With every version of Android it's progressively being made more and more useful to Google and advertisers, and less useful to you. At this point they should be given away for free, because paying for something that is designed to enslave and exploit you is just silly.

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

#177

Post by callmeal »

clragon wrote: post #123
callmeal wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>You can turn off the collection of location data for Google. If you have an android phone, please try turning off the location service and see what happens. The sheer number of dark patterns google uses to get you to turn it back on is illuminating. I remember in the early versions of android, you could turn on/off the gps from the lock screen. Then one day it went away and was only available once the phone was unlo…

I don't think that's really the case. I can unlock my phone (probably already unlocked anyways), swipe down the status bar and tap an icon to disable location services. The first time I get a pop up that apps won't be able to use my location and that's it. It won't ask again, and it's a matter of 2 seconds.

That's the icon I was talking about. It was present on my Nexus 5 with Android 6 (marshmallow), but disappeared when I upgraded to android 7 (nougat) and there's no way I can see to bring it back. It's possible that other carriers have it enabled, but google's flagship phones have it disabled.

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

#179

Post by andrerm »

andrei_says_ wrote: post #100
sbov wrote: post #90

I turned off almost all tracking in Android a while ago, but never scanned the data it collected. I recently looked at what data was associated with my Google account, and there I saw: every voice command I ever issued my phone, and when I used what app. I could see at 9:30am I opened my camera app. I can see I viewed a notification at 9:45am. And so on. I deleted it all, but my guess is it probably still lives somew…

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.

No need for a worst enemy. Just expose your email and password on Facebook or Twitter and tomorrow all your personal and professional contacts will be thinking you are crazy. Maybe you'll be able to save your relationship. Certainly not your job. Edit: spelling

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

#180

Post by shadowprofile76 »

SquareWheel wrote: post #133
bravoetch wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not an extraordinary claim, it's literally what google claim to do by selling targeted ads.

Where do I buy this user data? I would like to purchase it. dleslie claims they will sell it to "anyone willing to pay for that information". > it's literally what google claim to do It's literally the opposite of what Google claims to do. https://safety.google/privacy/ads-and-data/

You buy this information indirectly any time you use any of Google's targeted advertising services. And yes, anyone can buy into it.
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