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Foursquare constantly tracking users' locations

blog.valverde.me

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Re: Foursquare constantly tracking users' locations

#21

Post by spellboots »

valverde wrote: post #19
msoad wrote: post #18

Because of this I assume companies will start encrypting their JSON to make it impossible to see what is going through their application. A lot of lawsuits can start from this kind of exploring.

Making it impossible is impossible. They might make it more difficult.

On iOS this isn't necessarily true under certain constraints.

They can make it impossible given the device is not jailbroken. Sometimes there are versions of iOS that are un-jailbreakable. If you are not Apple, it could very well be impossible to figure out what an app is sending to a remote service if it gets its cryptography right.

Edit: thinking about it, although it may be impossible to MITM the connection, presumably one can inspect the compiled application to determine what it would send, so I think I was wrong about this

Re: Foursquare constantly tracking users' locations

#22

Post by ID_HOME »

spellboots wrote: post #21
valverde wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Making it impossible is impossible. They might make it more difficult.

On iOS this isn't necessarily true under certain constraints. They can make it impossible given the device is not jailbroken. Sometimes there are versions of iOS that are un-jailbreakable. If you are not Apple, it could very well be impossible to figure out what an app is sending to a remote service if it gets its cryptography right. Edit: thinking about it, although it may be impossible to MITM the connection, presu…

Apple doesn't have the best track record around auditing software for obfuscated functionality. The OS is built around the assumption that an app can misbehave without risking the user's resources. Of course, jailbreaking disproves this.

Re: Foursquare constantly tracking users' locations

#25

Post by amirmc »

spellboots wrote: post #20

Is this not the entire point of Foursquare?

Seems like you're commenting based only on the title. Here's the first sentence of the article:

"It might sound weird to accuse Foursquare of collecting location data since that is the whole point of the service, but Foursquare is overstepping its bounds by constantly keeping track of their users' every move (and more) — even if they never open the app."

Re: Foursquare constantly tracking users' locations

#26

Post by sliverstorm »

amirmc wrote: post #25
spellboots wrote: post #20

Is this not the entire point of Foursquare?

Seems like you're commenting based only on the title. Here's the first sentence of the article: "It might sound weird to accuse Foursquare of collecting location data since that is the whole point of the service, but Foursquare is overstepping its bounds by constantly keeping track of their users' every move (and more) — even if they never open the app."

Still not surprised. This is a textbook example of why Apple originally refused to allow apps to run in the background- so now that Apple finally caved and apps can background, it was just a matter of time before exactly this sort of thing came up.

Re: Foursquare constantly tracking users' locations

#27

Post by hdouble »

amirmc wrote: post #25
spellboots wrote: post #20

Is this not the entire point of Foursquare?

Seems like you're commenting based only on the title. Here's the first sentence of the article: "It might sound weird to accuse Foursquare of collecting location data since that is the whole point of the service, but Foursquare is overstepping its bounds by constantly keeping track of their users' every move (and more) — even if they never open the app."

Hard to blame Foursquare which you need to install while Google itself is doing it on Android phones to track when Android phones enter stores.

http://digiday.com/platforms/google-tracking/

Re: Foursquare constantly tracking users' locations

#28

Post by 205guy »

chubot wrote: post #6

BTW here is a nice project I came across that should do the same thing as Fiddler, but it's for Linux rather than Windows: http://mitmproxy.org/ To decrypt HTTPS you follow the same procedure of installing a root certificate on your phone.

There is also burp (http://portswigger.net/burp/) that is distributed as a JAR.

Re: Foursquare constantly tracking users' locations

#29

Post by jamesaguilar »

amirmc wrote: post #25
spellboots wrote: post #20

Is this not the entire point of Foursquare?

Seems like you're commenting based only on the title. Here's the first sentence of the article: "It might sound weird to accuse Foursquare of collecting location data since that is the whole point of the service, but Foursquare is overstepping its bounds by constantly keeping track of their users' every move (and more) — even if they never open the app."

(I think) that this is an opt-in feature that came out a few months ago, so that 4sq could push suggestions to you about where you are, or notify you of nearby friends. At least, I remember being asked if I wanted this feature.

Re: Foursquare constantly tracking users' locations

#30

Post by driverdan »

spellboots wrote: post #20

Is this not the entire point of Foursquare?

Not all users. I primarily use Foursquare for tracking where I've been, not for discovery. If I try to remember that great place I ate at last time I was in Boston I can search my history. Invasive continuous tracking adds no value for me.
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