Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well, the locationsmart fails completely on my Google fi phone.
I'm on Project Fi and it worked for my phone.
Same here
US cell carriers are selling access to real-time phone location data
501–510 of 648 posts
Re: US cell carriers are selling access to real-time phone location data
#502Throwaway account. I work in location / mapping / geo. Some of us have been waiting for this to blow (which it hasn't yet). The public has zero idea how much personal location data is available. It's not just your cell carrier. Your cell phone chip manufacturer, GPS chip manufacturer, phone manufacturer and then pretty much anyone on the installed OS (android crapware) is getting a copy of your location data. Usually…
I agree some of this is happening but some things don't add up. Is there a huge delay in this data? Because why don't law agencies use it to find criminals? Like I have 2 crimes at these two locations. Who was around these 2 locations at these times etc. But if hedge funds are trading on it, they need very low latencies?
You might be confusing hedge funds in general with the strategy of high frequency trading. Not all funds trade at high frequency.
Re: US cell carriers are selling access to real-time phone location data
#503I believe the relevant T-Mobile privacy policy (that I definitely read before signing up...) is: "With your consent. We may provide location-based services or provide third parties with access to your approximate location to provide services to you." https://www.t-mobile.com/company/website/privacypolicy.aspx That is why a text message confirmation is required to get a cell phone's location from https://www.locations…
Did T-Mobile have a breach recently? I got malware on one of my machines a year or so back and had to change my passwords everywhere, and T-Mobile was one of the two sites that was so assed-up I couldn't actually change it. I clicked your privacy link earlier and had to go through two separate SMS verifications and change my password because they said it was "old".
Re: US cell carriers are selling access to real-time phone location data
#504Earlier quoted context omitted.
Pinsight is a big one. But there are too many to name. In 2018, you should assume that any free service (Unroll.me), web/mobile SDK (Slice), email client (Airmail), personal finance tracker (Mint), integration API (Plaid), geolocator (Foursquare), etc is monetized by selling your data en masse for market research. It's not just location data. Dig into the TOS of free services you use. It's your receipts, your transac…
Link to pinsight: https://pinsightmedia.com > Ever wonder what your consumer thinks minute-by-minute? Pinsight’s ID Suite gets behind the lock screen to understand the mindset of your best customer. Leveraging 24/7 insights from the mobile device, we uncover new audiences and discover new market opportunities so you can engage with consumers in ways that matter. “Gets behind the lock screen” Jeez that is some brazen…
I hear "groping inside the knickers".
It's blatant and normalized.
Re: US cell carriers are selling access to real-time phone location data
#505Earlier quoted context omitted.
And how can I buy this realtime data? Also > Hedge funds or services who analyze it for hedge funds is the big one. It's normal to track hundreds of millions of people a day and trade stocks based on where they go. Any articles/webpages about this one? Or a company name who is doing it?
Most funds actively try to stay out of the media. For some it's a core strategy. ( "Out of sight, out of mind" )
Crawling under the rock safe from the light of day.
Re: US cell carriers are selling access to real-time phone location data
#506Throwaway account. I work in location / mapping / geo. Some of us have been waiting for this to blow (which it hasn't yet). The public has zero idea how much personal location data is available. It's not just your cell carrier. Your cell phone chip manufacturer, GPS chip manufacturer, phone manufacturer and then pretty much anyone on the installed OS (android crapware) is getting a copy of your location data. Usually…
For those who want to try out LocationSmart, you can use it here: https://www.locationsmart.com/try/ They were about two blocks off, and located me by cell tower. Apparently they don't have (or at least don't admit to having) A-GPS level data for me.
Just tried it and was pretty accurate for me as well. How is it even legal for our cell phone providers to sell this data...?
Re: US cell carriers are selling access to real-time phone location data
#507Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not my area of knowledge at all, so perhaps someone who knows radio better could chime in: Would it be possible to fool the triangulation from the device, by arbitrary (or intelligently) delaying the mobile radio signals? Or are they too dependent on timings and such to work?
There are no available cellphone radio baseband computers/transceivers that allow you do do things with that. You would literally have to implement the entire cell baseband from scratch with a software defined radio. It would be a very non-trivial project. And it'd be useless unless you had many of these custom transmitters faking your signal spread out over large physical distances.
OsmocomBB and LimeSDR would like a word with you.
Yes, the former is limited to GSM, the latter doesn't come with a TX amp and you'll need to supply suitable mid-power RF (no cooling for passives, carefull cooling of actives) antenna circulator/filter/switch, if you want to use your new amp.
The hardware should be under 2k$ manufacturing in single-unit quantities, but it is HF design, including some distributed-element filters and power-handling at low GHz frequencies. Nothing particularly trivial to design, though the requirements in precision are not too stringent, so you won't need someone who can demand >100$/h while working outside of a major metropolitan area.
TLDR: GSM+LTE open-source SDR/hacked dumbphone baseband exists, suitable hardware is COTS for sub $2k.
Re: US cell carriers are selling access to real-time phone location data
#508Throwaway account. I work in location / mapping / geo. Some of us have been waiting for this to blow (which it hasn't yet). The public has zero idea how much personal location data is available. It's not just your cell carrier. Your cell phone chip manufacturer, GPS chip manufacturer, phone manufacturer and then pretty much anyone on the installed OS (android crapware) is getting a copy of your location data. Usually…
For those who want to try out LocationSmart, you can use it here: https://www.locationsmart.com/try/ They were about two blocks off, and located me by cell tower. Apparently they don't have (or at least don't admit to having) A-GPS level data for me.
mine was 4.5 miles off
Re: US cell carriers are selling access to real-time phone location data
#509Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think the ACLU did a report a while back and Cricket Wireless was the best large ish cell phone provider. Provider comparison: https://privacysos.org/blog/how-long-does-my-phone-company-s... Study details: https://privacysos.org/blog/att-stores-either-five-or-twenty...
Cricket's Privacy Policy looks much better than T-Mobile's or Google Fi's: "We will not sell your personal information to anyone, for any purpose. Period." https://www.cricketwireless.com/privacy But they also say that they may share personal information (which may include location??) to 3rd parties with user "consent": "Do you share my Personal Information with other companies for them to market to me? We may share…
I'm on Cricket Wireless and I tried at your link, but I'm not getting the SMS message.
Re: US cell carriers are selling access to real-time phone location data
#510Earlier quoted context omitted.
The original article seems to be saying that the carriers track and sell phone location by cell triangulation ("less accurate than using GPS, but cell tower data won't drain a phone battery"). This is less accurate, as seen by the example of "within a city block." The parent comment seems to be saying that the OS and apps use the internal GPS data to get a much more accurate location, which is then freely transmitted…
Or just turn off location services when you’re not using them. Turning off Google Now & location services will radically improve battery life on standby.
That has no affect on this tracking.