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But Facebook, Google, Microsoft, et al are still free to sell phone location data acquired through apps (or Android itself in the case of Google), right? I wonder if there is any hope of laws to limit the ability of companies to sell this data...
Telcos are regulated carriers, facegoog are not. Maybe one day they will be.
They don't exist in international waters.
Toothless fines. Indict corporate officers or employees that did it... then you’ll get change.
Fines should presumably start small and have a graduated structure to prevent the "just a business expense" approach from becoming a viable one.
The current regulatory problems are due almost entirely (IMO) to lack of active enforcement; why care what the penalty is if you know it won't happen to you regardless?
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This is true, although it's engaging in a bit of hair-splitting.
It's not. The extent to which old-line businesses like telcos and banks will literally sell your data is way beyond anything Google has ever contemplated. I can call a credit card data clearinghouse and order all of the transactions of every age 30-35 male in Akron, Ohio in December 2019 and they'll put that in a spreadsheet and send it to me. It really is important to distinguish between "selling your data" and what…
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Do you want the ambulance/police car dispatched for you as soon as the operator determines there is a problem, or wait for them to receive your location by you telling them? What about all the people that can't for some reason? It's the only reason in my mind the government should have access to that info, and it's a damn good one
I'll wait. Where's the opt-out button on my device to ensure my 4th Amendment right is exercised? Oh, right. It's forced. "Freedom".
Plus, it's probably arguable as to whether or not your cell providers' location data on you constitutes a "search" or not. Unless E911 works by transmitting your devices' GPS readings from its own hardware to authorities, but even then I am not sure since they are doing so as a middleman. IANAL
Also, you might wait but I'm not sure that most folk in distress would agree with you.
Toothless fines. Indict corporate officers or employees that did it... then you’ll get change.
Fines don't have to be toothless.
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Fines don't have to be toothless.
It depends on the perspective. Imagine an FCC shopping page for businesses that says something like: "Gain ability to sell customer location data for a year: $10,000,000" "Fine" is a euphemism for market price. If the profits outweigh the fines and the poor PR can be controlled in a timely manner, then they'll do it every time.
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It’s a huge difference. The technical difference is that law enforcement is doing an end-run around the carrier to have phones just give up information. Carriers have zero control over that.
Sure they do! (Assuming you're not kidding.) Make the cell connections a secure protocol, instead of something any asshole with an antenna can spoof & create a portable "cell tower".
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The Supreme Court ruled in 2018 that obtaining phone location data requires a warrant. [1] So no, neither one is okay. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carpenter_v._United_States
They (NSA / govt) still warehouse it. They just don’t access it without a warrant. That is the current legal fiction they operate the surveillance state under.
Like if you don’t trust the government to follow their own rules then why do the rules matter?