City of London calls halt to smartphone tracking bins
1–10 of 39 posts
Re: City of London calls halt to smartphone tracking bins
#2Note that it's the 'City of London Corporation' [1] that's called for a halt. The title at the moment implies that the authorities of London as a whole have gotten involved.
Re: City of London calls halt to smartphone tracking bins
#3For those unaware, this is not "London" that's stopping the tracking bins, it's the City of London. This is the historical center and current financial district. It is ~1 square mile out of ~600 for the. There are all sorts of curiosities around the City - it is not governed like the other boroughs and is extremely wealthy in its own right. Conspiracy theorists have found much fodder in the City government and control.
The current set of bins are claimed to all be in the City , but this move is not the end of of the tracking of people in London via their phones.
Re: City of London calls halt to smartphone tracking bins
#4For those unaware, this is not "London" that's stopping the tracking bins, it's the City of London. This is the historical center and current financial district. It is ~1 square mile out of ~600 for the. There are all sorts of curiosities around the City - it is not governed like the other boroughs and is extremely wealthy in its own right. Conspiracy theorists have found much fodder in the City government and contro…
Indeed, the same City of London that is surrounded by the "Ring of Steel"[1] - described as a "surveillance cordon" with almost half a million CCTV cameras. At the checkpoints police had near-carte-blanche to search any vehicle they liked.
From a different era, granted, but a strange entity to be kicking up a fuss about privacy.
Re: City of London calls halt to smartphone tracking bins
#5Do as I say, not as I do.
(though not to say I approve of phone tracking).
Re: City of London calls halt to smartphone tracking bins
#6Note that it's the 'City of London Corporation' [1] that's called for a halt. The title at the moment implies that the authorities of London as a whole have gotten involved. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_London_Corporation
Yes. When most people say London they mean Greater London, not The City.
Re: City of London calls halt to smartphone tracking bins
#7Powerful bankers and lawyers do not like to be tracked, that is only good for the rest of us.
Re: City of London calls halt to smartphone tracking bins
#8Am I the only one who finds that a bit silly? Perhaps the next step will be that we won't be allowed to look at other people on the street anymore, because we would gather too much information. What if I want to open a shop and count the pedestrians walking by at a potential location, will police swoop in to throw me in jail?
I wouldn't be surprised if every smartphone with WLAN also "tracks" other people on the street - if it keeps a list of WLANs it recently encountered.
Offering HotSpots would become troublesome, too.
And what about the mobile networks, they already track the location of every one of us? Should only big companies be allowed to collect data?
Re: City of London calls halt to smartphone tracking bins
#9For those unaware, this is not "London" that's stopping the tracking bins, it's the City of London. This is the historical center and current financial district. It is ~1 square mile out of ~600 for the. There are all sorts of curiosities around the City - it is not governed like the other boroughs and is extremely wealthy in its own right. Conspiracy theorists have found much fodder in the City government and contro…
CGPGrey's The (Secret) City of London (Part [1]: History, Part [2]: Government)
Re: City of London calls halt to smartphone tracking bins
#10Am I the only one who finds that a bit silly? Perhaps the next step will be that we won't be allowed to look at other people on the street anymore, because we would gather too much information. What if I want to open a shop and count the pedestrians walking by at a potential location, will police swoop in to throw me in jail? I wouldn't be surprised if every smartphone with WLAN also "tracks" other people on the stre…
> And what about the mobile networks, they already track the location of every one of us?
Those companies are registered with the Data Protection people. They specify what data they are collecting, and why, and they are subject to regulations about what they can do with the data and how long they can keep the data.
> What if I want to open a shop and count the pedestrians walking by at a potential location, will police swoop in to throw me in jail?
You can count people. What you can't do is take an identifying piece of information about that person and store it.