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A comment on iOS 13 app tracking alert has dramatically cut location data flow to ad industry. Parent comment

Re:iOS 13 app tracking alert has dramatically cut location d... by cameldrv on Tuesday January 14, 2020 @01:09AM (#22042280)
I really wish iOS and Android would implement coarse grain location. My weather app doesn't need to know where I am exactly, within a couple of miles is usually fine. The "find the nearest store" just needs to know within a few blocks. The problem with GPS level location is that if I'm at home, I'm nearly personally identified.
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Re:iOS 13 app tracking alert has dramatically cut location d... by adrianN on Tuesday January 14, 2020 @04:14AM (#22043121)
If I know the rough location of your work and the rough location of your home I can almost certainly identify you: https://crypto.stanford.edu/~pgolle/papers/commute.pdf
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Re:iOS 13 app tracking alert has dramatically cut location d... by Accacin on Tuesday January 14, 2020 @03:48AM (#22042965)
Don't quote me on this, but I believe iOS already has this.. But it's the developer that needs to say they'll use this type of location data - which of course they won't.
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Re:iOS 13 app tracking alert has dramatically cut location d... by thu2111 on Tuesday January 14, 2020 @04:13AM (#22043107)
Android has had that distinction since version 1, actually.

https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/android-sdk...

Some apps do use coarse permission (which maps roughly to wifi/cell tower location).

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Re:iOS 13 app tracking alert has dramatically cut location d... by cameldrv on Tuesday January 14, 2020 @04:33AM (#22043219)
Yes, but I can't say "sorry, you're only getting coarse location" to an app that wants precise location permission.
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