There’s a Multibillion-Dollar Market for Your Phone’s Location Data

Re:There’s a Multibillion-Dollar Market for Your Phone’s Loc... by Rd6n6 on Saturday October 02, 2021 @04:07PM (#28731607)

> How can I stop companies from getting my location data?

The steps they list only cover gps data. In my final year at uni, during the capstone fair, I recall one group built a tracking system that relied on Bluetooth or wifi or something (maybe cellular signals?) to identify and track people indoors. I think they pitched it to be used in malls or airports, but really could work anywhere. It was surprisingly robust.

There are other projects that track you by license plate on highways, or by facial recognition. All this is location data too. I don’t think a highly motivated person could avoid location tracking any more without living in the woods

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Re:There’s a Multibillion-Dollar Market for Your Phone’s Loc... by notdang on Saturday October 02, 2021 @07:53PM (#28733266)

This stopped working a lot of years ago, both Android and iOS are randomizing the MAC addresses.

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Re:There’s a Multibillion-Dollar Market for Your Phone’s Loc... by mewse on Saturday October 02, 2021 @08:49PM (#28733573)

For what it’s worth, I’ve been using their bluetooth addresses to track my flatmate’s and my Apple watches for about the last eighteen months (obvs with knowledge and consent from both of us), just to determine whether we’re inside or outside the apartment and trigger some home assistant scripts when we leave/arrive.

Our watches haven’t changed their their bluetooth addresses during that time.

(The detection is accomplished by having a raspberry pi periodically call `hcitool name <address>` and checking whether it gets a response)

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Re:There’s a Multibillion-Dollar Market for Your Phone’s Loc... by bombcar on Saturday October 02, 2021 @08:45PM (#28733551)

Depending on when they randomize you may still be able to track.

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Re:There’s a Multibillion-Dollar Market for Your Phone’s Loc... by nerdponx on Saturday October 02, 2021 @04:14PM (#28731672)

I once read that Apple and Google actively keep track of Wifi access points so they can map out interior spaces, and also geolocate you even if you have GPS location services disabled. I don't know if that's true, but I wouldn't put it past them.

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Re:There’s a Multibillion-Dollar Market for Your Phone’s Loc... by milofeynman on Saturday October 02, 2021 @04:26PM (#28731795)

https://support.google.com/maps/answer/1725632?hl=en

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Re:There’s a Multibillion-Dollar Market for Your Phone’s Loc... by nerdponx on Sunday October 03, 2021 @02:59AM (#28735103)

Nice. I like how the opt-out is really intrusive, in order to discourage you from doing it. And of course being on a "_nomap" SSID is going to make you easily identifiable anyway, because nobody else is doing it.

You wouldn't let a Google rep come to your house and physically map out your home, or note down the MAC addresses of your Wifi access point. Yet people are totally OK with them doing it as long as someone physically doesn't show up to do it.

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Re:There’s a Multibillion-Dollar Market for Your Phone’s Loc... by amelius on Saturday October 02, 2021 @05:29PM (#28732245)

Your shoes could have embedded RFID tags (perhaps originally intended as a payment/anti-theft method by the store you bought them from) that can be used to fingerprint/track you everywhere.

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Re:There’s a Multibillion-Dollar Market for Your Phone’s Loc... by Gigachad on Saturday October 02, 2021 @08:04PM (#28733320)

There is zero chance a company would get away with that. Someone will find out their shoes have a pcb and battery in them.

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Re:There’s a Multibillion-Dollar Market for Your Phone’s Loc... by fsckboy on Saturday October 02, 2021 @08:57PM (#28733614)

no battery for RFID, it works by getting revved up with induced current from a varying magnetic field

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Re:There’s a Multibillion-Dollar Market for Your Phone’s Loc... by cucumb3rrelish on Saturday October 02, 2021 @04:48PM (#28731945)

https://calyxos.org uses Mozilla's location services

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Re:There’s a Multibillion-Dollar Market for Your Phone’s Loc... by rufus_foreman on Saturday October 02, 2021 @04:11PM (#28731639)

>> How can I stop companies from getting my location data?

Can't you just turn that off? Am I missing something?

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Re:There’s a Multibillion-Dollar Market for Your Phone’s Loc... by estaseuropano on Saturday October 02, 2021 @04:19PM (#28731721)

You don't need to send location data to reveal it. E.g. WiFi signal strength of different devices and cell tower strength or switching are easy points to help locate someone. Google was already prohibited from collecting WiFi data in the EU (with streetview cars specifically, but what would stop them from using any android device...), you can bet they still do it in the rest of the world.

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Re:There’s a Multibillion-Dollar Market for Your Phone’s Loc... by rufus_foreman on Saturday October 02, 2021 @04:39PM (#28731879)

I'm not on wifi, mostly I'm on a desktop computer with a VPN. I'm not an expert, how much of my location data gets sent when I do that.

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Re:There’s a Multibillion-Dollar Market for Your Phone’s Loc... by throw3849 on Saturday October 02, 2021 @05:01PM (#28732040)

WiFi on phone sends periodic pings to discover new access points. MAC is unique...

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Re:There’s a Multibillion-Dollar Market for Your Phone’s Loc... by goatsi on Saturday October 02, 2021 @07:45PM (#28733214)

That hasn't been true for years, both Apple and Android devices now use a random MAC for probing pings.

https://support.apple.com/en-ca/guide/security/secb9cb3140c/...

https://source.android.com/devices/tech/connect/wifi-mac-ran...

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Re:There’s a Multibillion-Dollar Market for Your Phone’s Loc... by fsflover on Saturday October 02, 2021 @05:41PM (#28732340)

Librem 5 smartphone has hardware kill switches for WiFi/Bluetooth and cellular modem.

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