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Sixty-seven percent of smartphone users rely on Google Maps to help them get to where they are going quickly and efficiently.
A major of[sic] feature of Google Maps is its ability to predict how long different navigation routes will take. That's possible because the mobile phone of each person using Google Maps sends data about its location and speed back to Google's servers, where it is analyzed to generate new data about traffic conditions.Information like this is useful for navigation. But the exact same data that is used to predict traffic patterns can also be used to predict other kinds of information – information people might not be comfortable with revealing.
For example, data about a mobile phone's past location and movement patterns can be used to predict where a person lives, who their employer is, where they attend religious services and the age range of their children based on where they drop them off for school.
Perhaps we can carefully craft our data patterns to tell advertisers, "Take a hike!"
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Monday February 11 2019, @10:38PM (12 children)
I expect the Russians and Saudis have already thought of that.
The data could be collected in really subtle ways, such as a game that uses your location data somehow.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 2) by stretch611 on Monday February 11 2019, @10:45PM (1 child)
I'm assuming that you want in on that secret too... =)
(not that there is anything wrong with that.)
Now with 5 covid vaccine shots/boosters altering my DNA :P
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Tuesday February 12 2019, @01:53AM
That’s where I found the hetero swing club I go to
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 11 2019, @11:38PM
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6686877/Women-tracking-app-lets-Saudi-Arabian-men-monitor-wives.html [dailymail.co.uk]
The sauds have an app for that
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday February 12 2019, @01:02AM (8 children)
In today's society, if you're ready to stand up and own the fact that you go to gay sex clubs, then that shouldn't be a problem.
If, on the other hand, you do any such thing that you don't want somebody, anybody, to know about - phone powered off before even starting out the door on the way to the place should be your norm, and not powered back on until you're well away from the "dark place," preferably at your next "light" destination. Sealed in a conductive bag, just incase it powers on unexpectedly, probably isn't overkill.
Any thought that you can set your privacy settings in such a way as to be "safe" while still allowing the phone to operate on your account is a delusion.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday February 12 2019, @03:15AM (5 children)
I'm not sure you've gone far enough, with just turning the phone off. Remove the battery - oops, can't do that with a lot of phones. Well, leave the damned thing home. The AI thinks that you spent a peaceful night at home, all alone, that way.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday February 12 2019, @02:57PM (3 children)
Suppose you have a burner phone that is used only when going to the gay sex club.
Better be careful when you turn the burner phone on.
Imagine:
1. turn off regular phone, put it in faraday bag
2. turn on burner phone.
(possibly interchange previous two steps)
3. depart for gay sex club
4. return home
5. turn off burner phone
6. resume use of regular phone.
(possibly interchange previous two steps)
It would be possible, looking at location data, to connect the pattern of the two phones use together.
So maybe don't turn on the burner phone until you arrive at the gay sex club.
But it still become possible to recognize a pattern of this phone on vs that other phone on, always at mutually exclusive times.
I'm not sure what my next step would be to prevent google and other church members from knowing that I was going to a gay sex club.
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 12 2019, @07:29PM (1 child)
1) burner phone off, battery out
2) normal phone on, at home
3) travel with no phone on
4) turn on burner, if needed
5) when leaving turn off burner, battery out
6) arrive home, pocket normal phone
There you go, there isn't a pattern there to discern, at least is you normally leave your phone on the night stand at those times (accelerometer data).
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 12 2019, @07:37PM
I had a phone years ago now that I dropped on accident and the battery popped right out. Picked up the phone and was surprised to see it still on. Pulling your battery is not a guarantee these days, there may still be a backup battery that pumps out occasional bursts to keep that sweet sweet location data flowing.
(Score: 2) by TheFool on Tuesday February 12 2019, @08:28PM
Just leave the regular (and burner) phone at home. You can almost certainly do without them for a few hours.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by MindEscapes on Tuesday February 12 2019, @03:21PM
Only if you don't drive your own vehicle. Few these days without their own built in tracking.
Need a break? mindescapes.net may be for you!
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Tuesday February 12 2019, @10:21AM
Consider that Vlad Putin is a former KGB Agent. I expect Vlad knows from Signals Intelligence.
Now imagine the former KGB - the FSB now I think - planting a "May I Use Your Location?" App on Cheeto's phone shortly after he announced his candidacy for 2016.
Hilarity really _did_ Ensue.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday February 12 2019, @03:04PM
Even in a liberal society it can be a problem. Because there are non liberal people who would judge or worse.
On one hand, I am not concerned that someone may not want other church members finding out they go to a gay sex club.
On the other hand, I admit I would tend to sympathize with it being easy to discover that the 3rd grade teacher goes to the pedophile club.
Even turning your phone off can be a problem. See other post under yours that I wrote.
I would also point out another incident from last year. A sex worker wants to keep that part of her life private from her otherwise professional life. She has a separate burner phone and is extremely careful. But good ol' Facebook connects her sex work to her real life. Because Facebook sees a photo or several of her at the same locations as the sex work client. FB then connects her photo to her real identity, and asks her (on her non burner phone): Do you know this person?
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.