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Your Apps Know Where You Were Last Night, and They're Not Keeping It Secret (nytimes.com)

Posted by msmash on from the closer-look dept.

Dozens of companies use smartphone locations to help advertisers and even hedge funds. They say it's anonymous, but the data shows how personal it is. From a report: The millions of dots on the map trace highways, side streets and bike trails -- each one following the path of an anonymous cellphone user. One path tracks someone from a home outside Newark to a nearby Planned Parenthood, remaining there for more than an hour. Another represents a person who travels with the mayor of New York during the day and returns to Long Island at night. [...] An app on the device gathered her location information, which was then sold without her knowledge. It recorded her whereabouts as often as every two seconds, according to a database of more than a million phones in the New York area that was reviewed by The New York Times.

At least 75 companies receive anonymous, precise location data from apps whose users enable location services to get local news and weather or other information, The Times found. Several of those businesses claim to track up to 200 million mobile devices in the United States -- about half those in use last year. The database reviewed by The Times -- a sample of information gathered in 2017 and held by one company -- reveals people's travels in startling detail, accurate to within a few yards and in some cases updated more than 14,000 times a day.

11 of 98 comments (clear)

  1. Said it before ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Most apps are complete shit whose sole purpose is to track you, show you ads, and sell the information about you.

    If I install an app (very rare these days), if it asks for my contacts and my location information, I uninstall it.

    If people would understand how much of their privacy they're giving up to asshole marketers, they'd be uninstalling this shit and realizing that most apps provide nothing that a web page can't give you.

    I have very few apps on my phone, and have pretty much decided that most mobile apps are something I can live without.

    I simply refuse to use location services, because the majority of that isn't going to benefit me, it's going to benefit some asshole ad company.

    Fuck that, fuck apps, and fuck ad companies.

    1. Re:Said it before ... by blahplusplus · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Most apps are complete shit whose sole purpose is to track you, show you ads, and sell the information about you.

      If I install an app (very rare these days), if it asks for my contacts and my location information, I uninstall it.

      The problem is every big company does this, think about PC games in the 90's vs now, when valve inserted the patch to take control of and steal half-life and CS and 2004. The reality is the internet has put an end to "the market" aka the private power model of western civilization is at odds with privacy and civil rights because the informed members of the public cannot protect themselves from these attacks, these companies control the infrastructure of society. What are you going to do when billion dollar mega corporation releases the new GTA online and because the game is targetted at kids, and those kids are computer illiterate, are going to buy a bugged piece of software that they don't own which is run from servers in Rockstars office? It's much too late young padawan.

      Or now that microsoft has released "windows 10" as a service? We would need portal technology or ideological changes, because the only way you could modify the behavior of these companies is if you were physically two blocks away from their offices so theres a genuine fear from the customers storming your offices. You have no power in this relationship, the balance of power is all in favor of those who own the producive capacities of society because technology has overwhelmed any ability to hold them accountable, they can just run roughshod over the indebted masses with impunity.

      The milton friedmanite idea we are "free to choose" is naive, the human mind did not evolve to perceive reality (see religion) nor make rational decisions in a high tech free market capitalist society.

    2. Re:Said it before ... by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The fact that Google is one of the most popular brands among consumers,
      and the fact that millions upon millions (perhaps billion(?)) people are on Facebook shows you how little people care to know, and care about privacy!

      Despite all the noise about Facebook freely sharing user data with third-parties,
      and despite all the noise about Google providing a backdoors to three-letter agencies.

      It's a sad state of affairs!

      I think most people don't know about the privacy issues- and many that do feel like they "have to be on facebook to stay relevant" (ridiculous belief, but one shared by many). Honestly, you can say it is the user's fault, and in large part it is (but really, do even relatively informed people know how often data is shared about them and who is sharing data about them?)

      I bet each and everyone of us has had data about us shared WITHOUT us knowing.

      A lot of businesses in the IT sector would hate this, but I would propose making it illegal to sell data on a individual WITHOUT them giving explicit consent EACH TIME. So, just having a EULA saying "we're going to sell your data and you give consent" is not enough. If Facebook want to sell information to Wells Fargo- they have to get your permission first.

      I think we could cut back on 90% of privacy violations with such a ruling.

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
  2. An example by bluegutang · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I recently visited a retirement home, for a community event which was held there. Nobody knew me there, and I didn't talk to or identify myself to anyone, I just listened. Shortly afterwards, I started seeing ads for the retirement home in my Android phone browser. I can only conclude that Google is sharing my GPS location with advertisers...

    1. Re:An example by doconnor · · Score: 3, Insightful

      As their most valuable asset, Google has a policy of not selling your personal information. Like you said, Google used the information to match you with the criteria the advertiser is looking for.

  3. And my apps judge me harshly by Austerity+Empowers · · Score: 3, Funny

    I was in my home and in bed by 9. My apps are disappoint.

    1. Re:And my apps judge me harshly by 110010001000 · · Score: 5, Funny

      Perhaps you would like to buy a new pillow? Go to mypillow.com now for 20% off!

  4. Re:Hard to prove by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    Google doesn't need to share your GPS location in order to serve you the proper ad, they just need to know your location. They can serve you that ad without sharing that location to anyone.

  5. Re:Hard to prove by 110010001000 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Wait, what? How do you guys not know how this works? Location based advertising has been around for years. How do you possibly not know that one of the biggest ad agencies on the planet (Google) DOESN'T do this?

  6. Think back by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Remember when GPS chips started showing up in cell phones to "improve" our safety with 911 calls? There were a lot of privacy advocates that said it will undermine privacy and anonymity. Surprise! We were right. Now the FCC is mandating all cell phones beginning in 2019 to be privacy adverse. Better start leaving that addictive toy at home if you don't want Big Brother to watch over your shoulder. And pull the fuse on your Big Brother features on that new car too.

  7. Re:I have an iPhone by yuvcifjt · · Score: 3, Informative

    I was basically going to say something similar but add that iOS only allows an app access to location service "while using the app", otherwise, permission is refused by default.

    Apple are pathological about battery usage, and quite rightly also take privacy far more seriously than most other companies, thus the reason iOS allowed you control over apps well before Android starting implementing similar controls - minus Google services that is, because, you know, Google is All Knowing.