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Google Demanded T-Mobile, Sprint To Not Sell Google Fi Customers' Location Data (vice.com)
An anonymous reader shares a report: On Thursday, AT&T announced it was stopping the sale of its customers' real-time location data to all third parties, in response to a Motherboard investigation showing how data from AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint trickled down through a complex network of companies until eventually landing the hands of bounty hunters and people unauthorized to handle it. To verify the existence of this trade, Motherboard paid $300 on the black market to successfully locate a phone.
Google, whose Google Fi program offers phone, text, and data services that use T-Mobile and Sprint network infrastructure in the United States, told Motherboard that it asked those companies to not share its customers' location data with third parties. "We have never sold Fi subscribers' location information," a Google spokesperson told Motherboard in a statement late on Thursday. "Google Fi is an MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) and not a carrier, but as soon as we heard about this practice, we required our network partners to shut it down as soon as possible." Google did not say when it made this a requirement.
Google, whose Google Fi program offers phone, text, and data services that use T-Mobile and Sprint network infrastructure in the United States, told Motherboard that it asked those companies to not share its customers' location data with third parties. "We have never sold Fi subscribers' location information," a Google spokesperson told Motherboard in a statement late on Thursday. "Google Fi is an MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) and not a carrier, but as soon as we heard about this practice, we required our network partners to shut it down as soon as possible." Google did not say when it made this a requirement.
Their cut of the proceeds.
I see the article (yeah I RTFA) Google says they demanded that they stopped but not when. Last night? Last year?
Unfortunately it probably isn't illegal for companies to sell customer data like this... but it should be illegal to sell intimate customer data without explicit consent and ongoing updates about specifically which companies are being given access to the data and in turn which other companies are getting access to the data further down the line.
Maybe I would be ok with specific reputable ad companies using this data for specific advertising services, but not so ok if anyone can pay $300 and track my location.
Because if that data is available from carriers, Google won't be able to monetize it exclusively themselves. They don't want any competition.
Maybe I would be ok with specific reputable ad companies using this data for specific advertising services, but not so ok if anyone can pay $300 and track my location.
Why should ad companies get special privileges? I'm not ok with them using this data without my consent and frankly I think the term "reputable ad company" is something of an oxymoron. I certainly do not trust ANY of them including Google and especially Facebook. At minimum there should be a firewall so that third parties have no means of learning specific details about the individual being tracked without explicit consent from that individual. It should absolutely be illegal to sell identifiable tracking data to third parties without explicit written (and revocable) consent.
This is a joke. Google relies on selling similar data.
As other have pointed out, I guess Google doesn't like the competition.
... that's our job!"
They intentionally collected mass amounts of data, for the sole purpose of tracking and distributing that data to other companies. If they didn't want the data shared they would of either not collected it, or made the data functionally useless to the other parties, through encryption, hashing or other means of obfuscation.
Feel sorry for Google.
They have the SADZ because others are being evil with their surreptitious data collection.
"as a company, we can confirm that no data has ever been sold, the data has always been free, we are only invoicing the time for our operator to interpret and send the data to you, so we're not actually selling any data." is probably what they are gonna say...
I find it disappointing that people expect "free" services like Gmail, YouTube and Google Search and somehow expect it to be free when in reality systems like that cost millions of dollars to run / maintain and upgrade. It's like getting free coffee but complaining that the paper cup has advertising on it. The trade-off is to have to pay for everything.
I question whether, if this data is sold, if bounty hunters are people who "should not have it", but otherwise...
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
"As a 'health care provider', we can confirm that no baby parts have ever been sold. We simply take inventory and shipping fees and totally voluntary contributions from the consumers of the baby parts that we really, truly are not selling for money."
not surprised the SJW's at google are opposed to any kind of economic activity that they dont control
The fact that AT&T is ceasing the sale of this data just demonstrates they knew it was wrong and was selling it anyway. It is an admission of guilt and should be treated as such. The CEO should be in prison and the company should be shut down for this.
Bullshit. AT&T isn't going to simply break every contract they signed to sell the data nor risk every trickle-down company suing them, I don't believe them. They also said they're stopping the selling of real-time data, not all data. I bet they'll simply delay the data transfers by a day and thus it's no longer real-time. This way they likely avoid breaking the contracts and get the media and Congress off their backs while still making the same money of the data. Hell, they'll probably raise prices and use the excuse that the data is more risky to obtain and thus should cost more.
"We have never sold Fi subscribers' location information,"
See how specific this sentence is? "We have never sold FI subscribers' location information". They didn't say they never sell customer information just not FI location information. If the subscriber has, say, a Google account as well and they are logged in to that account on their FI phone well that's an entirely different conversation.
"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." - K
President Obama imposed regulations which protected user privacy on cell phone networks, including geolocation data.
Donald Trump with the Republican-led Congress, as well as the FCC run by everyone's favorite Ajit Pai, struck down Obama's privacy protections.
Selling user geolocation data is what the Republicans intended. So everyone who is shocked by this needs to vote to defeat Republicans in Washington.
gets to track it's users.
Enjoy that free tracking with the free OS, browser, search engine.
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
Figgers.