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Re: Location Accuracy

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Newyana2 wrote on Sat, 19 Oct 2024 09:20:37 -0400 :

>     I think that with Google you have to assume that if they can spy,
> they will. And they will lie about it. It's what they do. They didn't make
> Android out of sheer generosity. It's part of their "all spying, all the 
> time" business model.

Google definitely is lying when they say 'Precise Location Accuracy' is
required for decent routing - as they have an ulterior motive - which is to
make sure every Android phone feeds THEM location data that they can sell.

>    Cellphones these days are semi-kiosk devices, not intended to be
> controlled. I installed a program to give me more control. I've forgotten
> the name now. (Netguard, maybe?) The list of formerly invisible Android
> processes that it showed me was endless, but most of them have
> meaningless names. Only an Android developer could make sense of it.

I exercise what I consider FULL CONTROL over Google's "Precise Location
Accuracy" where I have a homescreen shortcut which I use to turn it off.

>    You should assume that if your phone is powered on then you're
> wearing a tracking collar. Whether it's phone towers or satellite GPS,
> they're tracking your movements. If using a cellphone is part of your
> lifestyle (you leave it powered on, send and receive text messages, etc)
> then you're the same as the wild animals with radio collars that biologists
> track. You can't have cellphone lifestyle and privacy.

I agree that the cellular part of the phone is basically a full-time
tracking collar, but I keep all the other radios off when not in use.
 
>     Do you remember the "wifi slurping" scandal several years back?
> Google was picking up and storing any tidbits they could get from
> unencrypted wifi as their streetview vans drove around. Most wifi
> back then was unencrypted. Google heartily denied it, until the specific
> software was found that they wrote to do the job! If I remember correctly,
> I think the software developer came forward.

Even today, you have to know to opt out of Google "slurping" up your unique
BSSID tied to your unique GPS location - which Google hands out for free to
anyone who asks (Apple is far worse than Google on doing this, by the way).
 <https://www.theregister.com/2024/05/23/apple_wifi_positioning_system/>

Apple uses your home wi-fi router essentially as Apple's own AirTag.
 <https://krebsonsecurity.com/2024/05/why-your-wi-fi-router-doubles-as-an-apple-airtag/>

>    It seems odd that Google would bother to collect random tidbits
> from specific houses, but the magic of surveillance is in the data
> crunching. Every tiny bit of data they can get just adds to the
> data they can analyze.

What Google gathers from 9,999 out of 10,000 Android phones is every single
unique BSSID & unique GPS location of every Wi-Fi router that phone sees.

Mine is the only one out of those 10,000 phones which doesn't allow that.

Likewise, in the reverse order, Google gathers from 9,999 out of 10,000
home routers that same unique BSSID & unique GPS location of your home.

Again, my home is the only one out of those 10,000 homes which doesn't.

>      Baldfaced lying is routine with tech companies. They
> don't face any real punishment for lying, stealing and spying. Apple
> are no better than Google. They've been caught spying multiple times.

Apple inserts your userid into every app you download which, let's fact it,
no other company stoops that low to track every user's use of every IPA!

> Some years ago there was a California journalist who found precise
> location data going back several weeks, stored in a plain text
> file on his iPhone. He used the data to create a map, to show how
> easy it is to track a person's life. Apple also lies about the iPhone
> privacy settings:
> https://gizmodo.com/apple-iphone-analytics-tracking-even-when-off-app-store-1849757558

You have to remember that 9,999 of 10,000 iPhones log into Apple servers,
whereas only one out of 10,000 does not log into Apple servers every day.

Mine.

>   The only difference is that most people using iPhones believe that
> Apple is a special angel created by Lord Jobs and they actually want
> to be tracked by their phone. It makes them feel safe.

Apple owners are blissfully unaware that Apple requires them to log into
Cupertino mainframe servers just to use messages, facetime, the app store,
etc., which allows Apple to literally track almost everything that they do.

Unfortunately, on Android it's not much different where 9,999 out of 10,000
Android users log into Google's mainframe servers on Android the moment
they boot it up too - the difference being the Android users aren't aware
that they can get everything they need on Android WITHOUT having a Google
account set up in the phone's operating system.

Take a guess which is the 1 out of 10,000 Android phones which does not
have a Google account set up (and I can do anything anyone else can do).

:)

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Thread

Location Accuracy Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> - 2024-10-16 08:52 +0100
  Re: Location Accuracy Jeff Layman <Jeff@invalid.invalid> - 2024-10-16 10:26 +0100
    Re: Location Accuracy Andrews <andrews@spam.net> - 2024-10-17 02:56 +0000
      Re: Location Accuracy Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> - 2024-10-17 07:53 +0100
        Re: Location Accuracy Jeff Layman <Jeff@invalid.invalid> - 2024-10-19 13:14 +0100
          Re: Location Accuracy Newyana2 <newyana@invalid.nospam> - 2024-10-19 09:20 -0400
            Re: Location Accuracy Andrews <andrews@spam.net> - 2024-10-26 05:34 +0000
              Re: Location Accuracy Newyana2 <newyana@invalid.nospam> - 2024-10-26 08:17 -0400
  Re: Location Accuracy Andrews <andrews@spam.net> - 2024-10-26 05:43 +0000
    Re: Location Accuracy Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> - 2024-10-26 09:00 +0100

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