There has been a lot of hype lately about the IPhone tracking you. What some people do not know is that the Android is also tracking you but there is a big difference between the two. When the IPhone tracks you, it only keeps track of the cell phone towers that are used. However, Android collects not only cell phone towers that are used but also Wi-Fi and GPS data, which is a lot more accurate and can pinpoint your location unlike the IPhone. I feel the need to point out that the Android does have an option to turn off tracking so that no data is collected. This feature is not included in the IPhone there is no way to stop the phone form tracking you. Accordingly, to Apple and Google the information that they are collecting is anonymous so you are not associated with your phones data. What is not pointed out is how easy it would be to track someone and associate a phone with its user. As an example, the police use a variety of methods to track people on their phones. They state that they only collect data with permission of the user or a court order. Though some may not realize this, people being tracked by their phone is not something new it has been done for several years now. I found it interesting that just now people realize that their phone is tracking them. What may shock people is their phone is not the only thing that is tracking them. Anything that is connected is or can be easily tracked. Such as your car, computers, phone etc.
6 comments:
Interesting post, I think that this is definitely something to be aware of and concerned about. I think it's an invasion of privacy and could definitely be used for nefarious purposes.
The scary part is that Apple promptly said they'll "reduce" the time history from "years" to "just a week", while Google straight up replied "this data is very useful to the future of our business". Haha
Google FTW! Android rules iOS drools.
But in all seriousness what apple was doing was a much bigger security risk than what google was doing. Apple was backing up the location information from the iPhone to your computer, in a completely insecure way. leaving your location information wide open for anyone or any person snooping around your computers files system.
I have an Android phone and am perfectly content with Google having my location data. The lawsuit around the Android tracking is just some individuals and lawyers trying to get money and ride of the coattails of the similar publicity that came about a couple weeks ago when it was found out that location data was being stored unencrypted for iPhones. I wouldn't be surprised if someone sues Microsoft next week about some location data issue on Windows 7 phones. If people don’t want to be tracked their best option is to get rid of every piece of electronics that they own.
Christopher I think you are exactly right. People have to learn that their technology is always collecting data about them, no matter what they are doing. As an example, Netflix collects data to make sure it suggests better movies for you to watch. There really is no way around it and if people feel uncomfortable sharing information then like you stated they need to just throw out all of their electronics because they all collect data in one way or another.
It is a bit surprising to think that, generally, people would not assume that a connected device used for communicating in some form or another could not be used for just this purpose by someone else without their knowledge or consent.
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