Guest Report post Posted April 20, 2011 News article about this, and gory details for those who want them. I hate to burst your bubble, but all the mobile phone service providers do this too. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Leber 1328 Report post Posted April 20, 2011 It's best to explore the Settings and disable the location tracking in some of the apps. It is a hassle, but they make it our responsibility to turn certain features off. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Satin 1237 Report post Posted April 20, 2011 An excellent article and the steps to view the data is wonderful. I question however if shutting location services off completely will actually stop the phone from logging the data or if that will just prevents apps from using the gathered data? That being said, just using the device with any social media, mapping or GPS/Geocaching app with out location services being enabled is useless. None-the-less an interesting read... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Phaedrus 209521 Report post Posted April 20, 2011 I hate to burst your bubble, but all the mobile phone service providers do this too. Oh, yes. I'm well aware of this - have a look at this, for example, in which a German politician's movements were tracked over several months (although I believe it took some legal action to get Deutsche Telekom to release the data). What makes it worse with the iPhone is that it's being sync'd to other devices too - and the more different places information end up in, the harder it is to stop it falling into the wrong hands... Additional Comments: I question however if shutting location services off completely will actually stop the phone from logging the data or if that will just prevents apps from using the gathered data? I think it'd just stop the apps getting it. Which may or may not be a problem, depending on which apps you use and what you use them for. Your phone is *always* in contact with the service provider's transmitters, and triangulating between these means they can usually determine your location, although the margin of error may vary from a few miles to quite a lot less. The only way you can prevent this is to turn the phone off entirely. And as Sarcasticsid said, this applies to all phones. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest S*rca****sid Report post Posted April 20, 2011 Oh, yes. I'm well aware of this - have a look at this, for example, in which a German politician's movements were tracked over several months (although I believe it took some legal action to get Deutsche Telekom to release the data). What makes it worse with the iPhone is that it's being sync'd to other devices too - and the more different places information end up in, the harder it is to stop it falling into the wrong hands... Additional Comments: I think it'd just stop the apps getting it. Which may or may not be a problem, depending on which apps you use and what you use them for. Your phone is *always* in contact with the service provider's transmitters, and triangulating between these means they can usually determine your location, although the margin of error may vary from a few miles to quite a lot less. The only way you can prevent this is to turn the phone off entirely. And as Sarcasticsid said, this applies to all phones. I'm well aware of that article... It's all about the balance between convenience and privacy. These apps look for such info so that the person who has it will know where the closest store, coffee shop, bank...etc. And one has to think why these apps are free or relatively cheap? It's because advertisers are interested in such info so that they can get stats on the consumers such as... Where are you located? Where do you like to shop? How much you spend? How far do you drive to specific places? What brand are you loyal to? The list goes on...and on... Remember the movie the Minority Report? In the movie, everywhere there were sensors reading people as they went by and would individualize the advertising towards them. Don't you just love technology? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Phaedrus 209521 Report post Posted April 20, 2011 It's because advertisers are interested in such info so that they can get stats on the consumers such as... Where are you located? Where do you like to shop? How much you spend? How far do you drive to specific places? What brand are you loyal to? Absolutely. And this is why I'm somewhat of a paranoid Luddite on these things... I really don't trust large corporations further than I can spit, and I don't want them to know where I am, or what I'm doing, or how I'm spending my money. And so I don't have a smartphone with funky apps, and I think twice about what I post on Facebook, and I don't use my credit card for absolutely everything. Don't you just love technology? Yes... but it scares the crap out of me at times. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest S*rca****sid Report post Posted April 20, 2011 Absolutely. And this is why I'm somewhat of a paranoid Luddite on these things... I really don't trust large corporations further than I can spit, and I don't want them to know where I am, or what I'm doing, or how I'm spending my money. And so I don't have a smartphone with funky apps, and I think twice about what I post on Facebook, and I don't use my credit card for absolutely everything. Yes... but it scares the crap out of me at times. Here is something for you to ask for next christmas... http://www.faraday-bags.com/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=5&lang=en And go to along with that, check out this article... http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/34/3458.asp Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Phaedrus 209521 Report post Posted April 21, 2011 Here is something for you to ask for next christmas... http://www.faraday-bags.com/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=5&lang=en Looks kind of uncomfortable, I'm afraid. I much prefer my own stylish, home-made tin-foil hat :) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kubrickfan 12836 Report post Posted April 21, 2011 Actually I understand that the tin foil crown prefers a certain product that my company sells as an important insulator accessory. however, I dont think that's a big enough market to go after (smile). Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest S*rca****sid Report post Posted April 21, 2011 I posted a link in the Apple social group for those who want an app for their phone that will stop it from tracking them. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest S*rca****sid Report post Posted May 5, 2011 iOS 4.3.3 Update is out, it will address the tracking issue for those who have an iPhone. Additional Comments: iOS 4.3.3 is jailbroken, check out the details in the Apple social group. Join today! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
