Smartphone tracking worse than realized

[OldTengu]

Smartphone location tracking is creepier than you thought

Using a smartphone generally means you're giving up some level of privacy in exchange. However, a recent report shows how bad that exchange can be.

www.androidauthority.com

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[P7M13]

On Saturday, I ordered a set of hearing aids. Shortly afterward, as I passed by my wife, reading, "hey honey, I ordered a set of hearing aids." "Great!" she replied.
Her laptop, nearby, was in "sleep" mode, where you press the power button and close the lid.
On Monday, the next time she opened her laptop, she gets multiple ad banners for audiologists and hearing aids.
I *never* use her computer, and know that are browsing habits are vastly different.
So, next time your computer asks, "Allow Location Services?" respond NO!

 

[Heywood]

The phone tracking is nothing compared to the metadata the .gov has possession of.
It would be very easy for me to recognize a pattern of say power/water consumption at a home and notice very quickly if a new individual is there and at what time. Just those 2 bits of data could implicate a person that may be having an affair or is harboring a fugitive. I could imagine what a computer algorithm would be capable of, and that's just two data points. They are tracking everything..
add to that the gov in 2012 started making it, for all intents and purposes, impossible to deposit cash into a bank account that isn't yours.
There are literally thousands of different ways to collect your info, direct tracking is almost a red herring.

 

[Kruel J]

Good thing I kept my old porn magazines.

 

[SUPER X]

Good thing I kept my old porn magazines.

Are they in black and white .

 

[CountryGent]

Good thing I kept my old porn magazines.

Offline, backup copies are always a good idea.

 

[SUPER X]

I've looked rare things up and later they appear on the TV via streaming box.

 

[JadeFox]

Before this thread goes too far I am going to make a double think tin-foil hat. There is a powerful series of books by Matthew Bracken. Remember when Swallwell said, "we have nukes" in response to push back over his gun confiscation scheme? Well, they do have drones. and they do have AI. And they have access to all your medical activity.

 

[SUPER X]

I had a voice conversation with a gal about phones . I told here about a SIM swap I did with my phone that was not supposed to be possible . It was that way for a few years. About 15 minutes later my phone made a noise I pulled it out of pocket and it was locked up and has never worked since . and cannot get help to fix it. no joke
Coincidence. ? Creepy

 

[Member 5605]

Not the device.
The software you allow access to your microphone.

Facebook is 75% of people's problem. The other 20% is any android and the remaining 5% is ignorance.

Nothing but music listening ID access my microphone and only when I allow it while app is running in the foreground. No background app refresh happens. I don't get targeted ads and I chuckle when others do. I know them and I'll key word great things when around them so their phones pick it up.

 

[Alexx1401]

I have never really cared. I have long said if some NSA type wanted to "snoop" on me they would have to be very bored. For those who are conducting some kind of illegal or criminal type stuff? Simple, so not carry a smart phone. For me and most others? It's hard to believe how many don't seem to grasp just how many phones and people there are in the US alone. What kind of manpower would be needed to actually keep track of that many people who are leading boring daily lives.
I well remember when Cell phones were invented. First thing I said is this will be great for law enforcement. Damn things were very pricey when they hit and I said LEO's would surely be able to easily listen. Many poo poo'd this idea. Until it came out that they certainly were. When digital hit I said the same thing. Police who want to will be able to listen. For years I had people who supposedly knew, tell me this could not be done. Well years later we of course found out that yes they could. By then I had a couple phones and could of course care less.
One funny thing about the boom in cell phones is the loss of pay phones. I always heard a lot of criminal types used pay phones a lot. Which made sense. Pay phones are so seldom seen any more it surprises me when I see one now days.

 

[awshoot]

Not the device.
The software you allow access to your microphone.

Facebook is 75% of people's problem. The other 20% is any android and the remaining 5% is ignorance.

Nothing but music listening ID access my microphone and only when I allow it while app is running in the foreground. No background app refresh happens. I don't get targeted ads and I chuckle when others do. I know them and I'll key word great things when around them so their phones pick it up.

View attachment 642732

The issue is that these are all software switches. You have to trust that the software actually does what it says it is or is not doing. I know there is at least one phone in development that has hardware switches for the various radios and sensors -- by hardware I mean like a an old light switch. Break the power connection to the radio/sensor and it can't operate at all. The only way to reasonably think you aren't being monitored is to have that level of control, and nobody wants you to have it.

Lockdown Mode on the Librem 5: Beyond Hardware Kill Switches – Purism

Purism makes premium phones, laptops, mini PCs and servers running free software on PureOS. Purism products respect people's privacy and freedom while protecting their security.

puri.sm

 

[wpc1065]

Before this thread goes too far I am going to make a double think tin-foil hat. There is a powerful series of books by Matthew Bracken. Remember when Swallwell said, "we have nukes" in response to push back over his gun confiscation scheme? Well, they do have drones. and they do have AI. And they have access to all your medical activity.

The Matt Bracken series seems to be taking place right now in Virginia. Right where he started his first book.

 

[CoastRange57]

Are they in black and white .

He can't tell, pages stuck together.