GPS, phone tracking

Greenpeace

Greenpeace

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Thought I'd put this on here as it is "technical".

I received a notification on my phone the other day from Google titled something like " Your April Activities" (I deleted it so I'm not 100% sure of the heading).

Anyway it told me:
The time and day of every cafe/restaurant I had visited.
The time and day of every business I had gone to.
The time and days for:
How many kms I had driven a car.
How many kms I'd ridden a motorcycle.
How many kms I'd ridden a bicycle.
How many kms I'd walked.

They even included a handy map with all my routes overlaid on it.
There was also tab to click on for, "even more details of your activities".😳
I didn't click on it as I'd seen enough.

Now I'm not sure what concerns me most, that everywhere I go and how I get there is being monitored, or that someone at Google thinks it's a great idea to tell you they are doing it?

My wife say I'm a "conspiracy theorist", what do you guys think?

I see it as only a small step away from getting a text to say your phone has been has been recorded over the speed limit, pay the fine or please explain?🤷‍♂️
 
:oops: Imagine if you were living in Russia and had ever said something that is not in lockstep with Rasputin's thinking...
 
Greenpeace said:
Thought I'd put this on here as it is "technical".

I received a notification on my phone the other day from Google titled something like " Your April Activities" (I deleted it so I'm not 100% sure of the heading).

Anyway it told me:
The time and day of every cafe/restaurant I had visited.
The time and day of every business I had gone to.
The time and days for:
How many kms I had driven a car.
How many kms I'd ridden a motorcycle.
How many kms I'd ridden a bicycle.
How many kms I'd walked.

They even included a handy map with all my routes overlaid on it.
There was also tab to click on for, "even more details of your activities".😳
I didn't click on it as I'd seen enough.

Now I'm not sure what concerns me most, that everywhere I go and how I get there is being monitored, or that someone at Google thinks it's a great idea to tell you they are doing it?

My wife say I'm a "conspiracy theorist", what do you guys think?

I see it as only a small step away from getting a text to say your phone has been has been recorded over the speed limit, pay the fine or please explain?🤷‍♂️
Click to expand...

Your phone is your window to the world as it has a GPS in it. On the other hand, I think the above is a post copied from somewhere in the USA where they do in fact have a large cohort of conspiracy theorists. Serious crimes have been solved using GPS phone information so the facility to monitor your every move after the fact is there, but I have never heard of anyone receiving an unsolicited report from Google such as you are claiming! :)
 
Kim Luck said:
Your phone is your window to the world as it has a GPS in it. On the other hand, I think the above is a post copied from somewhere in the USA where they do in fact have a large cohort of conspiracy theorists. Serious crimes have been solved using GPS phone information so the facility to monitor your every move after the fact is there, but I have never heard of anyone receiving an unsolicited report from Google such as you are claiming! :)
Click to expand...
It is not a copy of anything, it is me relaying the contents of a notification I received.
Unfortunately it is no claim, it is fact, and it is the first time I have received anything like it.
I have made no changes to my phone settings and the worst part is the contents were unerringly accurate.
 
Hi.

I've not received a similar alert from my iPhone.

Easy to resolve if you choose. Just configure your smartphone to not access location by default. I often allow some location tracking only while using the relevant app, but not background tracking.

My personal opinion based on books I had read, is that many homo sapiens seem to be hard wired to resonate with conspiracy theories. It's been part of our evolution to allow fast decisions with little empirical evidence, based on people we trust. Problem is that social media has hijacked and supercharged this trait, and it's now blown out of all proportion and constantly "feeds the monster".

Cheers.
 
Mr Plod will already confiscate your ‚phone if he is serious about finding out how fast you were going or where you were at any time.

If you have a 123 distributor in your car the read out of speed on it comes from your ‚phone

WHat I don‘t know is how effectively disabling the mapping/tracking feature removes this ability. I suspect not very much.

ANdrew
 
I've tried to find the notification as I only got it at the start of the month, but can't find it. I have had a bit of a read and apparently this tracking is part of the Google Maps app and can be turned off. I will have a look later on today.

The map I received (not Paris obviously) is like the one attached, with different colours to remind you if you were driving or walking etc.
I found the map in a newspaper article on how your every movement may be being tracked without your knowledge via the Google Maps app.

NINTCHDBPICT0003171203471 (1).png
 
They can still track you roughly by triangulating the towers to which your telephone was speaking.

If wanting total privacy you have to turn the thing off

Andrew
 
Hi.

If you want to be at a location and to leave no trace during the night, you would not even touch your smartphone, as even the disconnection from the charger is time and date stamped as is the internal gyrometer, as is the on/off status. Thats solved, leave your smart phone at home and can't be triangulated via cell towers.

When you hop into your vehicle I suspect that many that are less than say 15 years old, might be able to time and date stamp engine starting, vehicle moving etc. Thats OK, just use your older vehicle that does not have any smart monitoring.

Then when you are driving your old vehicle in the streets, and you happen to chance upon a police vehicle that has the registration number recogniton operating, your vehicles location will the time and date stamped, problably with a photo as well.

You will just have to walk or ride your bike to your destination.

cheers.
 
Another point of interest; as I was Googling for the previous post, at the bottom of each page I was being bombarded with ads for "Liquid Moly" products.

The connection? Not 10 minutes earlier (for the first time ever) I purchased a "Liquid Moly" product at Supercheap. I paid cash but my Supercheap Membership has my phone number and Email attached.🤷‍♂️
 
Whippet said:
conspiracy theories. Problem is that social media has hijacked and supercharged this trait, and it's now blown out of all proportion and constantly "feeds the monster".

Cheers.
Click to expand...
Mmm, what's the current saying, " the difference between conspiracy theory and fact is around 6 months?

Correction to my previous post it's " Liqui Moly" not Liquid Moly. The ads are still popping up.🤦‍♂️
 
Yes, if you have a smart phone with you, you are trackable, and that is that.
My feeling is that it doesn't matter, however, unless you are committing crimes.
All said and done, Google just wants to pitch advertisements to me, and provide me with loads of really useful tools in the process.
eg, remembering what the hell I actually did a week ago.

So if one is planning on burying the recently deceased victim of your murderous impulses, or doing any diving underneath ship in Newcastle harbour, then leave the phone at home. In fact, get someone to take it around with them to create an alibi. Otherwise, don't worry about it. It's not like The Gov isn't collecting all manner of activity and location data about you all the time.
 
My iPhone is supplied and administered by my employer and even that is not allowed anywhere near our most sensitive facilities. All the above concerns are justified, and yes, examine app permissions and leave it at home (or elsewhere) if you don't want to be tracked.
 
Hmm I am not a conspiracist and generally do not go around committing crimes or murders, but the tracking does concern me somewhat. I do not have a very modern phone but probably will soon. I do not use 'member cards' much as i worked out years ago they were designed for the sellers use not mine.
Years back we were in Indonesia and had a local sim card in the phone(not a smart phone) and every night got adds for some retailers and fast food places that we only walked past. Had to turn the phone off to get some sleep. So the sim was being tracked there. Just goes to show how bad it could be.
I fail to see why the world generally has allowed big companies to track them and annoy them by sending adds for unsolicted stuff on every screen you use and manipulating your buyer choices for their profit. But obviously I am the odd one out and most other people think that is good for them ?? Hmmm.
Jaahn
 
Why stop at phones? You can't walk anywhere in our cities without being filmed by many cameras. Sydney city streets have them covering everywhere, and they are monitored. The stated purpose is to aid Mr Plod.
 
seasink said:
Why stop at phones? You can't walk anywhere in our cities without being filmed by many cameras. Sydney city streets have them covering everywhere, and they are monitored. The stated purpose is to aid Mr Plod.
Click to expand...
I think we in Australia are a bit more camera shy than people in the UK. In 2020 the UK had 5,200,000 cameras installed which is one for every 13 of their subjects! Smile!
 
The „If you are innozent you have nuzzing to fear“ argument is a favourite when this sort of thing comes up, but it doesn’t really fly in any society pretending to be a democracy.

As soon as whoever is in charge defines something as a crime or the ubiquitous „security risk“ all bets are off and the net can be cast quite widely.

I dedicate a slab of my life to getting as far up the nose of Peter Dutton, the Church(my employer ) and various other bodies as part of my political activities. Don‘t commit a lot of crimes, but I do not want my informants and contacts tracked, as they often can be under current legislation.

If one looks at the situation for journalists and whistleblowers it is increasingly dire. Even Hose blowing the whistle on legal and moral breaches by government/civil service/spooks are heavily targeted , even if being completely legal ( e.g. Bernard Collaery)

There is a lot to be said for the right to remain private, free of governmental or corporate scrutiny. They will always abuse any power they have if it suits them to do so. This is true whether one is of the far left(me) or of the right, as governments have a habit of changing. There are some basic general principles of freedom and good governance which must apply regardless of one‘s political position.

Andrew
 
My Google account is linked to several devices, so when I get my monthly Activity listing it appears to show I'm more active that what I am. One month I was in Adelaide and Penrith about an hour apart !

Don't believe everything you see !

Cheers

Justin
 
Great points Andrew!
One on the horizon is the wish of the WHO to take control of future pandemics and rules like lockdowns etc. (their definition of) over elected governments. Admittedly governments have to agree to be sidelined in this manner. Our future government seems to be enthusiastic for this proposal. Obviously i'm not.
The thing with over the top surveillance it would be easy for governments to overreach...
 
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