GPS, phone tracking

[schlitzaugen]

I do have a Gmail account and have done for quite a number of years. My initial post was more around "who would think it's a good idea to remind you every move you make is being tracked and stored"? I got the Timeline message in April for the first time. Why after all these years, and without consultation with me, does some techno geek at Google decide (for me) "Greenpeace's life just won't be complete without these notifications"?

I'll tell you who.

Those kids who love working for people like Google because they have created an entire habitat at their headquarters with everything you need (including childcare) so you don't have to go anywhere and can stay there and work like the slave you are until you die. That's who. And yes, I have met one of these zombies. He's exactly like that. Thinks the office is Nirvana. No reaction asking him some questions hinting at what I described above as his life. They really believe in all that crap. Not sure what they'll think when they're 40.

As for the rest (authorities, etc.) I said it before, I'll say it again. You vote, right?

 

[seasink]

As the man said, running Google features has a price.

I run an Android that never runs any ads or tells me about anything, apart from an occasional near flat battery. It isn't hard to set up, and there are superior and more private browsers than the Chrome one built-in. I don't use maps.

After a system update from Google, check your settings again.

 

[schlitzaugen]

As for the barter, I wouldn't think so. It is a very one-sided relationship where the balance of power is entirely out of your (consumer) hands. You have almost no power to live without the "devices" today just like you don't have the power to ask your company to pay you in cash (which is legal, and you have the right to ask). Have you tried that?

Now if you want to go into the minutiae of who does what with your data, I think you are trapped exactly where the powers that be want you. In a debate that will never end.

The point of principle is much more important (this is why principles are vital). Just like the principle of conservation of energy you can not break, you can not break the fundamental principles of a free society. Not without the immediate consequence that you no longer have a free society. And I am pretty sure someone will have to pay for that at some point.

 

[seasink]

On the subject of maps, there are alternatives to Google. One, OpenStreetMap is a sort of Wikipedia of mapping. It lost some Australian data when they changed to the Open Database license, but has full city street maps. Zoom for detail. There are a number of other applications built on it.

Here is central Sydney, located by lat-long https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=14/-33.8665/151.1956

 

[1972Ren]

As the man said, running Google features has a price.

As tends to be the case when you are consuming valuable goods and services provided by someone else.

 

[James71]

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?

Scary.com

 

[shibuichi]

I did a duck duck go browser update on my phone yesterday and it’s now running a beta version app tracker blocker
So this morning I know that 196 tracking attempts have been blocked from two companies associated with one app in the past 12 hours.

 

[AlexB]

I hate to break this to you but Waze is owned by Google. Now what are you going to do to avoid cops and cameras‽

Well aware, see post #24

As tends to be the case when you are consuming valuable goods and services provided by someone else.

And Google Android runs on the free and open source linux kernel freely provided, supported and updated by lots of someone else's.

 

[seasink]

Except that the underlying Linux system has been stripped out, not only what is not needed for the phone, but also almost all security features. Then Google added proprietary stuff. It is possible to mount the phone in a Linux system.

It is possible to run Android on a desktop computer, I have done it, but there is no real use for it except for an app developer.

Nokia developed a Linux phone, as have some others. Then Nokia was taken into the MS camp. Pinephones run genuine Linux, with the KDE desktop. You may have a problem getting common pre-made phone apps to run on one.