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Companies tracking your location

Just don’t be logged into any services that track your location - there’s a social media platform that does it, forget their name. Imagine Facebook automatically checking you in wherever they want - would you allow it? If I were Google, and you were stupid enough to be logged in on a mobile device, I’d be targeting ads at you based on your location as well as browsing history. I don’t log into google, but use Chrome - remember that pop up window, “google would like to use your location” :)
 
I have work and a personal iphones. I switch off "tracking" in every app. Can the sucker still track my location?
 
Depends - if you use Safari, but log into google, turning off tracking in Safari is not going to help :)

If in iOS 11.x, certainly go in to settings and enable “ask websites not to track me”. But there are situations of being tracked that will become beneficial in the future - imagine being directly guided to a book you want in a store or library, or finding your way somewhere in a big hospital.
 
Now on Iphone but I seem to remember from my Android days that beyond individual apps the phone itself can still track you. If you are on Android - log onto to your google account on a PC and you can find all sorts of interesting things. You can track your movements unless you have switched of location services on the Android settings

It can be interesting or terrifying depending on your viewpoint. Even with location services off, do not forget that the cellular network is still tracking your phone (of course, or how else does it get calls, emails and notifications to you?)
Police and emergency services can get at this data for emergency or law enforcement purposes.
 
thebiglebowski said:
When I had a blackberry it had a great timer that could switch off the phone at 1800 and switch it back on at 0800.
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And it didn't occur to you that the only way that it could turn itself "on" was that it wasn't really "off".



My work phone is currently 250km away from where I am.
 
I love Google tracking me. I use the tracking maps for a variety of things and they are very useful.
 
The problem I see with some if this stuff is not the here and now, so much as the forseeable future. The argument 'nothing to hide, nothing to fear' is predicated on authorities and corporations being essentially benign. When, as now, that is the case, it can be difficult to imagine how powerful this information could be, in the hands of somebody with rather more malign intent.
 
stevec67 said:
You are my Dad and I claim my £5!

Hint - telephones are quite handy in that in addition to making outgoing calls they allow other people to contact you if necessary, for example if you are picking them up at an airport or railway station and they are on a different flight or train.
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Erm. I don't have a car, either. So it's not likely that I'd need to pick anyone up at a station. :)

I don't *think* I'm your Dad...
 
JensenHealey said:
Now on Iphone but I seem to remember from my Android days that beyond individual apps the phone itself can still track you.
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Yes, even a basic moble phone can be tracked/located simply by being on and pinging to find the nearest base stations so it knows which one to use when a call may be needed. That probably isn't something a general snooper can do, though.
 
TheDecameron said:
I have work and a personal iphones. I switch off "tracking" in every app. Can the sucker still track my location?
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Not sure. Maybe that depends on how honest all the apps are? But on a more general level anything that pings is potentially trackable, just that the app writers may not be able to do it.
 
Bananahead said:
And it didn't occur to you that the only way that it could turn itself "on" was that it wasn't really "off".
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The phone was off so it wouldn't receive any calls, what part of off is wrong in that?

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thebiglebowski said:
The phone was off so it wouldn't receive any calls, what part of off is wrong in that?

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I guess the implicit question is if the phone when 'off' according to that setting is still active in some way(s). e.g. responding to or pinging base stations to check its clock so it knows when to switch 'on' again. But even if so, the question then would be if this is a vulnerability commercial app writers could exploit. Or if you'd need to be someone who can legally require the telcos to help them track you.
 
Sorted, any dodgy dealings, buy a pay-as-you-go, renew every week or so, discard the old phone and chip.

Bloss
 
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