Kitz Forum
Chat => Tech Chat => Topic started by: sevenlayermuddle on April 16, 2014, 08:57:23 PM
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A couple of weeks ago, I changed my router, and hence my WiFi. Now as we all know, Google use a huge database of WiFi Mac addresses for location, but mine had now changed so I thought I may enjoy a period of obscurity. But No, I noticed a few moments ago that google maps on my WiFi only iPad knows where I am once again...
It seems the answer may be my Android phone, which knows where it is thanks to GPS and mobile cells. And Google, it seems, silently collect that data from my phone from time to time and correlate it to whatever WiFi Macs and Sids that the Android can see.
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/networking/how-google-and-everyone-else-gets-wi-fi-location-data/1664
No doubt it will all be perfectly legal in some part of T&C box that I ticked when registering the phone. Scary though. :o
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google knows too much :(
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google knows too much :(
No kidding !!
Imagine there’s a list somewhere that contains every single webpage you have visited in the last five years. It also has everything you have ever searched for, every address you looked up on Google Maps, every email you sent, every chat message, every YouTube video you watched, every document you've created on Google Docs or other peoples you've read/downloaded.
Each entry is time-stamped, so it’s clear exactly, down to the minute, when all of this was done.
Now add to that (if you have an android phone with GPS turned on), everywhere you have been and how long you were there.
But Google's just a friendly innocuous search engine, right ??
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I noticed a few moments ago that google maps on my WiFi only iPad knows where I am once again
I'm surprised you are surprised :P
Its scary to have an understanding of just how much personnel data we "give" away without realizing it and with smart phones and other new technology its accelerating. There are benefits from analyzing this data but being a SiFi fan I have a slightly black vision of the future :'(
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Now add to that (if you have an android phone with GPS turned on), everywhere you have been and how long you were there.
But Google's just a friendly innocuous search engine, right ??
You don't even need GPS switched on, just wifi.
I'm sure Apple is no different.
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I'm sure Apple is no different.
Oh, I agree entirely. However, Android's market share vs Apple in 2012 was almost 70% in favour of Android.
That's a lot more people with a phone that almost by necessity, is linked to google. Sure, you can 'opt-out' of location services etc, but the OS is designed to work much better using all the 'bells & whistles' google have built into it, because they don't really want you to opt out, even though they have to offer the option.
And let's be honest. Most people won't even think about it once, let alone twice, not realising that their browsing habits, chats and movements are being recorded, timestamped, and filed away in a vast database.
This is one of the reasons I don't use my gmail account for anything personal. I also won't have a Facebook account for similar reasons.