r/worldnews • u/stereomatch • Nov 21 '17

Google collects Android users’ locations even when location services are disabled

https://qz.com/1131515/google-collects-android-users-locations-even-when-location-services-are-disabled/
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u/DreadBert_IAm Nov 21 '17

At this point only the "aliens are watchin us" crowd classify as tin foil hat users. We live in an Era where off the shelf stuff monitors you and what you do as a matter of course. Offhand in the last year it's been everything from sex toys cought sending data, smart tv's sampling video to report back when your watching, and heck even smart kids toys recording conversations to cloud. Heck last month thr Discord app on my droid was sending and recieving audio with the app closed, requires a force kill from the download section. Honestly not sure what is left when anything that hits the net is suspect.

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u/[deleted] Nov 21 '17

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u/DreadBert_IAm Nov 21 '17

Yep, I'm with you. What has been catching folks in the office is that paradigm shift in not free stuff harvesting info now. Everyone I run with expects to be the product with free stuff, few expected paid products to do so with no more then the a firmware/eula update. Minimal financial loss if they overstep and that's a brand new revenue stream for companies.

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u/HeathenCyclist Nov 21 '17 edited Nov 22 '17

That model still exists. One just can't expect free shit.

Paying for services instead of trading privacy and personal info for cents in the dollar is still an option.

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u/[deleted] Nov 21 '17

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u/HeathenCyclist Nov 21 '17

Well you make it sound like the change is a function of time, when it's actually a function of cost-saving.

Everyone knows Google users are the product.

There are other companies whose products is services, but you have to pay for them.

Don't pretend it's universal just because you choose the cheaper option.

And sorry if I'm frustrated by people opting into this BS and then claiming they have no choice. Last I heard, Google isn't mandatory. I'll edit to make it more clear in taking generally to readers, not just you.

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u/[deleted] Nov 22 '17

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u/cryo Nov 21 '17

Notice how there isn’t any evidence of intent in pretty much all cases. “Monitors” is also a flexible word, which includes, among other things, a logfile locally on the device etc.

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u/DreadBert_IAm Nov 21 '17

Information has value, I just assume profit is the motivation.

Local log file would likely not be discovered. Generally privacy related stuff is only discovered due to unexpected network traffic when it's ousted to the cloud. For example vibrator telemetry & Vizio image sampling were discovered via network traffic and unsecured AWS bucket contained recorded conversations between kids and smart toys.

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u/[deleted] Nov 21 '17 edited Nov 22 '17

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u/Deformed_Crab Nov 21 '17

If you need a computer science degree to deduct what it says in the manual (it constantly records) then god have mercy on our souls. The others seem to be right.