Google and Apple

[Zweitaktmotor]

Google and Apple offered today to work together in order to record movement profiles that can track Corona infections. They both want to build this into their systems ("No app needed"). It is all voluntary and for a good cause, of course. Or so they want to make us believe.

Only that Google is already publishing data about how many people are visiting popular parks right now. They do collect this data already and since location services are switched on by default and many people cannot be bothered to switch them off, it should not be assumed that all this data is based on having given active consent:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-52243088


If you needed one more compelling reason to ditch them both and get yourself a Pinephone, this must be it:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-52246319

[Dendrocalamus64]

It's an excellent example of how "anonymized, aggregate" data can still be used to stab you in the back.

"Teacher, teacher! They're going out anyway! Send the police!" (And anybody who's in a minority knows what that means.)

I have nothing to ditch, as I never accepted their poisoned gifts in the first place.

And it is dumb of them to show off like that. It shows how clueless they are.

[wibble]

In the early days of Google Maps showing traffic data you could see the individual devices (android phones presumably) moving along the roads. I guess that one was too creepy even for Google.

If you think that's bad then have a read of the 3GPP specs to see what the phone companies (or anyone with a Stingray) collect as a matter of course. How much of that have they been selling along with the location data?