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this post was submitted on 01 Oct 2025
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Technology
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This appears to suggest that smartphone makers (Apple, Google, etc.) are violating privacy agreements and selling user's private data. Has anyone read their privacy agreements lately?
Not just phone makers, but the telecom companies. Even if your phone shares no location data, it still checks in with a cell tower constantly. As you move around, so does your registration at a tower. It's accurate to about 2 miles. Match that with your known home address or work address and your location is easily guessed
They don't need the cooperation of telecom providers. They receive the same signal you send to the cell tower. Even if the signal is encrypted so they can't see what you are sending, they can identify that you are sending.
With enough receivers listening, they can identify your location to a pretty high accuracy.
Anything that polls location data can record it and sell it, probably more apps that sell it than don't.
Yup. There are dozens of these contractors in our modern surveillance state, and it’s all bought up en masse by the government (and others!) for all sorts of purposes.
Here’s a pretty good book on the subject
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/706321/means-of-control-by-byron-tau/
Everyone knows Apple said they would never do that and that one time defied the FBI about it. Are you saying Tim Cook would just ~lie~ let a false impression stand ?
Privacy policies are irrelevant here. They are picking up unique data as your phone communicates with a cell tower. You can do it with a $15 RTL-SDR receiver.
Get a hundred receivers and you can pinpoint anybody in a city.