Your Cellphone Co is Probably Selling Your Location Data

[puckhead]

Well, this is a little unnerving.

Motherboard’s investigation shows just how exposed mobile networks and the data they generate are, leaving them open to surveillance by ordinary citizens, stalkers, and criminals, and comes as media and policy makers are paying more attention than ever to how location and other sensitive data is collected and sold. The investigation also shows that a wide variety of companies can access cell phone location data, and that the information trickles down from cell phone providers to a wide array of smaller players, who don’t necessarily have the correct safeguards in place to protect that data.

...

“Blade Runner, the iconic sci-fi movie, is set in 2019. And here we are: there's an unregulated black market where bounty-hunters can buy information about where we are, in real time, over time, and come after us. You don't need to be a replicant to be scared of the consequences,” Thomas Rid, professor of strategic studies at Johns Hopkins University, told Motherboard in an online chat.

...

“It would be bad if this was the first time we learned about it. It’s not. Every major wireless carrier pledged to end this kind of data sharing after I exposed this practice last year. Now it appears these promises were little more than worthless spam in their customers’ inboxes,” Wyden told Motherboard in a statement. Wyden is proposing legislation to safeguard personal data.


Due to the ongoing government shutdown, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was unable to provide a statement.

“Wireless carriers’ continued sale of location data is a nightmare for national security and the personal safety of anyone with a phone,” Wyden added. “When stalkers, spies, and predators know when a woman is alone, or when a home is empty, or where a White House official stops after work, the possibilities for abuse are endless.”

https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/...ollars-located-phone-microbilt-zumigo-tmobile

 

[cardncubfan]

I keep my location turned off.

 

[BigRedRage]

I enjoy the features of having GPS on too much to turn them off.

 

[puckhead]

It likely wouldn't matter if you did turn off GPS services. If someone wants to, they can track you.

Maybe that doesn't concern you, not my business, but government officials being tracked could be a huge deal.

https://www.techrepublic.com/articl...even-if-gps-location-services-are-turned-off/

 

[MrYeahBut]

I love spam


https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2019/02/14/politics/fcc-robocalls-report/index.html

 

[Linderbee]

I love spam


https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2019/02/14/politics/fcc-robocalls-report/index.html

The article says half of all calls received will be spam (overall) but that number is much higher for me, personally. If I don't have a number saved to my contacts (ie, I KNOW who's calling), I don't answer the phone. On the rare occasion I do, I answer with, "This is Linda" and not hello. If I don't get a reply within about 2 seconds, I hang up. The voice activated computer calls won't respond to that. They're waiting to hear "Hello". I hate them.

I'm on Skype calls a lot at work and the spam calls to my cell have become so frequent that I HAVE to leave my phone on vibrate...Then I invariably miss a call from someone I know because I didn't hear it. Bleh.

 

[BigRedRage]

The article says half of all calls received will be spam (overall) but that number is much higher for me, personally. If I don't have a number saved to my contacts (ie, I KNOW who's calling), I don't answer the phone. On the rare occasion I do, I answer with, "This is Linda" and not hello. If I don't get a reply within about 2 seconds, I hang up. The voice activated computer calls won't respond to that. They're waiting to hear "Hello". I hate them.

I'm on Skype calls a lot at work and the spam calls to my cell have become so frequent that I HAVE to leave my phone on vibrate...Then I invariably miss a call from someone I know because I didn't hear it. Bleh.

I assume you block the numbers as they come? I find this helps. They still call but I bet if I didn't do that, id get a lot more calls. There are some apps that help too like Mr Number.