location tracking

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iPhones Aren’t Safe From Google’s Sensorvault Database

Andrew Orr ·

Google has a database called Sensorvault. It contains location data of users and shares it with law enforcement—if they have a warrant, of course. Apple honors lawful requests as well. But Jennifer Valentino-DeVries wonders whether the database is too broad.

Google would not provide details on Sensorvault, but Aaron Edens, an intelligence analyst with the sheriff’s office in San Mateo County, Calif., who has examined data from hundreds of phones, said most Android devices and some iPhones he had seen had this data available from Google…

“It shows the whole pattern of life,” said Mark Bruley, the deputy police chief in Brooklyn Park, Minn., where investigators have been using the technique since this fall. “That’s the game changer for law enforcement.”

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No, Apple Doesn't Keep a Location List to Track You

Andrew Orr ·

Paige Leskin’s article about location tracking is a bit misleading. She mentions that Apple keeps a detailed location list of every place you’ve visited. Which is false, because Apple doesn’t know anything about your location. Your iPhone does though, but that data doesn’t get sent to Apple unless you specifically opt in to send analytics to Apple. This is more than semantics, because your data staying on your iPhone is the foundation of Apple’s privacy stance. If you go to Settings > General > Privacy > Location Services, you can tap on the blue text at the top that says “About Location Services & Privacy.” This section clearly states “This data is encrypted and stored only on your device and will not be shared without your consent.” And if you did consent to share it with Apple, you’re probably not worried.

Apple tracks and stores where you’ve been and how often (and when) you visit. But it gets even more detailed than that: Your iPhone compiles locations specific to a single address and tracks when you leave there and even how long it took to get there and by which mode of transportation.

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5G Makes Location Tracking More Precise

Andrew Orr ·

5G will be a major upgrade to cellular networks. But since this technology requires more cell towers than 4G, it will make location tracking more precise (paywall).

5G signals in the U.S. will have a very short range and won’t easily go through buildings. This means there need to be many more cell towers. The main way that a cellphone tells where you are—as opposed to a website or an app—is, which tower are you talking to. Today’s towers have a radius of about a mile. If the new towers cover a much smaller area, it means that they know much more precisely where you are.

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Bounty Hunter Successfully Tracked Down a Phone

Andrew Orr ·

AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile sell access to customers’ location data. As an experiment, Joseph Cox paid a bounty hunter to locate a phone, and it worked.

The bounty hunter did this all without deploying a hacking tool or having any previous knowledge of the phone’s whereabouts. Instead, the tracking tool relies on real-time location data sold to bounty hunters that ultimately originated from the telcos themselves, including T-Mobile, AT&T, and Sprint, a Motherboard investigation has found. These surveillance capabilities are sometimes sold through word-of-mouth networks.

The technology apparently works on all mobile networks, but there was some issue with Verizon. Shady practices like this are why we need an American GDPR, as well as a better FCC.

Quick Tip

How to Share Your Location in WhatsApp

Jeff Butts ·

If you use the third-party messenger service WhatsApp, then you should know how to temporarily share your location with the folks you chat with! Whether you’re meeting someone at an airport or just for coffee, this can provide a simple way to find other people.

Quick Tip

Turning Off Significant Locations on Your Mac

Jeff Butts ·

Guess what? Your iPhone isn’t the only device you have that monitors where you go in order to make suggestions in Maps and Calendar—your Mac does it too. If that doesn’t give you a warm and fuzzy feeling, come read this Quick Tip! We’ll tell you how to disable it or remove old saved locations.