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[+] 39 points 11 months ago* (4 children)
  • [–] 25 points 11 months ago (1 child)

    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

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  • [–] 7 points 11 months ago

    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.

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  • [–] 12 points 11 months ago (1 child)

    Anything that polls location data can record it and sell it, probably more apps that sell it than don't.

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  • [–] 7 points 11 months ago

    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.

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