Google Will Track Your Location ‘Every 15 Minutes’ — ‘Even With GPS Disabled’
October 7th, 2024I went looking for an old Cryptogon post with a video in which a reporter turns off all the radios on an Android phone and travels around a city with it. A security researcher intercepted what Android sent back to Google when the device was back on the Internet. The phone perfectly tracked the reporter’s location via the phone’s inertial sensors. They may or may not have mentioned that the phone passively listened to wi-fi base station IDs to approximate the locations. (Android definitely does this.)
I can’t find the post. I’m finding hundreds of posts on Cryptogon about mobile phone location tracking. Does anyone remember this post or the video? It’s probably at least ten years old.
Update: How Much Info Is Google Getting from Your Phone?
Cryptogon reader B had the video! Thank you, B.
Fox Report Weekend
February 11, 2018
Google tracking phones even when they are disconnected?
Fox News Headlines 24/7 anchor Brett Larson investigated Google’s tracking capabilities.
Via: Fox News:
On YouTube:
Via: Forbes:
“You can’t say no to Google’s surveillance,” the Cybernews research team warns, describing a secretive stream of data they say continually transmits from a new phone to Google’s servers. Even more “concerning,” they say, “the phone periodically attempts to download and run new code, potentially opening up security risks.”
Related:
Pedestrian Motion Tracking by Using Inertial Sensors on the Smartphone
Inertial Sensors for Smartphones Navigation
I definitely remember the article, and thought I’d read it here.
It mentioned something about being able to track in a tunnel even if there was no cell signal, right?
The reason why phones are no longer made with removable batteries.
The reason why I don’t have a portable phone of any kind. I get by with a home phone and an answering machine. It worked for me for 60 years before cell phones became common, and it still works, although it does inconvenience people in offices calling me to make an appt. They would prefer an instant response from me. But I prefer every form of protection of my privacy that I can get.