In the News
In A Location-sharing Disaster Shows How Exposed You Really Are, Brian Barrett discusses the selling of location data from phone providers to third parties who in turn store location information in easily breached formats. Such personal data is shared without the need for individual consent. Barrett explains that companies do not change their practices because they value profits more than privacy of civilians.
Our Take
Many people use the location services on their phone daily to navigate their city, and they may even notice that Google searches and weather apps make use of this information to automatically return results for the surrounding area; but not everyone is aware that this data is also being shared with other parties without consent. Although location sharing is helpful for certain functions, there is great risk attached to data that can be used to trace a person’s every movement throughout the day–not only for their privacy but also for their physical safety. Worse, even with location settings turned off, there is a certain amount of location data can be inferred thanks to smartphones’ connection to cell towers, WiFi networks, and other surrounding technology.
As with many other revelations about Big Data companies’ poor privacy practices this year, this news further underscores that, even though most people would willingly sacrifice their privacy for the convenience afforded by many services, companies are STILL not providing their customers with a full understanding of what data is being collected and why.
Recommendations
So how can you protect your privacy?
- Keep location settings turned off except when necessary
- Adjust location tracking settings in services such as Google that build a map of your past locations
- Limit the information you provide on any given account to the bare minimum
- Pay attention to the permissions required by apps, and glance over their privacy statements or terms of service to understand what they can and cannot do with your data