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GPS gadgets can reveal more than your location

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posted on Jun, 3 2008 @ 05:53 PM
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Not paranoid enough yet? Does Big Brother
need to know even more about you? Where you go how you get there?

I guess this tech could be useful for released prisoners or those on bail. They can be tracked wherever they go and if they don’t answer their phone they are obviously not where they should be but what about the rest of us. Are we by buying a new phone volunteering to let the authorities know what activities we participate in?

Will big corporations but this info for marketing by seeing our shopping or recreational habits? Say for instance you duck in you local supermarket for milk and bread and all of a sudden you get a SMS telling you about the rival stores specials for the day.


However, Peterson told New Scientist that he has concerns about the privacy implications of a technology that reveals details of where we go and how we travel.
"Displaying the mode of transportation on a map in a GeoLife-like application so that users can compare their movements is innocent enough," he says. "The problem is that there are more sinister applications of this technology."
As it becomes easier to track and share our movements, the concept of "locational privacy" – controlling who can access our location records – becomes more important, he says, adding that Microsoft and others should make sure their products are designed to protect users.


Rea d more



posted on Jun, 3 2008 @ 05:59 PM
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reply to post by VIKINGANT
 


The guy who was paid by Howard Hughes to do counter intelligence for him was on Coast to Coast am and he said that he only carries a pager on him. No cell phone and no new car. Pay for everything with cash and you will not be tracked easily.



posted on Jun, 3 2008 @ 08:28 PM
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Yes, but not everyone can do that. We all get paid electronically these days and who does not own a mobile phone? Some but not many.
Face it. If they want to find you they will.

But as they say, if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to worry about. Unless they want some random body to pin something on.



posted on Jun, 3 2008 @ 08:46 PM
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Its amazing how slow and careful the net is closing in on us to accept 24 / 7 tracking and monitoring.

Phones, mobiles, GPS systems, new cars.... Oyster cards on London UK trains and under ground...

The list is ,long and very scary. Its acceptance by consumer spending power.



posted on Jun, 4 2008 @ 03:51 AM
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Originally posted by Dan Tanna
Its amazing how slow and careful the net is closing in on us to accept 24 / 7 tracking and monitoring.

Phones, mobiles, GPS systems, new cars.... Oyster cards on London UK trains and under ground...

The list is ,long and very scary. Its acceptance by consumer spending power.


I tend to believe it’s due to the fact that we have spoiled ourselves with technology over the past decade. Couple that with our desire as consumers to have everything NOW and the end result sadly is that we choose convenience without truly realizing the consequences of this decision. That being the surrendering of certain rights without even knowing it.



posted on Jun, 4 2008 @ 04:41 AM
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I also find this troubling, but not for the usual reasons. I just object to businesses using the gadgets that I pay for to track my activities in a store for their benefit.

I realize that that data might make the store better for me, but using my phone to gather that data without recompense is like piracy, in my book.

It should be noted that the GPS function on the phones I've had can be disabled so that it only works when 911 is called.

Here are a few more takes on the subject.

Shops secretly track customers via mobile phone



[edit on 2008/6/4 by GradyPhilpott]



posted on Jun, 4 2008 @ 05:26 AM
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reply to post by GradyPhilpott
 


Wow! I had no idea about the shop thing. I just threw it in as a hypothetical as a possibilty...
Are we ever alone?



posted on Jun, 4 2008 @ 06:52 AM
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Originally posted by VIKINGANT
Yes, but not everyone can do that. We all get paid electronically these days and who does not own a mobile phone? Some but not many.
Face it. If they want to find you they will.

But as they say, if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to worry about. Unless they want some random body to pin something on.


Nothing to hide is very dependant on the laws and the changes in such laws; we all know how wrong things can go when there is an idiot in charge....we are all living the changes in said laws now...
Suppressive and oppressive laws need a lot of surveillance. When a society needs to check it's participants for illegal activities; it means that the laws are wrong.
Everyone has something to hide for the government, especially if the government is owned by the commercialist, fascist, merchant bankers...



posted on Jun, 4 2008 @ 07:01 AM
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reply to post by VIKINGANT
 


Not really and in most cases that is a good thing.

Society is not as safe as it should be and having paper trails and overlapping video of our travels from place to place can give us a sense of security and sometimes save our lives.

As someone noted, there are tactics for flying under radar, but doing so can limit us in many ways that make such tactics unreasonable for anyone except those who have much at stake.

I keep my GPS on my phone on all the times, because I have had no reason not to. If I go missing, I'd like someone to know my whereabouts and the phone is good way for rescuers to know where to go.

But, as I said, this whole idea of businesses capitalizing off my equipment and paid services is just too much on the simple basis of principle.

If this technology comes to a store near me, I will find a way to defeat it or leave the phone in the car.

Some of the uses in your article are interesting. If keeping the GPS activated on my phone can make my commute to work less maddening, then I think that's not a bad idea. I just want some control over the use of my data by those who will seek to exploit that data rather than make my life more pleasant.

In reality, though, if the police are interested in where you are going and what you are doing, all they need to do is to get a warrant to plant a device on your car and I learned just this week that they now have technologies that are more accurate and subject to less interference than GPS tracking.

But, it's not the police I'm worried about. It's the pimply-faced nimrod who can access this data from some server and use it to make my life more complicated than it needs to be.



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