Check out this NYT's piece on location data from smart phones: Apple and Google Use Phone Data to Map the World. We've talked quite a bit in class about our personal information and how we negotiate privacy in our over-connected lives. However, we haven't touched much on location and I'm wondering what the class thinks about this. This article brings up a number of questions. An excerpt:
"The use of this data by the companies has been under scrutiny since last week, when two technology researchers reported that a file stored on many iPhones and iPads keeps track of all the locations visited by a user. The file is unencrypted and is copied to people’s personal computers when they sync their devices.
The report prompted lawmakers in the United States to ask Apple for explanations. Several European governments said they would open investigations into Apple’s practices. On Monday, two customers sued Apple accusing it of privacy invasion and computer fraud."
On the other hand...
"Mobile advertising could be a $2.5 billion market by 2015, according to Frost & Sullivan, and ads tied to a location are much more lucrative than other ads. "
What is your opinion on broadcasting your location? Is there a break in Institutional Privacy and Social Privacy, related to our class reading? Does the advertising/marketing advantage outweigh the privacy cost?
This is insane! I never thought of cell phones gathering data about us. I don't know laws or the result of the lawsuits against them but I would like to know if that violates personal privacy rights.
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