Tag: Location Privacy

(Jan 13, 2020) Four months after Apple’s iOS 13 update, which gives users a choice in sharing their data, less location data is coming from apps, Digiday reports. Benoit Grouchko, CEO and co-founder of marketing platform Teemo, said opt-in rates to share data with an app when it is not in use are often below 50%, while they were closer to 100% three years ago. “People have decided to stop their phones’ sharing location data at a universal level,” Location Sciences Chief Business Officer Jason Smith said. This ... Read More

(Jan 8, 2020) Speaking at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, U.S. Federal Trade Commission Chairman Joseph Simons opened up about his support for federal privacy legislation, Multichannel News reports. Simons' call for a comprehensive law came with stipulations, including the desire to have the FTC retain its enforcement powers in lieu of creating a new privacy regulator. Additionally, he indicated any legislation should create and maintain competition across industries. Meanwhile, Federal Communicat... Read More

(Jan 7, 2020) A fin de evitar riesgos en la integridad física y en línea, un experto en ciberseguridad de Kaspersky aconsejó a los ciudadanos no publicar o hacer check-in en redes sociales cuando se visite algún lugar o se asista a algún evento. Esto, luego de que un estudio elaborado por dicha empresa y otra, Corpa, revelara que el 40% de peruanos incurre riesgos en dicha práctica.Nota Completa... Read More

(Jan 2, 2020) Colleges are using smartphones and technology to track the location, academic performance and mental health of hundreds of thousands of students, The Washington Post reports. Professors and education advocates say the intrusive surveillance breaches students’ privacy. Some students said while they don’t mind a system that keeps them on track, they also did not realize how much data is being collected on their movements. Meanwhile, more than 150 colleges are encouraging incoming freshmen to downl... Read More

(Dec 19, 2019) The New York Times' "Privacy Project" launched an investigation into the smartphone-tracking industry. A file obtained by the Times, revealed data from a period of several months in 2016 and 2017, contained more than 50 billion location pings from more than 12 million Americans’ phones as they move through cities, including New York and Los Angeles. The data was provided by anonymous sources concerned "about how it might be abused." Following its investigation, the Times said, "We feel the same ... Read More

(Nov 27, 2019) The Washington Post reports U.S. Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I., has stated he is "increasingly concerned" big tech companies are potentially using privacy to mask anti-competitive acts. Cicilline specifically pointed to Apple touting its privacy updates to its mobile operating system while still employing location-tracking functions. "There is a growing risk that without a strong privacy law in the United States, platforms will exploit their role as de facto private regulators by placing a thumb ... Read More

(Nov 22, 2019) A Richmond, Virginia, man claims it was illegal for police to use Google location data to charge him with armed robbery, NBC News reports. Following a May 20 bank robbery, during which the robber held a cellphone to his ear, authorities obtained a warrant for location data from all cellphones within 150 meters of the area during that one-hour time frame. Police charged Okello Chatrie, one of 19 accounts provided under the warrant. Privacy advocates say the geofence warrant violates the Fourth Am... Read More

(Nov 22, 2019) A new law taking effect next October will require taxis and ride-sharing apps in Quebec to share real-time location data with the local municipality, any municipal transit agency and any private transport company designated by the government, Vice reports. Privacy advocates argue the trip data is sensitive information. “It can often be re-identified, and could create a comprehensive view of the movements of individual Quebecois,” said Future of Privacy Forum Senior Policy Counsel Kelsey Finch, C... Read More

(Nov 20, 2019) MediaPost reports U.S. Sens. Chris Coons, D-Del., and Josh Hawley, R-Mo., have sent a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on concerns over the social network's policies on location data. "Location data is among the most sensitive personal information that a user can share with a company," the senators wrote. "If a user has decided to limit Facebook's access to his or her location, Facebook should respect these privacy choices." The letter was in response to a Sept. 9 blog post claiming that w... Read More

(Nov 19, 2019) Facebook is asking U.S. District Court Judge James Donato to dismiss a privacy lawsuit that claims it collects users’ IP addresses and estimates their locations even when users turn off location tracking, MediaPost reports. “IP addresses are freely, publicly, and automatically shared as a necessary component of every internet communication,” Facebook wrote in court paperwork. “Any party to such communication can estimate the location of the other party’s IP address by using generally available o... Read More