
How to Track President Trump - tysone
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/12/20/opinion/location-data-national-security.html
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guiambros
Fascinating, but a big piece missing from the article is _where_ this data
came from. The linked article [1] is much more clear:

" _The data reviewed by The Times Opinion didn’t come from a telecom or giant
tech company, nor did it come from a governmental surveillance operation. It
originated from a location data company, one of dozens quietly collecting
precise movements using software slipped onto mobile phone apps. You’ve
probably never heard of most of the companies — and yet to anyone who has
access to this data, your life is an open book. They can see the places you go
every moment of the day, whom you meet with or spend the night with, where you
pray, whether you visit a methadone clinic, a psychiatrist’s office or a
massage parlor._ "

[1]
[https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/12/19/opinion/locat...](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/12/19/opinion/location-
tracking-cell-phone.html)

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DuckConference
While there’s nothing really new here, maybe this will get average people to
start caring about this stuff.

~~~
java-man
I highly doubt this...

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ENOTTY
> “Tech companies are profiting by spying on Americans — trampling on the
> right to privacy and risking our national security,” Senator Elizabeth
> Warren, a Democrat running for president, told us. “They are throwing around
> their power to undermine our democracy with zero consequences. This report
> is another alarming case for why we need to break up big tech, adopt serious
> privacy regulations and hold top executives of these companies personally
> responsible.”

This reporting doesn't support Warren's case. If anything, the big tech
companies are relatively responsible collectors and users of location data
compared to the smaller location data companies described in [1].

Indeed, whoever leaked this dataset (showing the company's poor data controls
and poor culture of respect for users' privacy) got it from a location data
company, which "you've probably never heard of".[2]

[1]:
[https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/12/20/opinion/locat...](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/12/20/opinion/location-
tracking-smartphone-marketing.html)

[2]:
[https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/12/19/opinion/locat...](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/12/19/opinion/location-
tracking-cell-phone.html)

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refurb
Any way for software to spoof a GPS location?

Would love to be able to send random coordinates until I make the choice to
send an accurate location.

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sli
Android's developer options let you set a GPS location.

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trec
If you use developer tools, probably would not work. Because the faked
location is clearly marked as debug information. And it will not work for
applications that are not specifically reading it.

Edit: Maybe possible for a rooted phone with "unofficial" solution?

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Fjolsvith
And all this was done without illegal 302's for FISA warrant wiretaps.

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skue
I wonder if the title’s reference to “Trump” has prevented this from appearing
on the front page and from getting more votes? It’s not a political issue and
probably warrants more discussion.

Not sure how best to get dang/sctb’s attention <\- aside from hoping they
monitor their mentions.

~~~
grzm
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