Privacy: The pendulum should swing both ways...

[?Glitch]

There is a bit of uncomfortable and uneasy feeling with the advent of a GPS device on my hip, not that I really have anything to worry about, but the US was built on Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Seems that we should remove the Liberty part of that as of late, but damnit, if they want to watch me and invade my privacy, it should NOT be on my dime, further more, I’d like to think that the pics I take of the latest female won’t be observed by an assigned GMAN torn from his family and in need of whacking himself off.…

Anyway, I saw a Treo 750 that had a privacy tab on the GPS applet, (obviously privacy from carrier from data provided by BT GPS device, knowing they distribute the same binary, this should be reproducible on our HTC devices, knowing we run Windoze, and I haven’t seen anything to monitor what the system console has been doing, and to top that off, there is periods with my Tilt that the interface is unresponsive, and I am not the only one that has had a problem with the Google maps app connecting to com4. So anyone out there wonder what MY device is doing with MY processor ticks besides me?

Anyone out here that has been looking into the reg entries for the GPS applet?

?Glitch

[VTECaddict]

ummm what?

the GPS is not active unless you're using a GPS program like TeleNav, Google Maps, Windows Live Maps, TomTom Navigator etc.

and how is anyone going view pics that you take with your phone without your knowledge? GPS is only for position information, data cant be transferred by GPS. and who the hell is watching you anyways? unless youre on the FBI's most wanted list or something no one cares or wants to know where you are or what you are doing.

geez, paranoid much?

oh, and GPS or not, you can be tracked just by having a cell phone on you. its call triangulation using cell towers. hows that for paranoia.

[unwired4]

All approved cell tracking apps have to send the device a text every few days confirming that it is being tracked (to avoid spouses tracking their other halfs)...

But that doesn't mean that people aren't hacking them and developing unapproved ones...

[Jewcookie]

You knew this already when you bought your phone. And who is watching you anyway. And if it is really neccesery you provider can track you by in and outgoing phone calls to see where you were at a certain time. So your privacy was gone as soon as you got your first mobile phone.

[tripitaka]

tinfoil hat?

[dscline]

tinfoil hat?

I was thinking Thorazine.

[?Glitch]

I was thinking Thorazine.

Keep telling yourself that while at&t has created their own programming language to parse the data they compile on everyone and turn it over to the spooks. Keep up with the EFF as of late? Ever wonder what a gov't might be capable of if held ABOVE the law? What about an evident relationship between big biz and a gov't capable of these ethics, or lack there of... Really think about it, how long will it be before state gov't gets ahold of the data and begins to issue speeding tickets based on GPS data gleened from our devices, do you think it would be that difficult for the radio to open com4 and collect data without blinking the orange light?

And as for my rant, yes I knew I purchased a device with GPS, but I didn't purchase a device for the spooks, it is my processor, my processor ticks, my OS, my hardware, if I bought the spooks a device I'd have sent it to them, if they want to use my device in the interest of surveillance, then they should pay me for my system resources... No free lunch, understand?

[unwired4]

And as for my rant, yes I knew I purchased a device with GPS, but I didn't purchase a device for the spooks, it is my processor, my processor ticks, my OS, my hardware, if I bought the spooks a device I'd have sent it to them, if they want to use my device in the interest of surveillance, then they should pay me for my system resources... No free lunch, understand?



And as the guys said, the GPS has nothing to do with anyone being able to track you (other than potentially being slightly more accurate). If you are seriously worried about all of the above, then buy an old mine (in a false name) and live down it.

Personally, I have no plans to commit terrorist attrocities or criminal activity, so I don't mind if Police/Government could track me (or more importantly suspected terrorists/criminals) if they wanted to.

[Boinng]

Personally I expect they'll stick to good old network triangulation - it's cheaper, it works with any mobile, and there's literally no way you'd ever know "they" were doing it :)

Sleep tight now...

[frshka01]

Just send a letter to President Bush and Congress thanking them for the good 'ol Patriot Act that was passed some years back... :)

[dscline]

Keep telling yourself that while at&t has created their own programming language to parse the data they compile on everyone and turn it over to the spooks. Keep up with the EFF as of late? Ever wonder what a gov't might be capable of if held ABOVE the law? What about an evident relationship between big biz and a gov't capable of these ethics, or lack there of... Really think about it, how long will it be before state gov't gets ahold of the data and begins to issue speeding tickets based on GPS data gleened from our devices, do you think it would be that difficult for the radio to open com4 and collect data without blinking the orange light?
First of all, it was a joke. Get a sense of humor. Secondly, if you do believe everything you type, then you should not expect such things to be so easily circumventable as changing a few reg keys. If you want to change the way things are headed, fight with your vote, and with activism, not with "hey, I bought this device because I think it's cool, even if the potential is there for it's capabilities to be used against me... anyone have any easy fixes?"

No matter what is possible, the fact remains that there are billions of civilians, compared to a relatively small number of people who could potentially have access to such data. If you have done nothing huge to draw significant "national security" type attention to yourself (which I have to assume you haven't, posting on on public board and all), the chances are minuscule that anyone who could invade your privacy has any interest in doing so.

"Blocking access" to a single phone that no one is even going to try to access isn't going to solve anything. And if we get to the point where our phones DO get used for the purposes you describe, it's too late. At this point, you're better off focusing your energies on a political front rather than a technological one.

[visibility]

I don't think the concern is the government. Now, electronic tracking data is becoming an issue in civil legal proceedings (lawsuits, contested divorces, etc.) - "EZ-Pass" toll data is one example, and auto-tracking systems are another.

I'm personally not too worried about this, but I can see why some law-abiding people might be concerned.