It's your fault my laptop knows where I am
https://www.amoses.dev/blog/wifi-location/
#HackerNews #laptopprivacy #wifi #tracking #locationdata #technologynews
#locationData
Phone location data of top EU officials for sale, report finds
Reitti v2.0.0 ra mắt: Chuyển đổi dữ liệu vị trí thành câu chuyện cá nhân #Reitti #Memories #LocationData #CâuChuyệnCáNhân #DữLiệuVịTrí #TellingStories
https://www.reddit.com/r/selfhosted/comments/1oko85l/reitti_v200_introducing_memories_transforming/
Google brings Maps data to Gemini API developers
https://web.brid.gy/r/https://nerds.xyz/2025/10/google-maps-gemini-api-grounding/
"Operating from their base in Jakarta, where permissive export laws have allowed their surveillance business to flourish, First Wap’s European founders and executives have quietly built a phone-tracking empire, with a footprint extending from the Vatican to the Middle East to Silicon Valley.
It calls its proprietary system Altamides, which it describes in promotional materials as “a unified platform to covertly locate the whereabouts of single or multiple suspects in real-time, to detect movement patterns, and to detect whether suspects are in close vicinity with each other.”
Altamides leaves no trace on the phones it targets, unlike spyware such as Pegasus. Nor does it require a target to click on a malicious link or show any of the telltale signs (such as overheating or a short battery life) of remote monitoring.
Its secret is shrewd use of the antiquated telecom language Signaling System No. 7, known as SS7, that phone carriers use to route calls and text messages. Any entity with SS7 access can send queries requesting information about which cell tower a phone subscriber is nearest to, an essential first step to sending a text message or making a call to that subscriber. But First Wap’s technology uses SS7 to zero in on phone numbers and trace the location of their users.
First Wap emphasizes that its technology is used by law enforcement to “fight against organized crime, terrorism and corruption.” It sells Altamides directly, as well as through third-party resellers."
#CyberSecurity #Surveillance #FirstWap #Altamides #SS7 #Privacy #LocationData
RE: https://mementomori.social/@levi/115334697961474628
2. Streetcomplete and #Openstreetmaps
On the topic of #geolocation , there's another FOSS project that relies on community submissions to build a privacy preserving map
let's face it, Google Maps is the most solid, polished and convenient maps app out there, it offers detailed business listings, phone numbers, open hours, photos and reviews, Streetview (which OSM lacks), live traffic, routing algorithms with turn by turn navigation.. Etc.
But as it's the case with proprietary software, convenience comes at a cost, a cost that no one can afford, loss of privacy.
Most people fail to recognize how sensitive location data is, how it's used against them and how it can be abused in the future.
if I ask.. where were you on February 9, 2012, at 3 o'clock? you have no clue, you can't even remember what you had for dinner last night! me too :-) our brains can't recall events with time and location with such great precision, if you can.. you must be Charles Xavier from X-Men :-P
But you know who can remember? Google. the Ad company profiles individuals by tracking queries, routes, and interactions, it records your movements by a feature called location history which is turned on by default, even when you don't use the app, your movements are still logged, heck.. even if you turn off location history altogether, Google keeps on tracking you.. this should tell you how much valuable location data is for E-Corp, where you work or study, what you're planning to buy, where you go for entrainment.. etc. all used to create a profile so that the surveillance machine can target you with ads..
The brightside is that we don't have to use a surveillance tool like Google Maps, OrganicMaps is a free and open source software that respects your privacy, does not collect or transmit your location, search history, or usage data and it encourages you to use it offline by letting you know that you have to download maps for your area.
Organic Maps uses OpenStreeMaps which is also free software, but as I mentioned it's not as rich as Google Maps in terms of data. :-(
Which brings us to Streetcomplete, a FOSS android app designed to make contributing to OpenStreetMap easy. It's really like a real life game and I find it fun, It uses a simple question and answer interface to gather missing OpenStreeMaps details like: surface types of paths, opening hours of shops, speed limits.. etc
Submitted data will appear on OpenStreeMaps, so all users of apps like @organicmaps and @CoMaps can benefit from :-)
If you're interested in volunteering to help us make a #freedom map so we don't live our lives under the constant surveillance of #bigbrother Google, check out the following links:
- https://streetcomplete.app/
- https://www.openstreetmap.org
- https://organicmaps.app
- https://www.comaps.app/
#opensource #geolocation #linux #programming #coding #technology #geoip #software #gis #openstreetmap #tech #github #iot #data #security #opensourceprojects #geotagging #locationdata #mapdata #opendata #fdroid #neostumbler #location #surveillance #privacy #street #streetcomplete #google
You can contribute to the #freesoftware movement even if you don't know how to write #code here's some practical examples:
1. @beacondb & #Neostumbler
BeaconDB is community-driven wireless geolocation database that serves as a replacement for Mozilla Location Services (MLS), which was discontinued in March 2024.
why is this project important?
because #Google collects extensive location data tied to user accounts for advertising and profiling (even if you turn off location history) Google doesn't understand consent, what a surprise! :blob_rollingeyes:
BeaconDB will provide privacy friendly geolocation, allowing #degoogled #android ROMs like #CalyxOS and #GrapheneOS to be used without relying on Google (Google's location services)
Neostumbler is an #opensource android app, that collects geolocation data from wireless signals such as Wi-Fi access points, cell towers, and Bluetooth beacons, NS does not collect personal identifying information, only anonymized wireless signal data and it can be turned off at any time. (can't say the same for Google)
you can start contributing to BeaconDB simply by downloading and installing NeoStumbler, enabling GPS, open NS and start a scan, start walking or driving, and after you cross a certain distance, you'll see some generated reports, press upload to upload them all (you can also go to settings and enable automatic uploading in the background)
If you want to volunteer and help us free our phones, laptops and smart watches from corporate ecosystems (like Google's location services) and achieve digital sovereignty in the aspect of geolocation, take a look at these links
- BeaconDB: https://beacondb.net/
- NeoStumbler: https://github.com/mjaakko/NeoStumbler
#opensource #geolocation #linux #programming #coding #technology #geoip #software #gis #openstreetmap #tech #github #iot #data #security #opensourceprojects #geotagging #locationdata #mapdata #opendata #fdroid #beaconDB #neostumbler #location #surveillance #privacy #mozilla #firefox
Ted Cruz Kills America’s Latest Attempt To Have Functional Privacy Laws
"Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has bought access to a surveillance tool that is updated every day with billions of pieces of location data from hundreds of millions of mobile phones, according to ICE documents reviewed by 404 Media.
The documents explicitly show that ICE is choosing this product over others offered by the contractor’s competitors because it gives ICE essentially an “all-in-one” tool for searching both masses of location data and information taken from social media. The documents also show that ICE is planning to once again use location data remotely harvested from peoples’ smartphones after previously saying it had stopped the practice.
Surveillance contractors around the world create massive datasets of phones’, and by extension people’s movements, and then sell access to the data to government agencies. In turn, U.S. agencies have used these tools without a warrant or court order."
#USA #Surveillance #ICE #Immigration #Deportation #LocationData
Verizon Remains On The Legal Hook For Illegally Spying On You And Selling Your Movement Data (For Now)
Tens of thousands of Irish phone locations are for sale.
Data showing the specific movement of tens of thousands of phones is available to purchase within the digital marketing and advertising industries, an investigation has found.
The availability of the data from brokers has raised major worries about personal privacy, but also national and domestic security, including at the highest levels of the Department of Justice.
With AT&T win and VZW and T-Mobile's losses, we may need to be very careful about how our location data is shared more than we already are.
Court rejects Verizon claim that selling location data without consent is legal
Court rejects Verizon claim that selling location data without consent is legal
#HackerNews #Verizon #LocationData #Consent #LegalRights #PrivacyProtection
(18 Aug) T-Mobile claimed selling location data without consent is legal—judges disagree https://s.faithcollapsing.com/g7pc9 Archive: ais: https://archive.md/wip/Bagfd ia: https://s.faithcollapsing.com/vog65 #location-data #policy #t-mobile
T-Mobile (USA): Wie jetzt? Geodaten der User:innen ohne Einverständnis zu verkaufen darf man nicht? Das ist doch voll legal! Das sind doch keine privaten Daten!
Die Richter so: Nö. Macht bummelig 92 Mill. Taler.
T-Mobile claimed selling location data without consent is legal—judges disagree:
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/08/t-mobile-claimed-selling-location-data-without-consent-is-legal-judges-disagree/
#infosec #locationdata #lcationdataselling #locationdataprotection #privacy #tmobile #BeDiS
T-Mobile claimed selling location data without consent is legal—judges disagree https://arstechni.ca/YVSE #locationdata #t-mobile #Policy
Oh, look! 📱 T-Mobile thought playing "Where's Waldo?" with your location data was perfectly acceptable. 🚫 Surprise, surprise—judges with their pesky "laws" had other plans. 🙄
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/08/t-mobile-claimed-selling-location-data-without-consent-is-legal-judges-disagree/ #TMobile #Privacy #Lawsuit #LocationData #Judges #Accountability #HackerNews #ngated
T-Mobile claimed selling location data without consent is legal–judges disagree
#HackerNews #TMobile #LocationData #Privacy #LegalJudges #Disagree #TechNews
Track ISS with DNS
This is an awesome us of DNS Standards. For the inclined tech and internet standard nerd.
Somehow #Michelin (the tire company that gives the stars) has #LocationData ("from vehicles, tires and cell phone apps") on 45 million Americans. They've been acting as a #databroker for various state highway administrations. Washington State just finished up a safety study using the data. California and Minnesota are in progress.
I hope I'm not the only one who finds it concerning that a tire company has this quantity of location data.
https://michelinmedia.com/pages/blog/detail/article/c/a1348/
https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/cellphone-data-help-state-patrol-catch-speeding-drivers-washington/281-2988e838-320f-4c2f-b2f9-89b17317bcfa
Client Info
Server: https://mastodon.social
Version: 2025.07
Repository: https://github.com/cyevgeniy/lmst