Data Trading: Tracking by Apps reveals what you do and where

[DoctorG]

Journalists of German Television Bayerischer Rundfunk in cooperation with @netzpolitik_feed (Deutschland), @bnrnieuwsradio BNR Nieuwsradio (Niederlande), Dagens Nyheter (Schweden), @lemonde Le Monde (Frankreich), NRK Beta (Norwegen), SRF/RTS (Schweiz), @ WIRED WIRED (USA) have found out more:

• NRK Norway: https://www.nrk.no/ostfold/xl/line-ble-sporet-av-mobilen_-disse-appene-ma-du-passe-deg-for-1.17200402
• Wired: https://www.wired.com/story/phone-data-us-soldiers-spies-nuclear-germany/
• Le Monde: https://www.lemonde.fr/pixels/article/2025/01/15/comment-des-applications-grand-public-facilitent-le-pistage-des-utilisateurs-a-leur-insu_6498708_4408996.html
• Netzpolitik: https://netzpolitik.org/2024/databroker-files-die-grosse-datenhaendler-recherche-im-ueberblick/
• Bayerischer Rundfunk:
  https://www.br.de/nachrichten/deutschland-welt/standortdaten-aus-zehntausenden-apps-bei-datenhaendler-gelandet,UZsKyDJ
  https://interaktiv.br.de/ausspioniert-mit-standortdaten/
• ARD Social: https://ard.social/@br_data/113830803391096702
• Heise: https://www.heise.de/news/Standort-Tracking-weit-verbreitet-Mehr-als-40-000-Apps-sammeln-Positionsdaten-10243629.html

You have no privacy with location data! Many Apps sell data to many other companies. You can not stop this. Seems smartphones and their apps with strange "privacy" settings are the best spy machines to track you.

[tcltk]

@DoctorG said in Data Trading: Tracking by Apps reveals what you do and where:

You have no privacy with location data

On this, simple phones were much better. Unfortunately 2G and 3G are forecast to disappear which will force to switch to smarter phones, and so tracking. Hopefully Vivaldi will prevent unwanted tracking on smartphone ?

[3dvs]

@DoctorG said in Data Trading: Tracking by Apps reveals what you do and where:

You have no privacy with location data

My android uses location when I use my another phone Hotspot .
I cant find any setting to turn it off.
Moreover, I cant find which app is using such data in location history.

[DoctorG]

@tcltk said in Data Trading: Tracking by Apps reveals what you do and where:

Hopefully Vivaldi will prevent unwanted tracking on smartphone ?

Vivaldi and its app does not collect/sell location data. But it can not protect you against tracking by other apps in Android.

[Pathduck]

I always keep Location disabled on the phone.
Unless have I a very specific need (lost in a foreign city, walking in the woods), then I might enable it for a short time to get my bearings.

Saves some battery as well, just like I'd not enable Bluetooth (it eats battery...)

[Catweazle]

@Pathduck, same, the first thing I do in a new Phone and also in the PC. In Android is also advisable to use a VPN or at least InVizible Pro. Risky are weather apps, preferable to use the one from the official meteorological institute of your country (all other third party apps anyway use their data from there, often badly) and entering your city by Hand, not by GPS location.

[lfisk]

@Catweazle Here in the US geolocation always work for say a 911 emergency call. I can't be disabled. Which suggests to me that your phone is always running GPS, just somewhat limiting what apps have access to it

[Catweazle]

@lfisk, even if you can't desactivate GPS, you can restrict the permissions of all apps in the phone settings, except the essential ones, like the emergency calls.

[Dr.Flay]

If you enable developer mode in the android settings you can add extra tiles to the swipe down menu.
Add the sensors tile and you can enable/disable all sensors (this includes the camera).

[Catweazle]

@Dr-Flay, cheap mobiles, like mine, don't have much sensors, only movement horizontal/vertical use. Apart this, I don't use Facebook, X or any other of these crappy companies. Access permission to camara and mic only by the FOSS apps which I use for these instead of the inbuild ones.