Arguably the location data has several purposes, and needs to be collected but shouldn’t have been available for sale. It’s bad enough you can’t keep law enforcement out of it but even worse when random businesses get the information.
That said, in this day and age, it should be a no brainier that your phone is a tracking device for multiple organizations and we should all keep that in mind
Sure. My point is that it’s irrelevant. You’re acting like there’s a trade off between privacy and the public good, but because the goal is profitability we get neither privacy nor public good.
Oh I agree. My original comment was adding to the one preceeding mine, not a direct response to the article. Yes, the US needs GDPR, despite it making aspects of my job annoying I am glad it exists.
I would argue it’s worse that law enforcement can just buy data they would otherwise need a warrant to access. In the case of broad data (e.g. location data for every cellphone user in a neighborhood or city) law enforcement can’t legally seize that at all but they can buy it from a broker. It’s a major fourth amendment violation.
It’s insane that this is a ‘proposed new law’ in 2023. That shit should have been illegal the moment it was possible.
The act of collecting the location data should be illegal. Selling it should never have been possible.
Arguably the location data has several purposes, and needs to be collected but shouldn’t have been available for sale. It’s bad enough you can’t keep law enforcement out of it but even worse when random businesses get the information.
That said, in this day and age, it should be a no brainier that your phone is a tracking device for multiple organizations and we should all keep that in mind
Americans: we will cry foul online until we get an adequate transportation system.
Also Americans: we will cry foul online if you try to collect the data that you need to plan a transportation system.
Just one example of how phone data is useful.
Keep licking those boots
Unfortunately, I am the boot in this case.
Except we don’t have an adequate transportation system despite all the data they keep collecting.
I can’t comment on that! Just that phone data is very valuable for transportation modelling!
Sure. My point is that it’s irrelevant. You’re acting like there’s a trade off between privacy and the public good, but because the goal is profitability we get neither privacy nor public good.
Oh I agree. My original comment was adding to the one preceeding mine, not a direct response to the article. Yes, the US needs GDPR, despite it making aspects of my job annoying I am glad it exists.
I would argue it’s worse that law enforcement can just buy data they would otherwise need a warrant to access. In the case of broad data (e.g. location data for every cellphone user in a neighborhood or city) law enforcement can’t legally seize that at all but they can buy it from a broker. It’s a major fourth amendment violation.