So, is it really a surprise that iPhones and other iOS-based Apple devices can store unencrypted files that track their users’ location? Android phones do the same thing btw. But seriously, are you shocked by this? I’ll admit that while I’m not shocked, it is getting to be too much like “1984” for me.
We should be used to being tracked. There are video cameras pretty much everywhere, like department stores, public elevators, and even in the parking lot at my local Starbucks. Most people, especially the younger crowd who has never known life without a computer or a mobile phone say: “My life is boring. I have nothing to hide. Who cares if they track me?”
Even I’ll admit that tracking can be a godsend for those lost in the wilderness or involved in a car crash off road somewhere. However, it is two edged in that it has a nefarious side to it. I wouldn’t be too thrilled about the government getting access to my current whereabouts, or who I have visited and where I’ve been. And even though my life is boring and I have nothing to hide, I should have the option of turning off GPS tracking if I want to. In a free society, people should have the choice of being tracked or not being tracked (unlike like libraries who use RFID to track their library materials, but that’s another topic for another post).
Similarly, both Apple and Google regularly track and receive location data (remember that the next time you fire up Google Maps on your Droid) which here in the Silicon Valley is being used to create a massive database to tap for the purposes of future location-based services and is becoming a big business, THE big business, in fact.
Unfortunately, I don’t think this would have been such a big deal if Apple and Google had simply asked permission, as they make their apps do. It is easier to ask permission than to ask for forgiveness. And I don’t mind tracking that can in turn be useful to me, but it has to be agreed to. Secret tracking is like stalking, and it’s a bit unnerving no matter who’s doing it.
3 comments:
Mobile-tracking technology increases the chances of finding someone quickly. Nowadays cell phones contain GPS technology, which can establish a person's whereabouts by calculating the location, speed and time of his cell-phone signal. Thanks a lot.
Personally, I don't care if I'm tracked or not. Good luck trying to find me when I'm off in the woods on one of my horses. OR up to my ankles in horse pucky.
Mobile tracking is the right solution for tracking and protecting your mobile assets. It not only gives you knowledge about your laptop location but it provides important information on the use of your computer. Thanks for sharing this valuable post.
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