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#301034 - 05/23/22 10:57 AM Re: Arizona Fatality [Re: haertig]
Ren Offline
Addict

Registered: 11/05/07
Posts: 522
Loc: Wales, UK
Originally Posted By: haertig
Originally Posted By: jshannon
On 05/15,
"... and efforts to use GPS through his cell phone have been unsuccessful."

It's a shame the guy died, but I'm wondering what the above statement means. Retrieval of a GPS location from someones phone - assuming they were attempting to do this without the phone owners participation/permission? If this is indeed what the statement means, while I can understand why rescuers would love to gain access to this type of information, I am dead set against them being able to. Or anybody being able to do it, for that matter.


Pretty trivial to send message with a unique link, asking the recipient to open it. Once opened in a modern browser on a phone/device (if it has GPS) it'll report back the coords. SARLOC is one that is operated here in the UK.
But would require phone owners' interaction & participation, otherwise is a major security hole.


Edited by Ren (05/23/22 11:07 AM)

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#301036 - 05/23/22 05:11 PM Re: Arizona Fatality [Re: dougwalkabout]
haertig Offline
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 03/13/05
Posts: 2322
Loc: Colorado
I understand radio direction finding to locate a transmitter (I'm a ham). And triangulation via cell towers. And I've heard of Stingray, although I know nothing about it other than it's a way for police to lie to your cellphone to get it to connect to their device to get you (either location of maybe even intercepting voice transmissions).

But the mention of "accessing GPS" was new to me. At least without requiring user cooperation/permission. GPS coordinates are going to walk you right up to a person, much higher resolution than any of the above methods. That is a big privacy concern if you ask me, and has no reason to be implemented IMHO.

I wasn't aware of your location being automatically passed if you dial 911. But in that case, I'm in agreement with it happening. That would be a good thing. As long as it's strictly controlled to ONLY do this for legitimate 911 contacts. Along with adequate notification to users, so they could turn that behavior off it desired (that might be stupid in many cases, but you still have to allow it).

I use an app on my Android phone named "Glympse" that allows others to track my location. I turn that on if I go off on a walk by myself, and it sends a link to my wife so she can see where I am. But I don't leave that app sending out my location routinely. Only when I'm off alone with a chance that I might keel over and not be found quickly. Hiking, when within cell service range, is a great time to have that app active. Probably turn it on even if you don't expect to be in cell phone range - you never know when you might get a fleeting connection and word of your location could sneak out.

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#301037 - 05/25/22 02:13 AM Re: Arizona Fatality [Re: dougwalkabout]
dougwalkabout Offline
Crazy Canuck
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 02/03/07
Posts: 3217
Loc: Alberta, Canada
I'm curious: does "what3words" meet a reasonable standard for personal privacy? As I understand it, it's the user who chooses to make contact with authorities and provide this information. Assuming the user is in a condition to make the call in the first place ...


Edited by dougwalkabout (05/25/22 02:15 AM)

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#301038 - 05/25/22 02:34 PM Re: Arizona Fatality [Re: dougwalkabout]
haertig Offline
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 03/13/05
Posts: 2322
Loc: Colorado
Originally Posted By: dougwalkabout
I'm curious: does "what3words" meet a reasonable standard for personal privacy? As I understand it, it's the user who chooses to make contact with authorities and provide this information. Assuming the user is in a condition to make the call in the first place ...

What3Words is not a tracking application. It's more akin to your latitude and longitude, except the location is expressed using words as the coordinates rather than numbers. So if I want to tell you that I am at ///hitch.member.embodied (I'm not, but I wish I were!) I can tell you that.

If you are thinking of "Glympse" rather than "What3Words", then Glympse is indeed a tracking application. Your location is communicated to their servers, and from there, others can access it via a unique link. How well that link is protected and kept private, I don't know. I would say generically, if your concerned about privacy to that degree, you wouldn't be a candidate to use a tracking app, any tracking app, in the first place.

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