Comment on Location tracking of phones is out of control. Here’s how to fight back.

VintageTech@sh.itjust.works ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

• Scolding7300@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  How did they do it tech wise?

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  • VintageTech@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Originally the D.A.I.R. project (Driver Aid, Information and Routing) was conceptualized in the 60’s. It wasn’t until Hughes assisted EDS in the 90’s that they were able to create a beacon that could communicate via Satellite and Cellular.

    I myself didn’t realize this was a thing until about a decade ago when I was trying to create an automation for my lights to turn on when I pulled into my driveway. I kept getting a ping about 5min after my phone connected to my WiFi. The MAC matched nothing I had in the house, I just blew it off.

    When an associate stopped by to work on a HoneyPot project we started seeing a bunch of random MACs attempt to connect to the open wifi, we wrote that noise off as people walking by my house and their cell phones were just trying to connect. It wasn’t until the garbage man showed up and stopped to talk to me that I was able to find his truck listed with an address connected to the open wifi, sent a few packets, then left. We made the correlation that the MAC’s could be from cars so we started researching the manufacturer of those device MAC’s

    That pretty much opened a weird rabbit hole leading us to find out that almost every car has been tracked since the mid-90’s.

    Joking aside, I would move to Amish country if it weren’t for the whiskey and bitches. But in all honesty; my family lives a much more comfortable life than I ever imagined I would with working in the IT field.

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    • AbsoluteChicagoDog@lemm.ee ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      There’s a got to be a way to create an sudo Amish community where technology is hyper regulated but still allowed

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      • yonder@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        A linux-only society. Those using non-free systems (google android, windows, macOS) are expelled.

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      • crank0271@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        Not even “pseudo-”… well done

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  • AA5B@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Same as today, but slower.

    GM’s OnStar was notorious for this. I think the first version had a 2G cell modem

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    • VintageTech@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      GM’s OnStar, I believe, was just EDS’s tech at the time of their rollout in '96ish

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• sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  I’m pretty sure my car doesn’t have tracking, and it’s from the mid 2000s. Phoning home wasn’t standard until relatively recent car models. I could absolutely be wrong though, but my understanding is that any wireless capabilities it has are limited to close proximity (i.e. tire pressure sensors and the like).

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  • VintageTech@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Standard in 2008 If the auto manufacturer offered OnStar or Sirius, earlier.

    I wish it wasn’t true, and I definitely feel like a nut job when I bring it up.

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    • Woht24@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      In America, not the rest of the world.

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    • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Huh, both my cars are just before 2008 (2007 and 2006), and base models so they don’t have any fancy features like satellite radio.

      Replacing those two is going to suck…

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• mindaika@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  I sure hope so. Pretty hard to sell cars if you don’t even know where they are

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