An amazing bit of digital detective work here. Send like Linux mobile is your only off ramp from being exhaustively tracked
Does this happen to user in the EU? It’s highly illegal to gather data without consent here obviously. Even processing other data to derive location means processing data for purpose that’s different from one that was consented to (if at all). There are big companies implicated here so it’d be easy to fine them into submission in jurisdictions that allow it.
hera@feddit.uk 1 week ago
All HTTP requests include your ip address, you don’t “consent” to giving it to anybody. You can geolocate somebody based on ip address but it won’t be very accurate
MangoPenguin@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 week ago
True, it’s storing the IP address that is the issue.
BreadstickNinja@lemmy.world 1 week ago
Storing it and associating it with all the other identifying information collected.
cyborganism@lemmy.ca 1 week ago
Use a VPN. Problem solved.
Scrollone@feddit.it 1 week ago
Using a VPN just moves the trust to another middleman.
lurch@sh.itjust.works 1 week ago
This problem solved, but whenever you change your network or IP and then periodically, your phone will report to Firebase, so you can receive push notifications.
You can block those with software that simulates a local VPN with a filter, but you won’t get any more push notifications. Now push notifications are not just the ones you see. Some apps use invisible ones to get infos they need to work.
masterofn001@lemmy.ca 1 week ago
Make sure you disable or properly configure webrtc. Even with a VPN it will leak your true IP address.
Check here.
browserleaks.com/webrtc
forrgott@lemm.ee 1 week ago
Not the magic bullet people think they are. Oh, and you can’t turn it off, so you’ll have to take the loss in network speed on absolutely everything. And better know how to configure each device so it doesn’t go ahead and check leak your IP anyways, which also restricts choice of devices you use. Cause remember, if any device on your network ever connects to the net without the VPN, then your anonymity just went out the window.
Mbourgon@lemmy.world 1 week ago
Latitude and Longitude are in there. As is screen brightness. He does acknowledge that he is on Wi-Fi, but that’s still super suspicious
ricdeh@lemmy.world 1 week ago
That VPN provider will then know ALL the connections you make. Almost worse than just using the Internet normally.
Ulrich@feddit.org 1 week ago
Which they actually acknowledge in the blog post.
Kind of interesting that they’re smart enough to understand how to sniff packets but not enough to understand that IP address = location.
ramjambamalam@lemmy.ca 1 week ago
Author noted: