XPost: sci.geo.satellite-nav, alt.comp.os.windows-10
From: walterjones@invalid.nospam
"Carlos E. R." wrote
>>> a car at ground level will have problems recording a hundred WiFi
>>> signals at the same spot, some of them very weak.
>>
>> But if the car records some of the BSSIDs that your PC or phone can also
>> see, it knows where you are ...
>
> Ah, but there I have the advantage: I'm using Linux at the moment ;-p
Linux may not be doing what the PC is doing, but just to be clear, Android
is _definitely_ (by default) uploading these four things about each of
those (hundred) access points that it can see at any given point in space.
1. The phone's GPS location (which is unique!)
2. The (hundred) Wi-Fi BSSIDs that it can see (all of which are unique!)
3. The _signal strength!_ to each of those (hundred) Wi-Fi access points
4. The SSID for each of those (hundred) Wi-Fi access points
More information is uploaded, but that's the main four characteristics.
A. Notice they have the location of the phone
B. And the signal strength (in dBm) of the (hundred) access points
From that Google can pretty easily figure out approximately how far each of
those (hundred) APs are from your phone; and from doing that for hundreds
of phones, almost exactly where each of those (hundred) APs are located.
Like it or not, it's miserable to turn all this Wi-Fi (and Bluetooth!)
scanning off on today's Android phones if you happen to use Google Maps.
Privacy shortcuts
It can be done - but you have to be intelligent - and not stooopid.
(HINT: Most people are incredibly stupid - which is why this stuff works.)
Notice none of this happens if you do two things (you only need the first).
a. You append "_nomap" to the SSID (to remove it from the databases)
b. You hide the broadcast (which prevents it from being uploaded at all)
--
Privacy is not impossible any more than personal hygiene isn't impossible.
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)
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