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Comment by alwaysdoit | Hacker News Reader

If you're concerned about this level of location tracking, don't carry a cell phone at all.

Keeping track of which cell tower your phone is closest to is fundamental to cellular technology. You can't make or receive calls unless Verizon, T-Mobile, or whichever carrier you have knows which cell to communicate with you through. Regardless of whether Google is tracking this, your carrier certainly is, and with a warrant (or a national security letter), law enforcement can definitely access this data. If you're worried about hackers, I can guarantee you Google protects this data more securely than your carrier does.

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> I can guarantee you Google protects this data more securely than your carrier does.

This sentence is completely insane in this context, did we read the same article? Google should not have access to this data, and it sure as hell shouldn't be sending it up to itself when disabled by the end-user. It's absurd that you typed that out for an article titled "Google collects cell tower info even if location services are disabled".

In what world does one operate in if you consider this as "Google protects this data more securely than your carrier does"? Your carrier is supposed to have this information (and in fact needs it), it's a complete privacy violation for Google to be collecting it though.

They were making a related but cogent point about the security implications of Google having this info versus the cell phone carriers. It did not, directly or even by implication, contradict anything you wrote – you're right that this is a privacy violation, but I didn't interpret the comment to which you replied as denying that.

It absolutely is relevant, let's take a moment and review the key point:

> I can guarantee you Google protects this data more securely than your carrier does

Part of acting as a company who cares about user's data includes not collecting data that is sensitive. This is especially true with location data, and is extra especially true when you do it anyway without the user's permission.

Acting like this proves to me, the end user, that google does not guarantee to protect this data more securely than my carrier.

I can see how one could be easily confused by the original comment, but if you take a moment and review it again you'll see it rings even more true now.

No, you're still misunderstanding. The comment is only comparing how well secured the data by whoever holds it. The claim is ONLY arguing that Google would secure the data once they have it better than carriers would. It is not arguing that Google is better at "acting as a company who cares about user's data".

> If you're worried about hackers, I can guarantee you Google protects this data more securely than your carrier does.

This is absurd. Me not wanting google to have this data has nothing to do with how secure they can keep it.

> If you're concerned about this level of location tracking, don't carry a cell phone at all.

This seems to be implying that this level of tracking is expected, or required. It's not. Not by Google anyway, which doesn't need and should never access this information.

"Keeping track of which cell tower your phone is closest to is fundamental to cellular technology"

But breadcrumbing it and phoning home to the phone vendor/advertising company?

I'm going to make a privacy app and tell everyone it's secure, fight lawsuits if anyone debates it, and then have it phone home with all their details.

Oh wait, that's what Google did.

"I can guarantee you Google protects this data more securely than your carrier does."

That's not true at all. My carrier falls under strict EU privacy laws and regulations, Google - doesn't.

Sure. And while we're at it, since Google is more secure than the IRS, let's just give them all your tax data too! /s

Googles getting more information than your carrier. Your carrier or any carrier knows about your cell phone and it's registration and hand off between towers. It doesn't know the network you are seeing. It doesn't know what competitor telcos are seeing. But your cell phone knows all that without a sim no matter what your carrier is. Law enforcement doesn't have access to this data at all.

> If you're concerned about this level of location tracking, don't carry a cell phone at all.

What do you think a cell phone is? It's literally a portable phone. It's purpose it literally to be carried with you. You completely missed the point and you gave up all your rights as a person and as a customer to a foreign corporation. Millions years of evolution and we ended up with someone like you.

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