Comment by X-Istence | Hacker News Reader

Comment by X-Istence | Hacker News Reader

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I am an adult, at age 23 and I have realized for years how much data leakage there is.

None of the apps on my phone get access to Location services save for 1, Google Maps. There is no reason why my status update to ANY service should require my location, and luckily at the moment you can opt-out from ever having to send a location. I am very happy that Apple required the App to ask for permissions first (on an API level) and wish they would implement this further for a few more of the API's (such as Contacts which was brought up here recently).

I still find it funny when even adults don't seem to realize that they are advertising their current location to anyone and everyone all around the globe. People continue to use Foursquare to let the world know they are on vacation making them simpler targets for thieves that want to burglar their homes, they make themselves easy to follow around. For some people the FBI need not plant a GPS tracker, the subject themselves accurately documents everything and everything they do.

Their are positives and negatives to using any technology. Location services can be extremely useful. If you are that worried about someone knowing you location you should reconsider using the internet, or a cell phone. Both these technologies can be used to track you. Basically, in the modern world, if someone wants to track you, they will find a way.

It is always good to watch how much information you are making publicly available but unless your willing to go off the grid it's not worth fretting over.

(In the case of kids though it is worth fretting over and parents should be doing more to protect their privacy online. Simple things like restricting access to certain apps/services on an iPhone can make a big difference.)

"if someone wants to track you, they will find a way."

true, but the key thing is how much effort does it take. If NSA-like resources are needed, well then you are pretty damn safe. But if some guy can find you in two minutes by using just Google, that's something you might want to check.

I use foursquare a lot to advertise my location. It's awesome.

Sometimes a tweet is more complete when a location is attached - I can just comment on something, rather than having to specify why the comment is relevant. Less typing, less fuss, cleaner words.

Often taking a picture makes it more relevant/meaningful when location data is attached.

When posting a Runkeeper update, it is often much better with the whole map visible to people (like when I cycled from SF to Palo Alto. Without a map, it's just a 56km cycling trip, with the map it's an adventure)

What I don't do, however, is make it possible to discern where exactly I live. Doing cluster analysis on all my location-aware updates everywhere will only get you to about a ~500m radius of my building. At least 300 people live in this radius.

Even if you pinpoint my building, you don't know my name. That leaves you with about 10 apartments to check. Without eyes-on-the-ground surveillance you aren't getting anything.

And if you're going to the trouble of eyes-on-the-ground surveillance none of my location-aware updates matter. You can see where I am.

I found your name in approximately three seconds.

> Even if you pinpoint my building, you don't know my name.

Is your name not Swizec Teller, as it says on your website and supposedly real name policy following G+?

Nope, not my legal name. Only people I send invoices to get to know my legal name.

Damn, Internet! You scary! ;)

Another source of information leakage is his DNS records. Either he hasn't been keeping up to date or you just found out the riverside street in Slovenia where his parents live. ^_^

That one's more pernicious; top-level registrars usually demand that it be accurate and might threaten to take your domain away if someone reports that it isn't. There are whole companies which specialize in the service, "we'll be your official DNS contact so that your personal data isn't leaked through the WHOIS database," but the last time I checked was I think two years ago, and at the time the service-providers for this were either (a) really shady or (b) really expensive. It looks like the prices have come down a good deal from where they used to be, though.

Namecheap offered me one year of WhoisGuard with my domain, and now it only costs $2.88/year. Gandi seems to offer it for free, and so does Google Apps if you get a domain from them.

You think that's scary, the Internet just yelled at me that "The life of SWIZEC TELLER IS 32.17% COMPLETE"

making them simpler targets for thieves that want to burglar their homes

Mostly a myth.

I always figured that to be true. Any thief capable of using the internet to expose a location and put in the planning to base a robbery on it has already graduated to much more rewarding and less risky crime than breaking and entering.

Like telling the muscle where to go for a cut?

Like brokering leads to those who haven't yet?

Happened to a friend of mine. What the thief didn't know was that his room mates were not on vacation, and were gun nuts.

Then again it was someone that my friend had once had contact with in a college class and the thief had gotten a hold of his twitter account.

But it does happen.

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