From the «your house = sucks» department:
Title: Everyone Knows Your Location: Tracking Myself Down Through in-App Ads Author: admin@soylentnews.org
Date: Wed, 05 Feb 2025 16:43:00 +0000
Link: https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=25/02/04/1455221&from=rss

hubie[1] writes:

Everyone knows your location: tracking myself down through in-app ads[2]:

Recently I read about a massive geolocation data leak from Gravy Analytics[3]
, which exposed more than 2000 apps, both in AppStore and Google Play, that secretly collect geolocation data without user consent. Oftentimes, even without developers` knowledge.

I looked into the list (link here[4]) and found at least 3 apps I have installed on my iPhone. Take a look for yourself!
This made me come up with an idea to track myself down externally, e.g. to
buy my geolocation data leaked by some application.

TL;DR

After more than couple dozen hours of trying, here are the main takeaways:

1.I found a couple requests sent by my phone with my location + 5 requests
that leak my IP address, which can be turned into geolocation using
reverse DNS.
2.Learned a lot about the RTB (real-time bidding) auctions and OpenRTB
protocol and was shocked by the amount and types of data sent with the
bids to ad exchanges.
3.Gave up on the idea to buy my location data from a data broker or a
tracking service, because I don't have a big enough company to take a
trial or $10-50k to buy a huge database with the data of millions of
people + me.
Well maybe I do, but such expense seems a bit irrational.
Turns out that EU-based peoples` data is almost the most expensive.

But still, I know my location data was collected and I know where to buy it!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Original Submission[5]

Read more of this story[6] at SoylentNews.

Links:
[1]: https://soylentnews.org/~hubie/ (link)
[2]: https://timsh.org/tracking-myself-down-through-in-app-ads/ (link)
[3]: https://www.404media.co/hackers-claim-massive-breach-of-location-data-giant-threaten-to-leak-data/?ref=timsh.org (link)
[4]: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Ukgd0gIWd9gpV6bOx2pcSHsVO6yIUqbjnlM4ewjO6Cs/edit?gid=1257088277ref=timsh.org#gid=1257088277 (link)
[5]: https://soylentnews.org/submit.pl?op=viewsubsubid=64924 (link)
[6]: https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=25/02/04/1455221&from=rss (link)

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This message is in MIME format. The first part should be readable text,
while the remaining parts are likely unreadable without MIME-aware tools.

Hah... nice try global spy corporations! I have no smart phone so no apps either! =D

On Wed, 5 Feb 2025, Retrograde wrote:

From the «your house = sucks» department:
Title: Everyone Knows Your Location: Tracking Myself Down Through in-App Ads Author: admin@soylentnews.org
Date: Wed, 05 Feb 2025 16:43:00 +0000
Link: https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=25/02/04/1455221&from=rss

hubie[1] writes:

Everyone knows your location: tracking myself down through in-app ads[2]:

Recently I read about a massive geolocation data leak from Gravy Analytics[3] , which exposed more than 2000 apps, both in AppStore and Google Play, that secretly collect geolocation data without user consent. Oftentimes, even without developers` knowledge.

I looked into the list (link here[4]) and found at least 3 apps I have installed on my iPhone. Take a look for yourself!
This made me come up with an idea to track myself down externally, e.g. to buy my geolocation data leaked by some application.

TL;DR

After more than couple dozen hours of trying, here are the main takeaways:

1.I found a couple requests sent by my phone with my location + 5 requests that leak my IP address, which can be turned into geolocation using
reverse DNS.
2.Learned a lot about the RTB (real-time bidding) auctions and OpenRTB protocol and was shocked by the amount and types of data sent with the
bids to ad exchanges.
3.Gave up on the idea to buy my location data from a data broker or a tracking service, because I don't have a big enough company to take a
trial or $10-50k to buy a huge database with the data of millions of
people + me.
Well maybe I do, but such expense seems a bit irrational.
Turns out that EU-based peoples` data is almost the most expensive.

But still, I know my location data was collected and I know where to buy it!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Original Submission[5]

Read more of this story[6] at SoylentNews.

Links:
[1]: https://soylentnews.org/~hubie/ (link)
[2]: https://timsh.org/tracking-myself-down-through-in-app-ads/ (link)
[3]: https://www.404media.co/hackers-claim-massive-breach-of-location-data-giant-threaten-to-leak-data/?ref=timsh.org (link)
[4]: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Ukgd0gIWd9gpV6bOx2pcSHsVO6yIUqbjnlM4ewjO6Cs/edit?gid=1257088277ref=timsh.org#gid=1257088277 (link)
[5]: https://soylentnews.org/submit.pl?op=viewsubsubid=64924 (link)
[6]: https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=25/02/04/1455221&from=rss (link)

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On 05 Feb 2025 19:25:05 GMT, Retrograde <fungus@amongus.com.invalid>
wrote:

Everyone Knows Your Location: Tracking Myself Down Through in-App Ads

Smartphone is a home/trip phone, and my daily used flip-phone can't
download apps.

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On Wed, 5 Feb 2025, JAB wrote:

On 05 Feb 2025 19:25:05 GMT, Retrograde <fungus@amongus.com.invalid>
wrote:

Everyone Knows Your Location: Tracking Myself Down Through in-App Ads

Smartphone is a home/trip phone, and my daily used flip-phone can't
download apps.

Excellent! You are a wise man JAB! I briefly thought about getting myself
one of the latest sony walkman mp3 players based on android. They don't
have any cellphone functionality and do have the capability of downloading android apps.

Currently a used one is around 250 USD or so, so if I can find it for
around 150-200 USD I might do it.

Another option is running apps inside an android emulator, but some apps
don't work, and it is annoying to have a several GB VM on your disk only
for occasionally running some weird app.

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In misc.news.internet.discuss, JAB <here@is.invalid> wrote:

Retrograde <fungus@amongus.com.invalid> wrote:

Everyone Knows Your Location: Tracking Myself Down Through in-App Ads

Smartphone is a home/trip phone, and my daily used flip-phone can't
download apps.

People who have very good app / data hygiene are often trackable by
family members who don't.

Elijah
------
who do you live with and what do they do with their phones?

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On Fri, 7 Feb 2025 20:03:51 -0000 (UTC), Eli the Bearded <*@eli.users.panix.com> wrote:

People who have very good app / data hygiene are often trackable by
family members who don't.

Cellular company I use uses Internet "pipes" at the towers I use the
most. So, either the provider, carrier, or Intel could track in real
time:-)


"Yes, Verizon VoIP calls can be encrypted, specifically through their
"Verizon Voice Cypher" feature which provides end-to-end encryption
between callers on smartphones and tablets, even when crossing
multiple networks; however, this feature might require additional
subscription or configuration depending on your plan" ===========================

What is VoIP in wireless communication?

Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is a technology that allows you to
make voice calls using a broadband Internet connection instead of a
regular (or analog) phone line.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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On Fri, 7 Feb 2025, JAB wrote:

On Fri, 7 Feb 2025 20:03:51 -0000 (UTC), Eli the Bearded <*@eli.users.panix.com> wrote:

People who have very good app / data hygiene are often trackable by
family members who don't.

Cellular company I use uses Internet "pipes" at the towers I use the
most. So, either the provider, carrier, or Intel could track in real
time:-)

Use client encryption and be at peace! It will leak metadata and
positional data though. =(

"Yes, Verizon VoIP calls can be encrypted, specifically through their "Verizon Voice Cypher" feature which provides end-to-end encryption
between callers on smartphones and tablets, even when crossing
multiple networks; however, this feature might require additional subscription or configuration depending on your plan" ===========================

What is VoIP in wireless communication?

Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is a technology that allows you to
make voice calls using a broadband Internet connection instead of a
regular (or analog) phone line.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Fri, 7 Feb 2025, Eli the Bearded wrote:

In misc.news.internet.discuss, JAB <here@is.invalid> wrote:

Retrograde <fungus@amongus.com.invalid> wrote:

Everyone Knows Your Location: Tracking Myself Down Through in-App Ads

Smartphone is a home/trip phone, and my daily used flip-phone can't
download apps.

People who have very good app / data hygiene are often trackable by
family members who don't.

Elijah
------
who do you live with and what do they do with their phones?

Well, at least the data is dirty.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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