The Fellow Keeps Talking Rubbish

 

There is no consistency in the fellow's statement because  he does not understand technology.  

I asked ChatGpt about these location finding apps and service providers. ChatGpt says all smartphone manufacturers, operating systems, telecommunications companies and other navigation apps have the capacity to trace your movements - legally through court orders or upon request by Police, security service and of course on their own - subject to their privacy policies. 

Waze has been acquired by Google in 2013. Google is an American company. For a very long time Google is able to track your movements and your location. 

ChatGpt says Waze has a published privacy policy which says that it collects detailed location, travel and route information, including GPS and sensor data, timestamps and IP addresses. It may share data with Google affiliates. Even Waze's “Invisible Mode” does not stop Waze itself from collecting location and route information. 

All this is made public by Waze. They do not hide this information.  In other words Waze is telling you,  'We have nothing to hide'.

ChatGPT then says that Apple also has a published policy that says iPhones can send certain location and movement information to Apple for traffic services. 

Likewise Huawei's privacy statement says its services may collect device identifiers, network information, IP addresses and approximate or precise location, depending on the services used and permissions granted. 

Google's privacy policy describes collection of location information from GPS, device sensors, IP addresses, Wi-Fi access points, cell towers and activity on Google services, depending on the product and settings. 

Apple, Google, Huawei, mobile operators and many other technology providers all have the ability to collect movement data.  Their actual capabilities and safeguards differ, so they should be assessed individually.

Any locally developed app is not automatically safer. Their privacy policy, data storage arrangements, security testing, access controls and disclosure rules should be examined before concluding it is safer than any other "foreign owned" app.

Bottom line: Not only can they track you and locate you but worse they can all sell your data to others for profit. It will be really really stupid to think that a locally developed app will not gather information about you and sell your data for profit.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT