Twelve Million Phones, One Dataset, Zero Privacy

Every minute of every day, everywhere on the planet, dozens of companies — largely unregulated, little scrutinized — are #logging the #movements of tens of millions of #people with #mobile #phones and storing the information in gigantic #data #files. The Times #Privacy #Project obtained one such file, by far the largest and most sensitive ever to be reviewed by journalists. It holds more than 50 billion location pings from the phones of more than 12 million Americans as they moved through several major cities, including Washington, New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Each piece of #information in this file represents the precise location of a single #smartphone over a period of several months in 2016 and 2017. The data was provided to Times Opinion by sources who asked to remain anonymous because they were not authorized to share it and could face severe penalties for doing so. The sources of the information said they had grown alarmed about how it might be abused and urgently wanted to inform the public and lawmakers.

After spending months sifting through the data, tracking the movements of people across the country and speaking with dozens of data companies, technologists, lawyers and academics who study this field, we feel the same sense of alarm. In the cities that the data file covers, it tracks people from nearly every neighborhood and block, whether they live in mobile homes in Alexandria, Va., or luxury towers in Manhattan.

One search turned up more than a dozen people visiting the Playboy Mansion, some overnight. Without much effort we spotted visitors to the estates of Johnny Depp, Tiger Woods and Arnold Schwarzenegger, connecting the devices’ owners to the residences indefinitely.

If you lived in one of the cities the #dataset covers and use #apps that share your# location — anything from weather apps to local news apps to coupon savers — you could be in there, too.

If you could see the full trove, you might never use your phone the same way again.

Read more:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/12/19/opinion/location-tracking-cell-phone.html

#surveillance #privacy #why #thinkabout
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Xiaomi phone logging browser use

A researcher shows how his Xiaomi phone is tracking his web use, including a visit to PornHub.

https://invidio.us/watch?v=62kxZunBQyI

#PoC #Xiaomi #logging #browser
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Xiaomi Devices Found Tracking And Recording Browsing Data Of Millions

The tracking extends to browser's Incognito mode as well !!

Xiaomi has been tracking and recording an insane amount of private data, from user’s phone habits to queries in the Xiaomi’s default browsers.

According to a cybersecurity researcher, Cirlig, Xiaomi records all the search queries and items viewed on its default browser (Mi Browser Pro) as well as on the Mint browser. The tracking extends to Incognito mode as well.

The researcher was able to confirm the same pattern on other Xiaomi phones, including Mi 10, Redmi K20, and Mi MIX 3.

Xiaomi, in response, confirmed that it collects browsing data. However, the company says the data sent is anonymized, and users have consented to the data tracking. Meanwhile, it denied claims of information being monitored in Incognito mode.

The researcher, however, was able to prove that Xiaomi is recording Incognito mode data as well. In a video, he showcases how the information of him visiting a porn website in incognito mode is being sent to the servers.

👉🏼 Read more:
https://fossbytes.com/xiaomi-devices-found-tracking-and-recording-browsing-data-of-millions/

#PoC #Xiaomi #spy #logging #browser #why #thinkabout
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