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View Full Version : Big Brother Could Start Watching You... For Your Own Good...



hjmick
03-17-2020, 05:03 PM
... of course for your own good, they wouldn't lie...


U.S. government, tech industry discussing ways to harness location data to combat coronavirus (https://www.seattletimes.com/business/technology/u-s-government-tech-industry-discussing-ways-to-harness-location-data-to-combat-coronavirus/)

WASHINGTON – The U.S. government is in active talks with Facebook, Google and a wide array of tech companies and health experts about how they can use data gleaned from Americans’ phones to combat the novel coronavirus, including tracking whether people are keeping one another at safe distances to stem the outbreak.

Public-health experts are interested in the possibility that private-sector companies could compile the data in anonymous, aggregated form, which they could then use to map the spread of the infection, according to three people familiar with the effort, who requested anonymity because the project is in its early stages.

Analyzing trends in smartphone owners’ whereabouts could prove to be a powerful tool for health authorities looking to track coronavirus, which has infected more than 180,000 people globally. But it’s also an approach that could leave some Americans uncomfortable, depending on how it’s implemented, given the sensitivity when it comes to details about their daily whereabouts.

In recent interviews, Facebook executives said the U.S. government is particularly interested in understanding patterns of people’s movements, which can be derived through data the company collects from users who allow it. The tech giant in the past has provided this information to researchers in the form of statistics, which in the case of coronavirus, could help officials predict the next hotspot or decide where to allocate overstretched health resources...


One problem, one among many, is that the government doesn't give up power once it gets it...

I don't like this idea one little bit, I don't care if they do claim it will all be anonymous...

jimnyc
03-17-2020, 05:12 PM
I don't like this idea one little bit, I don't care if they do claim it will all be anonymous...

That's because Google knows damn well that if you test positive, most of their member devices know every last detail about where you have been, down to the Nth degree, unless you went through the tasks of disabling this.

And even if you do disable it, how convenient that I found the tracking info re-enabled when updates to their software came out.

I think they already go WAY overboard in how much they track on users cell phones, with Google Android phones being the worst in that department, IMO.

Perhaps a good idea for "reminding" people of where they have been. But truth is, Google would already know. And I do believe that Google, Microsoft and even other famous apps, can easily become invasive and track you. And likely not hard for them to track you, track your voice and maybe even video. :(