Skip to main content

You’re not paranoid: Apps are tracking your location 24/7 and it’s totally legal

A shocking new investigation reveals that companies can track you constantly, with your phone constantly broadcasting your exact location at all times.

The New York Times published the investigation on Thursday, using a leaked dataset from one of the many location data companies that collect data from your favorite mobile apps, and the results are unsettling. The investigation, part of the Times Privacy Project series, looked at data of more than 50 billion location “pings” from the phones of more than 12 million Americans from 2016-2017. 

Recommended Videos

“You’ve probably never heard of most of the companies — and yet to anyone who has access to this data, your life is an open book. They can see the places you go every moment of the day, whom you meet with or spend the night with, where you pray, whether you visit a methadone clinic, a psychiatrist’s office or a massage parlor,” the article reads. 

According to the Times, weather, local news, and deal saver apps, along with popular software like Netflix are all used to share your location. 

Location Tracking Visualization
Image used with permission by copyright holder

“Many apps that use your location, like weather services, work perfectly well without your precise location — but collecting your location feeds a lucrative secondary business of analyzing, licensing, and transferring that information to third parties,” the Times wrote. 

In theory, the location data could be used to keep an eye on employees, stalk celebrities, find out if your spouse is cheating on you, or be sold to other companies to target specific ads to you. 

The location data information collected by these types of apps is legal to collect and sell since there is no federal privacy law, which is a cause for concern in and of itself. The companies reportedly only share this type of sensitive data with “vetted partners.” 

Stuart Thompson, one of the New York Times journalists who wrote the piece, spoke with Digital Trends Live on Thursday about the findings and the legality of collecting geolocation data.

“This piece is arguing for federal laws and Congress to look into this issue,” he said. “You can’t really blame [the companies] because they aren’t violating any laws, because the laws don’t exist.”

By tracking location data information, one could identify a person pretty quickly, in some cases, less than 30 seconds according to Thompson. For example, your commute from your home to work is unique to you and your smartphone that travels with you. 

“Really precise, longitudinal geolocation information is absolutely impossible to anonymize,” Paul Ohm, a law professor and privacy researcher at the Georgetown University Law Center, told the Times. “DNA is probably the only thing that’s harder to anonymize than precise geolocation information.”

The article goes on to name some of the companies in the location data sphere, calling out such names as Foursquare, Factual, Unacast, Teemo, and many more. 

“There are dozens of companies profiting off such data daily across the world — by collecting it directly from smartphones, creating new technology to better capture the data or creating audience profiles for targeted advertising,” the article said. 

We already know that with progress in technology comes more progress in surveillance, but the sheer scale of this data is dizzying. Luckily, there are ways to protect yourself by turning off location services on individual apps, but that might mean giving up key features, like Google Maps’ ability to detect where to go when looking for directions.

Thompson told Digital Trends has changed his smartphone habits since reporting on the data set.

“I’m sort of a nut now maybe but I turn off my locations at all times and I’m ruthless about talking to people to make sure they review their apps,” he said. “People just don’t know—they think they do, but they don’t.”

In the coming days, the Times Privacy Project will expand on how this data set has implications on national security and how tracking people’s locations could affect protestors and democracy itself.

Allison Matyus
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Allison Matyus is a general news reporter at Digital Trends. She covers any and all tech news, including issues around social…
Simon Pegg says The Final Reckoning is the best Mission: Impossible movie yet
Tom Cruise stares with a concerned look on his face.

In addition to being one of the longest-running franchises, Mission: Impossible has also managed to retain an impressive level of quality. The teaser for Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning suggests that the next installment will keep that trend alive, and now, star Simon Pegg has said that the next chapter may even be the best in the entire franchise.

On Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum, Pegg said that he had just finished shooting and was ready to hype the film up. "I have just finished shooting. I have one day left of pickups to do," he explained. "I've seen it. It's bananas. It's absolutely bananas. What he does in this one, it boggles the mind. I think this one is the best one ever. And I'm not just saying that because it's like, 'Oh, you've got to say that.' It is going to be great."

Read more
Apple might once again be considering a TV of its own
The Apple TV Siri Remote in hand.

Toward the end of the first decade of the 2000s, rumors swirled that Apple had its sights set on making a TV — a proper set, not a streaming device like what the Apple TV has become. Steve Jobs even claimed to have figured out exactly how to add the product to the company's portfolio, but the idea never came to fruition before his untimely passing. In today's Power On newsletter, Mark Gurman said that Apple "may even revisit the idea of making an Apple-branded TV set."

Gurman didn't mention details beyond that. In fact, the mention of the TV set came on the heels of a discussion around Apple's upcoming smart home device. Gurman's phrasing regarding the TV — "something [Apple] is evaluating" — is the key here. Gurman suggests that revisiting an Apple-branded TV might be dependent on the success of upcoming smart home devices, especially since HomeKit has been the least popular and least-supported platform of the three major choices.

Read more
The uncertain future cost of Apple’s Emergency SOS feature
Person holding iPhone 14 searching for Emergency SOS satellite.

It's been roughly two years since the launch of the iPhone 14 and its Emergency SOS via satellite feature. You might recall that during the first two years, Apple said it would be free to use but that it might require a subscription after that time, according to MacRumors. Last year, Apple extended the time limit by one more year, so you actually have until November 2025, when the trial period ends.

That's good news. The Emergency SOS feature is, quite literally, lifesaving. During April of this year, three university students lost their way in a canyon and used the feature to call for help. Another story arose in July where the feature came through once more in a moment of crisis. And if you keep digging, you'll find numerous other examples of how this tech is truly beneficial.

Read more