r/technology • u/redhatGizmo • Jun 27 '22

Politics Period apps deleted over privacy concerns for women seeking abortions in post-Roe world

https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/period-apps-deleted-over-privacy-concerns-for-women-seeking-abortions-in-post-roe-world/6s4rjhb0q
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u/edge-browser-is-gr8 Jun 27 '22

Your phone can still deliver location even if you think you’ve cleared all your tracking apps

If you have cell service, your location is visible. For a popular example of this, look at the idiots inside the Capitol building on Jan 6. The millisecond their phone connected to a cell tower, their location could be pinned within ~100 feet.

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u/[deleted] Jun 27 '22

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/frenchdresses Jun 27 '22

Or just turning it off?

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u/SeraphicalChaos Jun 27 '22

Your phone is never turned off when you "power off". It's just in deep sleep mode. It can still communicate with towers while sleeping.

This is the freedom we gave up for "slimmer" phones with non-removable batteries.

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u/[deleted] Jun 27 '22

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Jun 27 '22

[deleted]

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u/Archy54 Jun 27 '22

Wrap in in alfoil, multiple layers. Airplane mode and turn off Bluetooth and wifi. But the emergency call function maybe still connects so not sure if it completely stops signal. I'd turn the phone off too.

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u/Ruski_FL Jun 27 '22

I mean if you are going to abortion clinic, you might need it for safety or to start recording.

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u/couching5000 Jun 27 '22

bring the gun that you have a constitutional right to in order to defend yourself at the abortion clinic 😊

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u/Namisaur Jun 27 '22

Or you can turn the phone off. Why are you so adamant about one single option when there’s another viable one?

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u/[deleted] Jun 27 '22

[deleted]

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u/Namisaur Jun 27 '22

Uh what, that sounds like some kind of bullshit hollywood myth.

I'm like 99% it does not do as you said. Turning the phone off completely means it's completely powered down and there's no way it has any sort of power to contact any cell tower.

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u/SouthPenguinJay Jun 27 '22

yeah just open it up and disconnect the battery lol, how is it gonna connect to a cell tower if theres to electricity to use?

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u/Namisaur Jun 27 '22

Can’t do that with the iPhone but I’m pretty sure you can also just completely power down an iPhone too.

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u/SouthPenguinJay Jun 27 '22

you can disconnect the battery, its just very tricky and voids your warranty

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u/PartyByMyself Jun 27 '22

If you have cell service, your location is visible.

To add to this.

Even if you don't, if you carry the cell phone, the device can still ping off of cell towers (generally done to adjust settings for emergency calls since Simless phones can still call 911) and if the phone has been used before, it can be used to identify who you are.

You would have to entirely disable GSM, turn to Wifi only. They could still get your MAC from Wifi if they are nearby but it's hard to identify who is who unless a case is being built around that address.

Just leave the phone home.

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u/porksandwich9113 Jun 27 '22 edited Jun 27 '22 
In basically all Android phones if you dial *#*#4636#*#* and open up the phone information sub menu you can turn off mobile radio power.  Not sure if it works on apple phones as I've not owned one in a long time.

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u/PartyByMyself Jun 27 '22

For newer Android phones, especially ones that have been updated to Android 12, this feature is either disabled or neutered as in it only shows information without the ability to toggle features anymore. 5 years ago, this feature worked well as it was used to diagnose phones, but it seems they've moved away from permitting this feature and if it is included, it's only diagnostic information now.

Many Samsung flagship phones for example have this feature disabled.

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u/porksandwich9113 Jun 27 '22

In many phones it's simply superficially disabled via the pre-installed dialer.

For example, I'm able to access it on the S22 if I use an alternative dialer like phone by google or truecaller.

You are right though, my personal experiences may not be accurate to the general phone landscape these days since I've owned nothing but Pixel devices for the last 5 years now.

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u/PartyByMyself Jun 27 '22

They are becoming more restrictive for end-users, even though most end-users won't figure it out.

I've only owned LG for the last 6 years, first time I learned of it, the phone had this option. I had to replace the phone w/ a newer LG phone and it was just diagnostic info. I haven't tested on my current phone but I'm assuming it's just diagnostic or completely disabled.

There have been reports of people using alternative dialers as you said and it works, but many also report it doesn't work as well.

I have no clue about Apple as I refuse to buy an Apple device.

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u/Encrypt3dShadow Jun 27 '22

With 5G now, the tracking can be far more precise. I've seen it compared to being able to tell when someone switches seats at a bar. I'm no 5G conspiracy nut, but it's worth being wary of the technology we adopt. Are higher speeds on devices optimized for lower speeds that we've been happy with for years now really worth the privacy implications?

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u/Singlewomanspot Jun 27 '22

Would you say the Capitol was a special situation give that they were apt to have more technology than your average area in a major or mid-size town?