Turn off the WiFi on your mobile

DesVegas

I agree with @polarityman .. why advertise something i have already bought .. ?

imalone

PolarityMan said:

spacecadet said:

It's a system that Experian sell. My mate was telling me about it. It goes far deeper than that now. 

Have you noticed that when you're looking for something online, shortly after you start seeing adverts for what you were looking at pop up on your facebook feed as well as ebay etc. 

The new thing which will be rolled out soon is adverts that are aimed specifically at you. So when you're sat watching Coronation Street, your set of adverts will be different to your neighbours etc. It's all very interesting stuff. 

That's so retarded, advertisers presumably paid a pretty penny to spend a month advertising 5" monitors to me on facebook *after* I already purchased some from here. Those ads are actually less relevant to me than any random ad they might decide to run.

Yes, that's fairly pointless, but it's at the more basic end.
I assume everyone else here sees endless GAK adverts when they visit sites with adblocker turned off?

chillidoggy

VimFuego said:

nah, it'll be some check shirted hipster marketing types in some soho new media marketing agency, looking for novel ways to convince you to buy shit you don't need.

If it were music gear they'd be wasting their time, cos I don't need convincing: I already buy tonnes  of shit I don't need.

Parker

I don't see an issue with this. Its actually intelligent marketing and a good use of technology.

PolarityMan

I reckon a really effective way to advertise would be to subtly astroturf specialist forums. Especially round here where GAS is rampant. You could even offer to pay existing members of the community to give positive reviews or whatever.

Which reminds me, has anyone checked out the iRig UA launching at NAMM. Apprently it will work on any device and the models accurately simulate hundreds of desirable valve amps.

fatherjack

Emp_Fab said:

...when you're not using it, if you don't want to be tracked.

Actually, don't bother... they can already track you from the mast signals.

Today I've been learning about public WiFi systems - the kind that they have in shops / cafes etc.  The amount of data these things are capable of collating is amazing.  I was logged into a management portal for a chain of retail outlets that also offer free WiFi in store.  As your mobile is constantly polling for open WiFi networks, all WiFi access points in range hear it, and log the Mac address and phone details - whether you are in the place that offers free WiFi, or just happen to be walking past outside.  I was looking at graphs of which phones were seen on a regular basis, how long they stayed in the area, when they often return etc.  This is without you doing a thing or even knowing of the store's existence.

If you actually use the free WiFi facility, your privacy is generally toast.  Many of these places ask you to sign in via Facebook - and in a microsecond your name, and those of your friends, everything you have about yourself on Facebook is logged and recorded.  They (the retailer) now knows your name, age, gender, preferences, and now they also have the mac address of your phone so they know when you are anywhere near any of their stores.  If a retailer has this information, you can bet your arse the security services have access to a huge number of such networks, thereby rendering your location largely traceable 24h a day - should they be interested.  However, they've always been able to do that with mobiles using basic triangulation using three cells.  Once your phone can see three masts, your location is known.

I've always known mobiles are traceable, but today I was blown away by how easy it is.  If you think that MI5 are after you, take the tinfoil hat off your head and wrap it around your bloody mobile !

I'm not too worried - I hear that MI5 make a pretty poor latte.

digitalscream

stickyfiddle said:

They're trying to get backdoor access to every online message service now too. Bloody charming. 

Cameron wants to outlaw all encryption and applications that they can't access. That is, of course, showing the government's fundamental lack of understanding of these things...as soon as they say which systems are outlawed, everybody immediately knows exactly how to avoid being snooped on.

stickyfiddle

digitalscream said:

stickyfiddle said:

They're trying to get backdoor access to every online message service now too. Bloody charming. 

Cameron wants to outlaw all encryption and applications that they can't access. That is, of course, showing the government's fundamental lack of understanding of these things...as soon as they say which systems are outlawed, everybody immediately knows exactly how to avoid being snooped on.

Exactly. Governments don't seem to realise that it's not a closed system and they can't stay ahead of tech innovation. I have nothing to hide but that doesn't mean I'd be happy with governments snooping "just in case".

Drew_TNBD

This thread is anti-human.

d8m

If I need to buy fertiliser again I'll borrow someone else's phone.

RaymondLin

Thought this was obvious…

If you really want to be untraced, you need to leave no electronic and paper trail and walk around in a ski mask with all these CCTV cameras around.

Use Cash only and Pre-paid, PAYG phone.

But then again, I am not trying to evade the police or the authority.  As long as my identity isn't being used elsewhere and my bank balance secured…I have more things to worried about than wifi tracking and Facebook friends list.  The fact that my Facebook profile is pretty much public (on purpose), means I am not fussed.  I personally control what I put on Facebook, as opposed to putting everything on there and make it private so no one would see it.  What I don't want to share are not online in the first place.

I am merely passing through this town, country, life and the convenience simply is just easier and not worried about it.

 

dafuzz

Does anyone know anything about building a Raspberry Pi powered VPN? I saw an article about this a while ago and keep meaning to do it - would it sidestep a lot of these issues?

(assuming a lack of responses I'll be looking into this over the next few days and reporting back)

PolarityMan

A vpn would only help if its attached to a network they cant already trace

dafuzz

PolarityMan said:

A vpn would only help if its attached to a network they cant already trace

Are you talking in terms of tracking? Because I was thinking if you remove the SIM and spoof your MAC, with all your comms encrypted over VPN then surely you're anonymous? Except for your home IP I guess... but maybe use Tor (orbot) to obfuscate that too?

Not that I have any vested interest in doing any of this of course, just thinking out loud

bingefeller

Interesting that you post this thread, @Emp_Fab.

I have a Boots card on which I collect the points and I also have their app on my phone.  I can get a mobile signal OK so I never need to use the Boots instore wifi.  

I need my eyes tested and plan on getting new glasses and there is a new Boots Opticians opened up so I will go there as they have a better selection of frames and they are cheaper.  I called in for a look around and went back out again with the intention of making an appointment a weeks down the line.  A few days later I got in a circular from Boots giving me money off an eye examination and something like an extra 200 points if I buy glasses.  Now I'm not one to be paranoid but some one is tracking something through my phone here.  

bingefeller

Axe_meister said:

Have you heard about the latest way modern dating apps can help you stalk somebody. All you need is three sperate IDs and a bit of leg work.
Find somebody in your area. Your told say they are 1KM away. Use a second ID walk around a bit and try again. Again you get a distance reading. Do it again you get a third reading. Now you can triangulate very accurately.

Cheers.  

thisisguitar

Read about this the other week. The data could even be collated against cctv in a shopping centre to put your face to the phone too.

Haven't read the whole thread, apologies if this has been said already.

imalone

bingefeller said:

Interesting that you post this thread, @Emp_Fab.

I have a Boots card on which I collect the points and I also have their app on my phone.  I can get a mobile signal OK so I never need to use the Boots instore wifi.  

I need my eyes tested and plan on getting new glasses and there is a new Boots Opticians opened up so I will go there as they have a better selection of frames and they are cheaper.  I called in for a look around and went back out again with the intention of making an appointment a weeks down the line.  A few days later I got in a circular from Boots giving me money off an eye examination and something like an extra 200 points if I buy glasses.  Now I'm not one to be paranoid but some one is tracking something through my phone here.  

Sometimes this is coincidence. If there's a new boots opticians opened nearby they'll be doing mailshots to push it for example. I can't remember who it was, but a colleague said their friend thought Halfords (or maybe it was Chain Reaction) had trashed their bike because it was damaged shortly after they signed up to a mailing list, that just verges into paranoia.

CabbageCat

If the Gestapo are interested in the tedious minutiae of Fab's life all they need to do is sign up here. The idea that someone out there is putting in the effort to hack into his phone, track his movements and rifle through his most private thoughts to find out how many people made him cross on the M4 today is a little bit unbelievable.

bingefeller

CabbageCat said:

If the Gestapo are interested in the tedious minutiae of Fab's life all they need to do is sign up here. The idea that someone out there is putting in the effort to hack into his phone, track his movements and rifle through his most private thoughts to find out how many people made him cross on the M4 today is a little bit unbelievable.

He was talking in general, not about himself in particular.