How are you being tracked wherever you are?

Today, everyone knows phones and computers can track users' locations. Most of us don't care and think that the benefits from this are greater than security or privacy issues. Cortana or Google Search will not be great if you cannot follow the user. However, you may not know that there are other ways companies use to track your location. Often they collect information without you knowing it.

Battery of Android device

Yes, smartphones have GPS hardware and location tracking, but you can turn them off. The phone will be less useful but at least the app developers don't know where you are every moment. In 2015, researchers at Stanford discovered something amazing and worrisome that your phone constantly discloses location information through battery consumption .

Unlike GPS or Wi-Fi, any application may have information about battery consumption without requiring permission. Surprisingly, the team discovered how to track this location to 90% accuracy.

The level of battery drain can reveal locations

The phone will consume more battery power when away from the mobile network, especially when there are obscure buildings or mountains. Just watching the battery consumption for 5 minutes is the location that will be revealed immediately.

This method still has a weakness that needs to have the exact location of the place they want to track before using that information to follow the user, this will be quite time consuming. When will the 3D city on Google Maps and other terrain mapping tools predict the exact battery usage? Perhaps not too far away.

Car entertainment system

Google, Apple and auto makers are scrambling to compete in the production of automotive entertainment devices. Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are leading the way, but many other manufacturers are also trying to overcome. Typically Ford and Toyota when they first created a group called SmartDeviceLink Consortium, an app store created by automobile manufacturers and can run on any vehicle. They say they want to create an unlimited experience for drivers. If you are using Google or Apple apps, manufacturers are losing important data. Because location data is also advertising, and advertising means having money.

Firms are scrambling to compete in the automotive entertainment market

By using production-generated applications, automakers can get location information more easily. They can suggest a repair point when you need to replace spare parts, suggest the insurance company when you get into an accident or show ads when nearby shopping stores have a discount .

Gas stations and parking spots

Even if you don't use the GPS system, the car manufacturer can still know your location, as is the electric vehicle. For example, the BMW i3 has recorded information about the 16 gas stations and the nearest 100 parking spots along with geographical coordinates each time the vehicle turns off and starts. All data is then sent to the vehicle manufacturer.

Information about car user locations is recorded

Unfortunately, car manufacturers do not follow user data protection standards. In 2014, the GAO Government Appraisal Agency investigated 10 automakers, found that 5 firms did not explain why they shared location data, none of them let customers delete data and A lot of ways they keep these data.

Ultrasonic signal

Some applications monitor users with sound waves that the phone receives while the human ear is not. This is not a joke. This technology is called cross-device sound track. It can help the phone to record sound with great pitch. Over time, companies will know where you are, what you see and how long you stay there.

According to research, this type of audio signal can be seen everywhere, from websites, shops to billboards on the road, bus stops, airports . Currently, the application will need a microphone. If you want to use this technology. Although smart users will not allow it, it is possible to accidentally click on the wrong or unaware but click Allow.

At present there is little known but think about when this technology became popular, especially when sharing ultrasound data is more and more. When API is available for this technology, users can choose to allow or not more intuitive.