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Brown also has their students cellular telephone numbers. It's feasible that the University acquired/purchased their students geolocation history via their mobi

Brown also has their students cellular telephone numbers. It's feasible that the University acquired/purchased their students geolocation history via their mobile providers.

HPsquared 6y ago
Is that kind of information really for sale on an individualized level, by mobile providers? Surely they have brands to protect, and don't like being sued.
- jswrenn 6y ago
  Putting on my tinfoil hat, I'll note that mobile providers depends on Brown University for antenna space on at least three tall campus buildings.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- ceejayoz 6y ago
  Yes, at least in the recent past. https://www.vice.com/en/article/nepxbz/i-gave-a-bounty-hunter-300-dollars-located-phone-microbilt-zumigo-tmobile https://www.vice.com/en/article/nepxbz/i-gave-a-bounty-hunte... They promised to stop, but I’m not sure I believe them.
- arkadiyt 6y ago
  Yes, in fact government agencies like the Secret Service [1], CBP [2], IRS [3], and others frequently purchase it to circumvent warrant requirements. [1]: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2020/08/secret-service-other-agencies-buy-access-to-mobile-phone-location-data/ https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2020/08/secret-service-o... [2]: https://www.wyden.senate.gov/news/press-releases/wyden-warren-brown-markey-schatz-push-for-investigation-of-cbp-phone-location-data-surveillance-program https://www.wyden.senate.gov/news/press-releases/wyden-warre... [3]: https://www.vice.com/en/article/m7agpa/irs-location-data-venntel-contract https://www.vice.com/en/article/m7agpa/irs-location-data-ven...
  - gruez 6y ago
    The information being sold there wasn't from mobile providers, they were collected by apps. See the first paragraph of the third article: "location data quietly harvested from ordinary smartphone apps over 10,000 times". The same applies to the other two articles.
- bilbo0s 6y ago
  Why would they be sued? It's all right there in the contract in black and white. And, naturally, all the customers carefully read through the contract. /s I don't even know what could be done to stop this stuff at this point? I think it's too far gone.
- jskajakzkjx 6y ago
  A few years ago you could look up any cellphone number’s location on a public website: https://krebsonsecurity.com/2018/05/tracking-firm-locationsmart-leaked-location-data-for-customers-of-all-major-u-s-mobile-carriers-in-real-time-via-its-web-site/ https://krebsonsecurity.com/2018/05/tracking-firm-locationsm...
ogisan 6y ago
The NYTimes [1] did an excellent expose on this a year ago. They purchased location data on 12 million phones across the country. [1] https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/12/19/opinion/location-tracking-cell-phone.html https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/12/19/opinion/locat...
- alisonkisk 6y ago
  It's crazy that wiretapping is illegal but this getting is not.
  - smnrchrds 6y ago
    There is a saying that "if libraries did not exist for millennia, no government would create one in the 21st century. They would instead give people a means-tested tax credit for buying books and call it a day". I think this sentiment applies to much more than libraries or infrastructure. Laws against wiretapping and opening postal letters are vestiges of the past. They never got updated when communication moved digital. They would not be passed today. They are kept on the books only because of inertia. If they didn't exist in the first place, no government would create them in 2020.
    - meekrohprocess 6y ago
      A government didn't create them in the first place, at least not in the US. The Constitution and Bill of Rights were drafted by small committees, and later ratified by each state outside of the existing (paralyzed) governmental process.
ajsnigrutin 6y ago
Shouldn't there be like laws to protect against those, and a few huge class-action lawsuits, forcing the telcos to pay millions and millions of dollars because of that?
- alisonkisk 6y ago
  Yes. Call your representatives and campaign for new ones, or run propositions
  - ajsnigrutin 6y ago
    I live in europe, we have many such laws, and noone can get that data. ...except government agencies, local and foreign spies, system administrators, etc.
- tclancy 6y ago
  Of course there should be. We stopped expecting them during the Reagan Administration because private industry would upset the entrenched monopolies that were keeping us down. And safe. So now people think unions are icky and representatives that care about people rather than corporations are fantasy.
johnjreiser 6y ago
As the article states, WiFi monitoring is likely happening on a large scale. Why purchase outside data when you have better data (including authenticated users) already in house?
throwaway201103 6y ago
Does Brown require that its students have mobile phones?

Brown also has their students cellular telephone numbers. It's feasible that the University acquired/purchased their students geolocation history via their mobile providers.

HPsquared 6y ago

Is that kind of information really for sale on an individualized level, by mobile providers? Surely they have brands to protect, and don't like being sued.

jswrenn 6y ago
Putting on my tinfoil hat, I'll note that mobile providers depends on Brown University for antenna space on at least three tall campus buildings.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
ceejayoz 6y ago
Yes, at least in the recent past. https://www.vice.com/en/article/nepxbz/i-gave-a-bounty-hunter-300-dollars-located-phone-microbilt-zumigo-tmobile https://www.vice.com/en/article/nepxbz/i-gave-a-bounty-hunte... They promised to stop, but I’m not sure I believe them.
arkadiyt 6y ago
Yes, in fact government agencies like the Secret Service [1], CBP [2], IRS [3], and others frequently purchase it to circumvent warrant requirements. [1]: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2020/08/secret-service-other-agencies-buy-access-to-mobile-phone-location-data/ https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2020/08/secret-service-o... [2]: https://www.wyden.senate.gov/news/press-releases/wyden-warren-brown-markey-schatz-push-for-investigation-of-cbp-phone-location-data-surveillance-program https://www.wyden.senate.gov/news/press-releases/wyden-warre... [3]: https://www.vice.com/en/article/m7agpa/irs-location-data-venntel-contract https://www.vice.com/en/article/m7agpa/irs-location-data-ven...
- gruez 6y ago
  The information being sold there wasn't from mobile providers, they were collected by apps. See the first paragraph of the third article: "location data quietly harvested from ordinary smartphone apps over 10,000 times". The same applies to the other two articles.
bilbo0s 6y ago
Why would they be sued? It's all right there in the contract in black and white. And, naturally, all the customers carefully read through the contract. /s I don't even know what could be done to stop this stuff at this point? I think it's too far gone.
jskajakzkjx 6y ago
A few years ago you could look up any cellphone number’s location on a public website: https://krebsonsecurity.com/2018/05/tracking-firm-locationsmart-leaked-location-data-for-customers-of-all-major-u-s-mobile-carriers-in-real-time-via-its-web-site/ https://krebsonsecurity.com/2018/05/tracking-firm-locationsm...

ogisan 6y ago

The NYTimes [1] did an excellent expose on this a year ago. They purchased location data on 12 million phones across the country. [1] https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/12/19/opinion/location-tracking-cell-phone.html https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/12/19/opinion/locat...

alisonkisk 6y ago
It's crazy that wiretapping is illegal but this getting is not.
- smnrchrds 6y ago
  There is a saying that "if libraries did not exist for millennia, no government would create one in the 21st century. They would instead give people a means-tested tax credit for buying books and call it a day". I think this sentiment applies to much more than libraries or infrastructure. Laws against wiretapping and opening postal letters are vestiges of the past. They never got updated when communication moved digital. They would not be passed today. They are kept on the books only because of inertia. If they didn't exist in the first place, no government would create them in 2020.
  - meekrohprocess 6y ago
    A government didn't create them in the first place, at least not in the US. The Constitution and Bill of Rights were drafted by small committees, and later ratified by each state outside of the existing (paralyzed) governmental process.

ajsnigrutin 6y ago

Shouldn't there be like laws to protect against those, and a few huge class-action lawsuits, forcing the telcos to pay millions and millions of dollars because of that?

alisonkisk 6y ago
Yes. Call your representatives and campaign for new ones, or run propositions
- ajsnigrutin 6y ago
  I live in europe, we have many such laws, and noone can get that data. ...except government agencies, local and foreign spies, system administrators, etc.
tclancy 6y ago
Of course there should be. We stopped expecting them during the Reagan Administration because private industry would upset the entrenched monopolies that were keeping us down. And safe. So now people think unions are icky and representatives that care about people rather than corporations are fantasy.

johnjreiser 6y ago

As the article states, WiFi monitoring is likely happening on a large scale. Why purchase outside data when you have better data (including authenticated users) already in house?

throwaway201103 6y ago

Does Brown require that its students have mobile phones?