Quote of the Day
Privacy experts say disabling or deleting your device’s MAID will have no effect on how your phone operates, except that you may begin to see far less targeted ads on that device.
Any Android apps with permission to use your location should appear when you navigate to the Settings app, Location, and then App Permissions. “Allowed all the time” is the most permissive setting, followed by “Allowed only while in use,” “Ask every time,” and “Not allowed.”
Android users can delete their ad ID permanently, by opening the Settings app and navigating to Privacy > Ads. Tap “Delete advertising ID,” then tap it again on the next page to confirm. According to the EFF, this will prevent any app on your phone from accessing the ad ID in the future. Google’s documentation on this is here.
By default, Apple’s iOS requires apps to ask permission before they can access your device’s IDFA. When you install a new app, it may ask for permission to track you. When prompted to do so by an app, select the “Ask App Not to Track” option. Apple users also can set the “Allow apps to request to track” switch to the “off” position, which will block apps from asking to track you.
Apple also has its own targeted advertising system which is separate from third-party tracking enabled by the IDFA. To disable it, go to Settings, Privacy, and Apple Advertising, and ensure that the “Personalized Ads” setting is set to “off.”
Finally, if you’re the type of reader who’s the default IT support person for a small group of family or friends (bless your heart), it would be a good idea to set their devices not to track them, and to disable any apps that may have location data sharing turned on 24/7.
There is a dual benefit to this altruism, which is clearly in the device owner’s best interests. Because while your device may not be directly trackable via advertising data, making sure they’re opted out of said tracking also can reduce the likelihood that you are trackable simply by being physically close to those who are.
Brian Krebs
October 23, 2024
The Global Surveillance Free-for-All in Mobile Ad Data – Krebs on Security
Getting recent location information on a person given just a few bits of data was not the original intent. But it isn’t that hard to do with the Mobile Advertising ID:
The Mobile Advertising ID or MAID — the unique alphanumeric identifier assigned to each mobile device — was originally envisioned as a way to distinguish individual mobile customers without relying on personally identifiable information such as phone numbers or email addresses.
However, there is now a robust industry of marketing and advertising companies that specialize in assembling enormous lists of MAIDs that are “enriched” with historical and personal information about the individual behind each MAID.
I protested a similar loophole when I was working on the location services for Windows Phone 7 at Microsoft. People didn’t see the problem with a phone being assigned unique random number for each phone and tracking it. I had to explain it to them:
Supposed I know where my Ex works (or picks up her mail) and where our kids go to school. I search the tracking data for the sets of IDs which visit both locations. Even if there are a dozen of them, I can find out where each of those phones spend their night. I can then easily visit each of those locations to find which one is my Ex.
If I only have one location for my Ex I still find the home of my Ex. I isolate a sibling/parent/close friend of hers. I use that ID to see if it meets with one of the IDs from my Ex’s work/school.
They seemed understand the problem, but the corporate utility of having the tracking ID seemed to outweigh user risk. I don’t remember what ultimately happened with that.
I know there was similar location tracking risk to users that I called out and they went ahead with. About a month before it was released there was a bit of a scandal with Google’s Android phones. Google was doing almost exactly the same thing as what MS was about to release. The word from the same manager who insisted I make the enabling code change changed his mind. It was with great pleasure that I backed out my code changes.
Smart phones are awesome tools. Smart phone users have a huge advantage over others who don’t have one or don’t use their full potential. But as you can imagine, and as surviving Hezbollah members can attest, in certain situations even a pager is risky.
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