Updated when data about the geographic position of the user through an app is collected on his smartphone provides a new application.
Η συγκεκριμένη εφαρμογή, που επιτρέπει την εν λόγω procedure χωρίς να προβαίνει σε μετατροπές στο λειτουργικό σύστημα της συσκευής (rooting) γίνεται διαθέσιμη στον απόηχο των αποκαλύψεων της υπόθεσης Σνόουντεν, και ειδικότερα μετά τα τελευταία δημοσιεύματα περί εντοπισμού της γεωγραφικής θέσης χρηστών μέσω εφαρμογών που οι ίδιοι χρησιμοποιούν. Σύμφωνα με δημοσίευμα του MIT Technology Review, η διάδοσή της μπορεί να βοηθήσει τους απλούς users to understand the extent to which their personal data can be collected by applications, as even in seemingly "innocent" cases such as games and dictionaries, it is possible to track the user's location via GPS.
Although a small icon indicating access to information about the user's geographic location exists in various Android interfaces, few users pay attention, as most do not know what it means, according to a Rutgers University study, led by Janne Lindqvist, assistant professor. Lindqvist's team created an app that displays a banner that (obviously) informs the user when this happens.
In particular, the Google has designed Android to block one application from collecting information about others. The Lindkist team used an indirect method, which "sees" when geographic location information is requested from an application. As the professor points out, this has been done in the past, but through changes in the functional: "no one used an application to do it," he says. This app is about to come out on Google Play within two months.
According to Lindkist, Android phone users who used the app were surprised by how often their location was tracked, and by what applications. The goal, in itself, is to encourage Google and application developers to be more transparent, to collect fewer data, and to allow users to choose what data an application can see.
It is noted that in many cases user location information is used for promotional purposes, such as sending "targeted" ads.
