Windsor on an ‘upward trajectory’ as more unique visitors drawn to downtown, cellphone data shows (www.saltwire.com)
from RodgeGrabTheCat@sh.itjust.works to privacy@lemmy.ca on 31 May 11:41
https://sh.itjust.works/post/61069879

I found this creepy article from Nova Scotia about tracking cellphone traffic. Apparently, the company hired to do the analysis can tell someone’s age and income level from cellphone data.

#privacy

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pasdechance@jlai.lu on 31 May 12:26 next collapse

That is creepy. I’ve been to Windsor dozens of times. I didn’t know there was a downtown.

They do the same thing with buses in my city and it is “opt-out” which is unfair because you have to search everywhere to find out how to opt-out and then copy-paste your MAC address. Not very user-friendly…

RodgeGrabTheCat@sh.itjust.works on 31 May 18:38 next collapse

Downtown - blink and you’ll miss it.

Providing a MAC address is a major hassle. Even worse when the phone randomizes it.

BCsven@lemmy.ca on 01 Jun 03:58 collapse

Downtown area is small. But lots of amazing food places, and A Casino if you like that sort of thing. Downtown used to be popular 20+ years ago but its been slowly atrophying with tons of closed businesses since

pasdechance@jlai.lu on 01 Jun 06:31 collapse

I did know about the food, but not the casino. I grew up about 30 minutes from Windsor and we did go every other weekend to eat.

kent_eh@lemmy.ca on 31 May 16:38 next collapse

Apparently, the company hired to do the analysis can tell someone’s age and income level from cellphone data.

According to Environics own website they use cellular data in combination with other databases to infer those demographic signals.

It doesn’t use only cell data to determine your age or income category.

RodgeGrabTheCat@sh.itjust.works on 31 May 18:34 collapse

I should have realized other data needs to be accessed to get someone’s age and income.

Still, the cell data must have revealed the users’ true identity in order for another database to be searched.

kent_eh@lemmy.ca on 31 May 23:37 collapse

Not necessarily.

A phone that goes to a university campus for a few hours each day then to a mall for 4 hours every evening will imply a much different level of income than one that goes to bankers row on Bay Street during the day, and also goes to some international destination for a week at a time several times a year.

All without needing to know exactly who is paying the phone bill, or who is carrying the phone.

RodgeGrabTheCat@sh.itjust.works on 01 Jun 11:09 next collapse

Fair point.

nik282000@lemmy.ca on 02 Jun 01:41 collapse

You can track phones by their bluetooth mac even if you dont connect to anything.

RodgeGrabTheCat@sh.itjust.works on 02 Jun 09:32 collapse

Good point. I’m currently researching how GrapheneOS handles this. So far, its not looking good.

nik282000@lemmy.ca on 02 Jun 12:43 collapse

To be 100% un-trackable you need to put your phone in airplane mode or turn it off entirely.

a_non_monotonic_function@lemmy.world on 02 Jun 05:40 collapse

I can verify this. I spend far more then 4 hours on a university campus, and I’m certain they know that I’m poor as fuck.

LovableSidekick@lemmy.world on 02 Jun 03:58 collapse

It appears younger and wealthier people are discovering what downtown Windsor has to offer.

This has such a wholesome public-access cable vibe, I love it.