Cell Carriers are Selling Your Locatioin

Not unexpected, privacy implications.  Probably not much to most people.  Good to know though.

Your Cell Carrier Is Selling Your Location Data   By Ryan Whitwam in Extremetech

There’s a lot of hand-wringing over the amount of data Google and Facebook have on us, but mobile carriers have been flying under the radar. The fact is, they know roughly where you are all the time, and a new report claims they’ve been selling access to that information without the proper privacy safeguards in place. You can thank the shady world of data aggregators for this potentially egregious violation of your privacy.

A former Missouri sheriff has been charged with using an online service operated by law enforcement contractor Securus to track cell phones illegally, according to The New York Times. Prosecutors claim Cory Hutcheson used the system at least 11 times between 2014 and 2017 to track the phones of a judge, members of the state highway patrol, and others.

Securus mainly operates private telephone services for prisons and jails, but cell phone tracking is a “value-add” option in this lucrative and highly competitive market. The location data comes from a third-party called LocationSmart, which claims to have a direct connection to all four big US carriers, as well as several in Canada. The nature of this connection is unclear, but it would appear carriers are not getting the appropriate location consent before providing data to LocationSmart.

This location data isn’t anything new — your carrier always knows where you are based on network access, and that’s necessary to ensure you’re connected to the right towers. This network location data is not as accurate as GPS on your phone, but it usually pinpoints you within a few city blocks. LocationSmart even has a try-before-you-buy demo online where you can opt a phone number into the test and locate it in seconds. I tested it with a throwaway SIM, and it did indeed get close to my actual location. ... "