A few months ago, it was discovered that Apple (Google also had a similar problem) was tracking all iPhone users’ locations and storing this information in a database for unknown uses. I believe they claimed that these data were never used in a malicious manner or for any corporate gain, but despite those statements, there was uproar from consumers and government officials.
My question is this: Why was it such a big deal? Everyone finds a reason to believe that his/her privacy is extremely important, and without it, he/she becomes exposed to externalities that can compromise quality of life. Let’s be real: we have shown that privacy doesn’t matter to us; location is just a nip in the bud. It’s obviously reasonable to ask why Apple needed these data at all (which is what most of us did), but to be in outrage over it is hypocritical.
“You have checked into Blank” or “Blank just checked you into Blank.” There, they already know where I am, and I deliberately give that information to them. We are in a world where we seemingly want everyone to know what we’re thinking, what we’re doing, who we’re with, and where we are at every point in the day. “@Blank I just saw Blank on Broadway!” Social media services today thrive on users giving up their personal information. Google gives us ads based on our GChats and e-mails. Facebook presents services to us based on which university we enrolled. Yelp uses current location to recommend places to us. Amazon keeps our credit card information for future purchases. We don’t know whether these companies are storing that information for other uses, but even if they were, should we be angry with them? We were the ones who actively used those features in order to gain something we wanted. The popularity of these services deems this protest over Locationgate void, which probably explains why Apple lost only $1000 in this entire ordeal.
Maybe I’m naive or an idealist, but I think the least of our concerns is worrying about this conspiracy theorist Big Brother movement from massive corporations. By purchasing all these devices, using all these services, and enjoying them enough to refer others to these products, we are feeding this so-called “beast.” If we don’t want to see this, then, as Gandhi said, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”
Ultimately, I would be remiss to say that security and safety are not issues; they most certainly are, but I think that we try to pick fights about ideas that “seem” to warrant fight-picking, and we pursue them unconditionally. I don’t think this Locationgate event was worthy of our energies and time. In due time, there will be very important security issues that we’ll need to tackle.
Maybe I’m just saying this because I love maps and I found this location-tracking “feature” pretty cool.
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pavyedav posted this
