Companies use smartphone locations to help advertisers and even hedge funds
iOS now forcing "While Using" option on all apps is the greatest thing ever. Before this, some apps where forcing the "Always" option on users. Uber and Waze come to mind.<p>iOS also gives you a warning from time to time about apps using your location in the background. I think iOS right now has the best location management.<p>---<p>People are surprised when seeing the Activity section in Google's account details, then freak out about Google tracking their location. At the very least Google is being transparent about it and gives you the option to turn that shit off.<p>Also I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Google Maps now remembers searches you've made without location history or app activity tracking being active. This wasn't the case about a year ago, when I last tried it, a dark pattern of sorts. They probably changed the behavior being forced by the GDPR or something similar.<p>So if you haven't done so, turn off "Location History" in your Google account: <a href="https://myaccount.google.com/activitycontrols" rel="nofollow">https://myaccount.google.com/activitycontrols</a> (I turn everything off and I don't see a difference in usability)<p>---<p>On the article, I love the maps and the animations. Visualization is the best way to make people understand the threat.<p>On GDPR, I've seen people complaining about the high cost for implementing it, however for privacy it is a godsend.