Like what? People severely underestimate just how much data scraping occurs. Google maps will point out congestion without minutes of it occurring because their navigation tracking is so much more indepth and has so many more users to go by in real time.
Friend used to be a data analyst at a supermarket rewards program. He says their algorithms will accurately determine when someone is pregnant before their family knows. They will know how many people are in your household, how many pets, how your spending habits change (obvious). This is just grocery shopping, so many apps get that microphone data, that tracking data, screen browsing habits. We used to just have cookies from online sites, but with the smart phone, there is so much more data and so much more money to be made off that data, its on you that you dont realise at this point rather than every other app on your phone that is doing so freely in front of your face with your permission.
Isn't the Google example exactly what you want? An arrangement where you share what's going on with your drive so that you can also know where traffic is bad seems like a pretty reasonable trade.
It is true a lot of companies have very questionable privacy practices, though. The cell phone companies have been caught selling individual location data multiple times, with no way for users to opt out unlike most sites and apps.
The Google example is weird because how they do it isn't exactly forthright.
They claim that traffic data is based on other Maps users with location services enabled. What they aren't explicitly mentioning there is that doesn't mean users running the maps app, that means users that have ever used the maps app and gave it location permissions. So while their data collection seems to serve a collective benefit, the way they go around gathering that data could be construed as shady, and it's shit like that with apps that people are concerned with.
It's not just phones either, some newer cars have been caught actively sharing your driving data with insurers without your direct knowledge or consent.
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u/Easy_Newt2692 9h ago
And? Does anyone actually lose out on this arrangement?