Location tracking is a powerful way to trace the locations of tech device users. Geolocation is a way to get a general area in which your computer is located by knowing your IP address. Mobile phones are located much more accurately with multilateration of radio signals, as well as Wi-Fi and GPS tracking. Once seen as a very useful and powerful tool, location tracking became a major threat to our privacy.
At first, the ability to trace the location of an electronic device seemed very convenient. Phone tracing makes useful services and emergency responders much more accessible. Useful applications of computers and mobile phones keep growing. Because they are so useful, our dependence on these devices reached a critical level.
Thanks to the efficiency and convenience of powerful smartphones, we became modern-day cyborgs. Such an essential tool that we use every day can be seen as a detachable part of our own body. To get the benefits of mobile phones, we completely sacrificed our privacy. Big tech companies saw humanity’s dependence on electronic devices and imposed a disturbing level of surveillance. Claimed to be used for our benefit, location tracking is unconstitutional and should be banned.
A clueless consumer becomes a suspect
Big tech companies place a high emphasis on protecting data. Although this sounds reassuring, it is a great way to trick consumers into safety. Tech giants are great at preventing cybersecurity breaches but have no problem collecting, selling, exploiting, or giving up your data. Law enforcement has no problem obtaining a warrant that gives access to location tracking. Because technology tracing shows every place you have visited, becoming an unexpected suspect of a crime has become our grim reality.
Innocence is not important if u were in the general vicinity of a crime. The majority of civilians that are completely innocent can never have peace when they feel being watched. Even in the case of protests and civil unrest, police can access our location data. Geofence warrants make the job of law enforcement much easier by violating our right to privacy.
Tech companies say that location tracking is used for advertisement purposes. However, instead of being a comfortable tool for the consumer, it became the source of fear and anxiety. Geofence warrants and the accuracy of targeted ads paint a clear picture of just how close we are being watched. Some benefits of location tracking are irreplaceable, but the growth of digital surveillance infringes on our civil liberties.
How COVID-19 can kickstart universal tracking
The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has taken over a million lives around the world. However, the unorthodox methods big tech companies use as a safety precaution lay the groundwork for universal tracking. It is safe to say that the level of location tracing is already very alarming. We can see before our eyes how increasing levels of surveillance are making an Orwellian dystopia our new reality.
During the pandemic, Google Play’s updates started tracking all Android users. Both Apple and Google are working together to expand location tracking. Of course, some users are happy that big tech companies play a role in stopping the pandemic. Desperate times need desperate measures, but the universal tracking will lead to a certain abuse of power.
Governments of the world that did not prepare for COVID-19 are now desperate to control it. Without the distribution of a developed vaccine, contact tracing might seem like a good way to control the spread of the virus. But what looks good on paper can be very dangerous in practice. Such an extreme situation gives too much freedom for the development of universal tracking. Tracing our every move may look like it is done for the greater good, but the increase in surveillance will not be abandoned.
The history of unregulated data collection shows that this will lead to private data exploitation. COVID-19 pandemic has distorted our regular way of life, but if unregulated, it will lead to universal tracking. USA Patriot Act is a good example of a government benefiting from an extreme situation for a power grab. Tools that were created to intercept and obstruct terrorism laid the foundation for widespread surveillance. If not stopped, the influence of tech giants over our lives will reach an event horizon, the point of no return.
When it comes to computers, geolocations show your approximate location, but at least there are ways to get some level of privacy. Proxies and VPNs grant us safety and anonymity on the internet. Proxyway have prepared an extensive beginner-friendly guide How to Browse Anonymously with Anonymous Proxies. A changed IP address will mask your geolocation, but it is not as significant as mobile phone tracking.
Location tracking that we experience today is unconstitutional and illegal. Mobile phones send data to tech companies which are used to transform and influence our lives. Location tracking should be banned before it becomes unstoppable.
