I agree with your sentiment, but tracking is fundamental to mobile devices: for you to receive a call or message, the network needs to find your device. Therefore, your provider knows where you are (within some radius based on there cell tower triangulation anyway). I assume they keep this data and, possibly, monetize it.
> I assume they keep this data and, possibly, monetize it.
I assume you're correct, and find it unfortunate that we don't legally prohibit this practice. They really shouldn't be allowed to use that data for anything other than providing the specific services of connecting calls, providing internet access, etc. But it doesn't seem like enough people care to make this a reality.
Even if your provider knows where you are (and Librem 5 has a hardware modem kill switch for that), it does not mean that the software can send your location to everyone, too.
I am genuinely interested in this, so I would appreciate your response. My assumption in the comment was that the phone provider keeps a log of device location information. It needs that information to cause your phone to ring. This is completely independent of any software on the device. Am I missing something?
You are right, this is what happens. However, with Librem 5, you can switch your modem off at any moment if you need privacy. Obviously, calling won't work when it's off, but you at least can balance your privacy with the availability for calls.
At the same time, the phrase "tracking is fundamental to mobile devices" does not tell the full story. Yes, it is fundamental for calling [0], but the parent comment said:
"most people don’t have any idea of how pervasive the tracking is and very few people would be ok with it if they did".
This is not (just) about the modem tracking, but also about the tracking built into the OS itself. There is no such thing in Librem 5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHcHi0TBFv4.
[0] and tracking is not fundamental for IP-native communications, which is what Librem 5 is trying to make the default option.
Upd: "the phone provider keeps a log of device location information. It needs that information to cause your phone to ring"
This is also not true. The log is not necessary for the phone to work, only its current location.
The phone provider knows, within a certain margin of error.
I would expect (not welcome, but expect) that that data is available to law enforcement. Not random commercial companies who want to sell me stuff.
What's described in the article is creepy as fuck, using spyware to literally spy on everywhere we go and everything we do, for financial gain, for sale to anyone.
With 5G, I believe that this margin of error will be significantly smaller. But either way, with wifi and gps your location information is pretty accurate already.
