How is your location data really tracked? You’d be surprised.
In the digital space, online privacy tends to resemble more of a privilege than a right
Whether you’re someone who’s chronically online or more of a modern luddite, the reality is that data on where you eat, sleep, shop, and hangout is up for grabs.
We now carry tiny computers with us everywhere we go, and nearly all of them collect and share massive amounts of personal information, including location data, with private companies that can sell it.
“Tracking devices are capable of amazing things, allowing us to connect with anybody in the world and access information like never before,” says Kade Crockford, the director of the Technology for Liberty Program at the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) […]. “But they also allow corporations and governments to keep track of our every move and even every thought that we have like never before.“
Why it’s hard to say no to location tracking tech
For certain people, tracking technologies grant them peace of mind. Many use location-sharing apps to communicate their whereabouts with friends and family. Devices like Apple AirTags or Samsung SmartTags have been conscripted into parents' battle to track their younger children and even frequent flyers tend to tag their belongings in case of mislaid luggage. And of course, geotagging makes a great companion to social media posts by placing users at any given hot destination.
Convenience is another huge benefit. Navigation apps like Google Maps crowdsource real-time location data to collect information about road conditions in the area, presumingly allowing drivers to make better-informed choices about their travel and creating individualized search results for places users might like to visit. […]
Location tracking you may not be aware of — and who can access the data
Though smartphones, smartwatches, and computers are some of the most obvious culprits, there are many kinds of technologies that we unknowingly share the most confidential parts of our lives with. […]
Adaptado de: WOODALL, Tatyana. How is your location data really tracked? You’d be surprised. National Geographic, 05/04/2024. Disponível em: https://www. nationalgeographic.com/science/article/location-tracking-tech-data. Acesso em: 05/04/2024.
Vocabulário (neste contexto):
resemble: parecer;
luddite: ludita (pessoa que se opõe a novas tecnologias);
grant: concedem, proporcionam;
whereabouts: paradeiro, localização;
conscripted: recrutados;
mislaid luggage: bagagem extraviada;
culprits: culpados.
Considerando as citações de Kade Crockford e as informações relativas a ela, assinale o que for correto.
01) É diretora do Programa Tecnologia para a Liberdade, da União Americana pelas Liberdades Civis.
02) Kade parece não ser totalmente favorável ao modo como os dispositivos de rastreamento funcionam.
04) As citações de Crockford se relacionam à temática do texto, contribuindo para a sua progressão.
08) Crockford é entusiasta da tecnologia e incentiva o uso irrestrito de dispositivos de rastreamento.