[mojuba]

Unfortunately the majority of more or less useful or popular apps are also linked against various analytics/attribution platforms, often many of them at once. Mixpanel, Amplitude, AppsFlyer, Branch to name a few, plus Facebook and/or Google. In fact having any of the Google's or Facebook's SDKs means tracking, e.g. Maps, Login etc.

Somehow these platforms have no problem with identifying users across their client apps even without the IDFA. Maybe it's not 100% precise, but as far as I can tell these companies keep so much information about us away from our eyes, that even the big guys (G, FB) would be jealous.

Analytics is one big dark corner of the mobile business whose significance is not fully appreciated (yet).

[snarf21]

Right, how often does our external IP change on our home WiFi network or work WiFi network? There are so many other things that can be used to fingerprint. This is part of the reason encrypted DNS and other efforts have some merit. The cell providers have data and know exactly where you are via triangulation.

Has anyone been using Cloudflare's Warp VPN? I wonder if this is the best approach. Paying a private company to act as a one hop TOR to minimize fingerprinting. If the cell networks just see all CF traffic, they may know where I am but not who I'm connecting too. I get that this means I must trust CF but I trust them more than ATT/Verizon anyway. I just want some open source from CF on the mobile side that shows that the private keys are kept in the device's SecureEnclave and not anywhere on disk.

[peteretep]

> Maybe it's not 100% precise, but as far as I can tell these companies keep so much information about us away from our eyes, that even the big guys (G, FB) would be jealous.

Ooooh, think of the GDPR fines!

[api]

Mobile is all about surveillance as near as I can see. The whole purpose of it is to track users.

[BurningFrog]

There were mobile phones decades before any of this existed.

[krageon]

And to the extent that this was practical, they have always been used for surveillance.

[BurningFrog]

Maybe I'm splitting hairs, but that's definitely not their primary purpose, which is what I think OP was saying.

Sure, once they exist, there are secondary effects who are important in themselves.

[api]

Yeah I guess people carrying around transmitters is too easy to exploit for surveillance and it's just irresistible.

[kevin_thibedeau]

How else should a telescreen function?

[mrgreenfur]

I think the push to apps was to get persistent tracking while offering the user the olive branch of new apis/better battery life/etc. The browser is a prophylactic against apps and their uncontrolled behaviors.