[SOLAR_FIELDS]

I also would like “give an incorrect location” as an option. Something like that would probably never be supported by Google or Apple officially, because unlike some other privacy features, it’s actively and overtly hostile to advertisers.

[argomo]

Not just location, but all privacy sensitive API's. The OS should have built in support for segregating location, contacts, calendars, storage, etc. (GrapheneOS does this quite well with storage scopes). As part of this segregation you should be able to redirect the API to a custom implementation.

Thus, my transit app would have access to my real location while Amazon thinks I'm still at home and Pokemon Go thinks I'm on an around-the-works trip to collect location specific items.

[Wowfunhappy]

You mention Pokemon Go... this would basically be the end of that game, no? That's probably worth the tradeoff, but worth mentioning.

[fn-mote]

People are already spoofing location, and it hasn't been the end of the game so far. Or did I miss something?

[Wowfunhappy]

It depends on how many people are doing it though, right? If you make it trivially easy by building the functionality into the operating system—and potentially even prompting people to lie when the app asks for their location—I feel like things would be very different.

[SOLAR_FIELDS]

You don’t even have to guess about what will happen. We have examples. For instance, someone made a chrome browser extension that clicked through every single ad on the page. It was immediately banned by Google. You could have always built said tool yourself and used it, but the second it became immediately available to the masses it was crushed.

[freedomben]

For years when Android was a lot more root friendly, this was easy to do. IIRC there was an Xposed module you could activate to do it. If you root I'm certain there are still apps that will do it, though I'm sure Google/Apple will be actively hostile against it, let alone actually support it

[dylan604]

regardless of what apple/google allow officially, the cell carrier also has tracking locations. if you're going out to do something that you would want to hide your location, it's best to just leave the device at home. get a burner phone paid for in cash by someone not you doing the transaction.

[bluGill]

Your cell carrier operators under very different laws and ability to harm you. Sure they know where you are, but most of the data flowing across their network is encrypted and so they mostly know you have a lot of data to AWS, google, and the like but not what it is. Google as the endpoint of that data has the decrypted version of the data and so they know what it is, and so they can target you in different ways.

If you are going to commit a crime (rape, murder), then all the police need is to know who owns the phones in the area and so you need a burner phone to hide your tracks.

However most of us are not worried about crimes. We are worried about privacy. We are not doing anything illegal, but google still knows far too much about us and is using that to legally abuse us with advertisements. While we all want to pretend we are good at ignoring advertisements, most of us have bought things we don't need and don't really want (or spent too much on things we did need/want).

[dylan604]

You seem to have lost the plot a bit. In several locations, it is illegal for women to get certain health care. There are parties out there that are very interested in policing those policies. To prove that, it doesn't matter where they get the tracking data as long as they can prove your location. If someone needs a warrant/subpoena to get the data from a cell carrier or some app developer it doesn't matter to the person being persecuted for seeking health care.

[rustcleaner]

Just pointing out this is an all-or-nothing strawman argument summed up as: if you can't have it all, don't bother trying. It's fallacious. That is all. :^)

[dylan604]

I disagree to it being a strawman. If you are doing something where you location being identified could put you in a spot of bother, do not carry anything that can track your location. There's just no way around it. If you want to use wavy hands to pretend tracking of location isn't so bad, then you go ahead and call it a strawman. For people whose physical safety depends on not being tracked, it is not a strawman.

[makeitdouble]

Apps that fuzzy or fake your GPS location are available on android.

I needed one when working on an app with store location detection and it worked pretty decently. I have no idea what it became or if it can be recommended, but there should be a bunch with recent reviews in the Store.

[em-bee]

murena - e/OS/ has that as a feature.