hckrnws
WaveDigger: Dig into wireless signals to discover their physical locations
(github.com)
130
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by 882542F3884314B
by 882542F3884314B
For a while they had a paid program, I had a Windows Mobile app I could run with an external GPS dongle that would record wifi APs and location, upload to skyhook, who would occasionally cut me a check for my trouble. I made tens of dollars!
https://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/01/technology/start-ups/01lo...
Permanent hardware or software IDs, such as the Windows GUID or machine-id on Linux (systemd) are inevitably abused for surveillance sooner or later.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/102515
> The owner of a Wi-Fi access point can opt it out of Apple's Location Services by changing the access point's SSID (name) to end with "_nomap." For example, "Access_Point" would be changed to "Access_Point_nomap."
Which will likely get cut off at some point.
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My phone doesn't take several minutes to get a GPS fix even when I'm in the middle of nowhere well beyond the range of cell towers let alone wifi routers...
I understand that in theory it could if it had no clue what time it was either for some reason... but in practice we're talking seconds (though more than 2) not minutes.
It is the realistic scenario that people would face without using WiFi routers or cell towers though. True cold fixes aren't something phones need to deal with basically ever.
People mostly don't change SSIDs or even move networking hardware - e.g. AirBnBs.
Edit: and also are you still carrying a smart phone while doing this? The device which has GPS and a cloud internet connection?
Aiding the fix by obtaining data from a faster unidirectional source (instead of satellite to device, it's just internet to device) doesn't reveal anything private, unlike mass-capture of WiFi (B)SSIDs.
Also, I would look into the quality of the GPS radio and antenna you are using - $95 u-blox modules will get an RTK-quality fix without outside assistance in minutes.