Bluetooth "beacons" tracking your position even if bluetooth is shut off

[Art Blade]

if you're using mobile/cell phones, you might want to read that article. It is unsettling.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/06/14/opinion/bluetooth-wireless-tracking-privacy.html

[Dweller_Benthos]

I'm not surprised, saddened, yes, but not surprised. Most of the time in the summer I don't carry my phone with me as it's in my coat pocket, which stays in the car. In the winter when I'm wearing the coat it will be, maybe I should leave the phone in the car all the time from now on. Or throw the phone away.

[BinnZ]

Yes, I had similar thought... I'm not surprised either, but didn't really think of the possibilities with bluetooth. Thing is; I never get disturbed by annoying commercials or popups, not any actually. I don't use those. But see what they know about you? And who has access to that data...
If I go to a coffeeshop carrying my phone half the world can track that down and might one day use it against me. If I go to a demonstration, or if I happen to be at the same location where a demonstration takes place, they know.
When I check my phone, most apps use my location 'when I use them' but so often they are still active in the background because there's no 'easy' way of closing them on an iPhone. So they probably track the living daylight out of me.
I hate capitalism

[PZ]

I'm not sure why my phone does not give me trouble, but I have never received an advertisement of any kind other than the universal annoying scam phone calls. However, I really do not care if my location is known - I just turn off the services to save battery life.  I keep my Bluetooth and location services turned off, and it is sometimes a bother when I want my phone to know where I am for a specific app. The bottom line is that I hardly keep my phone with me unless I am driving (for emergency), almost never answer it unless a custom ring tone tells me that a family member is calling, and consider it more of a bother than a benefit. Of course, I grew up in an era where phones were only wired, and in the living room where every member of the family could hear your conversations. 

[Art Blade]

my mobile phone doesn't have Bluetooth nor can it run apps

[mandru]

The fact that Mrs. mandru drives a lot in her profession for scattered site teaching presentations is the only reason I encouraged her to get a cell phone.  For me I'll stick to land lines.

In following Tech trends over the years I've been aware that this intrusion is nothing new.  It's been actively collecting this info plus a wider spectrum of private info (up to and including conversational audio when the phone's turned off) for quite some time now.  It's one of the key reasons I won't own a cell phone.


**I guess the following can be deleted if it goes to far but it's too hard for a bull to ignore a red flag when it's waved in front of them.**

Spoiler

Maybe before we start blaming Ideologies for these practices we should examine exactly which of the Big Tech companies are most aggressively involved in documenting the GPS tracking and the personal data mining of individuals.

From there (if you dare) follow the money trail to where those companies expect their employees to not only donate to political candidates who will most closely serve their corporate agendas as well giving money towards funding social engineering causes that will reshape society.

[fragger]

I actually don't care much about things like that. If anyone is going to track me, they're going to get bored mighty quickly I'm not exactly Mr. Person-Of-Interest.

I'm like PZ, I usually don't have my mobile on me. I stick it in the car when I go out in case I need to use it in an emergency (because I'm out in the boonies), and that's where it stays until I get home. Then when I'm home, I use the landline for calls. So the mobie only ever really lives in two places - the top of my dresser and the inside of my car's glove compartment. I don't tweet or book my face or feel any need to communicate the minutiae of my day-to-day existence to anyone so I don't really care who takes note of where I go or what I do. If they like being bored, that's their get-off, not mine

I never seem to get popup ads of any sort anyway. Maybe antipodean bumpkins aren't worth the trouble.

[PZ]

I never seem to get popup ads of any sort anyway. Maybe antipodean bumpkins aren't worth the trouble.

like me, fragger