business

"There's no security threat that we take lightly." I think what you meant to say is: "There's no security threat that we want the public to know about."

I thought the apps stealing address book data off the smartphones is worse. This is from an article on the startribune 2 days ago --- "The address book in smartphones -- where some of the user's most personal data is carried -- is free for app developers to take at will, often without the phone owner's knowledge. Companies that make many of the most popular smartphone apps for Apple and Android devices -- Twitter, Foursquare and Instagram among them -- routinely gather the information in personal address books on the phone and in some cases store it on their own computers. "

Big brother is watching.

Big brother could care less.

So, you already have to be BY them, in order to track them? They said that they could tell if the phone was using the same tower. That's not quite the same as the "OMG, people can find you easily!" the article implies (that, for example, I could be in Minnesota and find out, within 10 blocks, where someone is in New York).

Setec Astronomy. Anyone get the reference without googling it? Soon this will become our reality. Once the paste is out of that tube, well, it just isn't going back in. Ever.

Cootoriginal is right, big brother could care less, it's big business that wants and gets this information all the time. However, with the willingness of people to give up their personal information and movements to Facebook, Foursquare and other sites, gone are the days that you need expensive equipment or programming savvy to get personal information with not much more than a Google search and time.

The GSM location 'bug' has been known and presumably exploited for at least 10 years. The recent difference is the dramatic price drop in the equipment and software necessary to take advantage of the problem.