An amazing bit of digital detective work here. Seems like Linux mobile is your only off ramp from being exhaustively tracked
it’s been known for a long time that there is enough identifiable information in a “normal” person’s internet usage to identify exactly who and where you are and what you are likely doing just from metadata analysis and public domain information
question is, how is this being abused
Is there any straightforward way of stopping this besides dropping off the grid?
All HTTP requests include your ip address, you don’t “consent” to giving it to anybody. You can geolocate somebody based on ip address but it won’t be very accurate
Use a VPN. Problem solved.
Using a VPN just moves the trust to another middleman.
You can set up wireguard vpn on a tiny instance in Amazon or Google, and bounce traffic through that one. Then you control what gets logged (Amazon may have logs over all outgoing connections from all instances somewhere though).
You can even make it change it’s public ip every day if you want.
This problem solved, but whenever you change your network or IP and then periodically, your phone will report to Firebase, so you can receive push notifications.
You can block those with software that simulates a local VPN with a filter, but you won’t get any more push notifications. Now push notifications are not just the ones you see. Some apps use invisible ones to get infos they need to work.
Make sure you disable or properly configure webrtc. Even with a VPN it will leak your true IP address.
Check here.
Not the magic bullet people think they are. Oh, and you can’t turn it off, so you’ll have to take the loss in network speed on absolutely everything. And better know how to configure each device so it doesn’t go ahead and check leak your IP anyways, which also restricts choice of devices you use. Cause remember, if any device on your network ever connects to the net without the VPN, then your anonymity just went out the window.
That VPN provider will then know ALL the connections you make. Almost worse than just using the Internet normally.
Even with Linux it wouldn’t be that safe, if apps were doing this crap.
We just have to stop using the internet at this point
