Are we all handing to Google the SSID of our home routers?

THINK before you type. Other people can have the same SSID as you. It'd be pretty useless if Google just stored the SSID. What location would they associate with the SSID "NETGEAR"? They must store the MAC address. They may, or may not store the SSID.

You're supposed to get another OUI block if you run out. And indeed many manufacturers do have multiple OUI blocks.

Pointless anyway. SSIDs aren't unique so I doubt of Google's location service really cares about them.

What location would they associate with the SSID "NETGEAR"?

You don't. You don't know much at all.

They probably log them yes.

Calling it stealing is pretty stupid.

As the only person here who has already posted screenshots of all my relevant settings, I can safely say with some conviction that Google does not have the password to "my" wifi.

If they did, they didn't get it from "me".

What I cared about was that my "stooopid" neighbors are giving Google my BSSID every day because if their stooopid settings.

That's what this thread is all about.

You've gotta be crazy. Pay? For apps?

With what? I would *never* put a credit card in a phone any more than I'd pay for a phone app. There's nothing I want that isn't already free.

Name something that is worth paying for that we can't get for free?

I have no problem when I delete accounts. Originally I had expected the apps to shut down or something, but nothing happened.

I can't even tell what changes when I delete my Google Play account and start a new one. Can you?

You can pay within a browser on a PC/MAC/WHY, and send the app to the phone, so C/C info never goes anywhere near the phone.

How about the OwnCloud app, so you can have the convenience of syncing stuff to a server under your control?

Then you don't have to choose between

trusting sync with google

or

barely getting any advantage from owning a smartphone

The ability to geo-locate MAC addresses was turned off a few years ago.

Yes and I've now read the whole of it. And there wasn't one bit of it that convinced me that it matters if Google know my SSID or BSSID.

You have several times proved that you're far more determined to find evil in what Google does that to actually reason about it logically.

You could use Google Play vouchers.

You don't mind that the free apps often earn their money by spying on you or popping up adverts that might carry malware?

How sure are you that an old style feature phone wouldn't suit you better?

Well yes. But I have many apps I paid for. I don't like obnoxious adverts popping up and I think clever programmers should be rewarded for their efforts.

Alice J. schrieb am 2016-02-08 um 21:51:

With money. E.g. using gift cards:

You don't need to - see above.

Lucky you. Titanium Backup is not free, neither is the Pro version of GPS Status & Toolbox and a number of other tools I use on a regular basis like Real Calc Plus or PowerAmp. And yes, you can get a free version of OsmAnd - but I think supporting the developers by buying the paid version is worth it.

See above. But if it is "worth" for you depends on your needs and not on the app itself.

You loose everything which is stored in the account. But since you don't want to store anything at all, this doesn't matter to you.

keep reading ...

A TGIF Flatiron Steak. A bowl of Wendy's Chili. A FroYo. (Bon appetit.)

Cheers, -- tlvp

Someone had to write those apps ... if we don't pay for apps the app writers will resort to advertising to make a return on their invested time. It's true that some don't ask for recompense, but if an app is worth using surely it's worth a little money?

I agree that there are a lot of apps I wouldn't pay for, but there are some I'm happy to help fund.

You can buy a Google Play gift card -- in a shop, for cash -- and redeem it in your own Google account, and use that to pay for the few apps that you deem worthy of reward.

Yes, it's quite hilarious that 'she' is totally paranoid about Google getting 'her' SSID or/and MAC address, and at the same time is perfectly happy with 'free' apps.

Alice J. wrote: [...]

Yes, we know what you've been whining about, over and over again, but each and every one of your alledged privacy issues - i.e. tying the SSID or/and MAC address of *a* AP to *'you'* - have been *debunked*.

But apparently you don't like it when your 'problems' are debunked, so you just stick your head in the sand and ignore and and all counter- arguments.

In addition to what's been discussed, the Play Store informs the authors of an Android app who installed their app including email address and various other info.

"every App purchase you make on Google Play gives the developer your name, suburb and email address with no indication that this information is actually being transferred. With the information I have available to me through the checkout portal I could track down and harass users who left negative reviews or refunded the app purchase."

To speculate, perhaps this includes Google Maps info, IP address, names of other apps installed, cell phone transmitter location - who knows what.

Two different devices with the same MAC connecting one at a time to the same router certainly causes no problems at all.

Two devices with the same MAC connecting at the same time to the same router might only cause a minor problem that wouldn't matter in practice. Especially if they managed to get different IP addresses.

Even if they ended up with the same IP address as well (which I think would be likely) they might mostly be able to work simply by dropping packets they received that didn't make sense (arrived to port that they weren't expected to arrive on).

While I haven't been successful yet, Andy Burns certainly was, so, you need to be aware of the following:

1. Even if you don't own Android, and,
2. Even if you (like I) turn *off* everything that can spy on you,
3. Your stooopid neighbors and friends aren't as smart as you are,
4. Such that *they* are spying on you when they're near you,
5. By sending YOUR multiple MAC addresses & location to Google!

Worse... A. Anyone with the skills that Andy Burns clearly has, B. Can simply query the Google database, once they know YOUR Mac addresses C. Such that they can geolocate YOUR LAST POSITION. D. (Which "can" be, AFAICT, your phone, under certain circumstances.

For example, if a husband suspects a wife of cheating with his best friend, he can simply run a script that queries the Google public DB for the simultaneous location of both his wife's phone MAC and his best friend's home router.