Canadian investigators determined that users of the Tim Hortons coffee chain's mobile app 'had their movements tracked and recorded every few minutes of every day,' even when the app wasn't open,...
the fact that an app can do that is much more concerning than the fact that one did. why were location services available when the app wasn’t being used?
There are a small number of apps that have legitimate reasons for background location access, like OsmAnd which is very nice for making GPX tracks (in an offline, privacy-respecting way). But yeah “foreground location” and “background location” should be different permissions, and really, why should that app even run in the background?
(note: OsmAnd should be installed from f-droid to get the unrestricted free software version; the version in google play hilariously requires you to pay for the ability to download more than a few maps 🤣 )
the fact that an app can do that is much more concerning than the fact that one did. why were location services available when the app wasn’t being used?
There are a small number of apps that have legitimate reasons for background location access, like OsmAnd which is very nice for making GPX tracks (in an offline, privacy-respecting way). But yeah “foreground location” and “background location” should be different permissions, and really, why should that app even run in the background?
(note: OsmAnd should be installed from f-droid to get the unrestricted free software version; the version in google play hilariously requires you to pay for the ability to download more than a few maps 🤣 )
They are though, I can usually choose between “Allow only while using the app” and “Allow all the time”.