Garmin is watching you

I can't get a track log from my nuvi 260, so I'm jealous if Garmin can get one and not me...

Also about EULA, there's a free tool called EULAlizer http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/eulalyzer.html that can read EULA for you and flag the sensitive sections. I used it a couple of time before and it was funny to see all the traps in there.

Of course, like every one else I just clicked "Accept" to get that brand new software/service/etc.

As long as you don't need your GPS to find the bathroom, you should be ok.

Oh boy, i'm Looking for the box of aluminum foil to make me a new hat...

ohwogo nuvi 750

Most people I would assume don't use the garmin much around town on their daily trips to the store, schools, restaurants and so on since they already know how to get where they're going. So in all likelihood most information gathered is when people are out of town. If Garmin wants to track my out of town trips have fun. If the information helps them build a better unit that fine by me.
Most companies that have the ability certainly want to gather information on how you use their product(s) so they can improve it.

I'm tired of the namby-pamby talk here. When you agreed to that EULA, you agreed to Garmin using that info for WHATEVER they want to. Period. End of story.

Don't you get it? NSA, CIA, advertising, personal demographics etc. is all included. Please, wake up and realize what you give away in these things.

/rant

BTW, please don't give me the "If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear" argument. It doesn't wash.

"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
~Benjamin Franklin (1706 - 1790),

CONSPIARCY --- will it ever end?? I think NOT.

You choose to be tracked. For starters, turn off 3rd party cookies. All sites I go to work fine. Have your browser dump cookies when you exit. Disable javascript. There are tons of things you can do, if you want privacy.

I have not forgotten Sony's rootkit.
It will be a cold day in hell before I buy another Sony product.
A point I am always happy to remind sales people.
harrumph

I wonder how many people fill out the "Warranty" cards included with every product, where they want to know everything about you. Talk about invasion of privacy -- Of course you don't have to fill out the card-- they want a sales receipt for warranty.

Always a scary thought, and a repeatable one, sadly.

In any case, apparently we are all just pawns to be shuffled around as so much data, bought at sold on a whim.

That too is a scary thought.

Just don't use your GPSr to get there

Uploading historical data and track logs may not be that bad if they use it to improve the routing, as many of us will use local knowledge to get to a point (like the freeway) that may be different than the route that was initially plotted. Or if you need to go somewhere locally but may not know exactly where it is and use a different route to get to the same point.

I personally do not think it is that bad.

Just my 2 cents

I'm certainly going to bore the hell out of anyone who dumps my wanderings....

Seeing we only receive, not tramsmit, it must be as we get maps, or upgrade? Better have a lot of time and be wide awake if you want to dump my data... !

http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/11/10/consumer-groups-decry...

This is the kind of Information Act legislation the world's leaders want to pass, along with the "Patriot" acts. It will only get worse.

Wake up.

I've never known I was that famous even a GPS Maker watches my steps. Hope they don't find out that I have a weak bladder

Happy Thanks Giving

... then wouldn't the solution be to update your GPSr with a computer without an Internet connection? Or, at least, run the Garmin software only when you don't have a connection.

For anyone who might think Juggernaut had his tinfoil hat on or forgot to take his meds.. one of the building blocks that would allow something like his article suggests is working it's way through congress as we speak.

Go to http://thomas.loc.gov/ then search for bill S773. Look at Section 18 and then at the Definitions section 23, (3)(B).

And for those not old enough to know how inter-twined US businesses like AT&T were (are?) with the government in the 50's and 60's, ask anyone in the military with a rank of 1st Lieutenant or above about the military version of Google Earth.

Then, think about the librarians that recently found out when the government asks you for a list of books someone checked out, and forbids you to tell that the government asked.. you have to comply under penalty of existing law.

Perhaps those of us that don't wear the little shiny hats ought to at least have a box of Reynolds Wrap close by?

... Did I mention that Google is also testing out face recognition in Picasa for your web albums?

have we all had our chips installed in our wrists yet?
we are to late to stop data mining !
the doctors office , the bank ,credit cards ,gas stations , online sales , credit rating services ,restaurants and we allowed it ! yes we did and its all in the fine print that we signed , if you didn't sign it you don't get to use the service ! they call the exchange of information with other services . its sad how they snuck in these clauses when you sign up for anything and we were to lazy to read them or to trusting . big brother isn't watching any more he already he has all your info now , unless your living in a cave without electricity and eating food you grew oh wait you still have to pay property tax and you have a SS number ! I guess my point is don't worry about it now its to late !

think that with this information, they could fix the mapping mistakes sooner. NAH not Garmin.

cell phones are all warm and fuzzy if you never leave the city for someplace else, I have been in a lot of places where there is no cell coverage whatsoever, so if you are only going to use a cell phone to navagate better get good at reading a map to find your way. if you leave the safty of a city.

The only thing worse than no coverage is outrageous roaming charges. Living in Canada with a $25 cell plan, anywhere outside major metro areas I don't use the phone except for the occasional text and checking google maps at a wifi coffee stop.

you cant stop them from tracking you its to late, your cell phone, google . Facebook , amazon, your bank , any credit card you use ,your computer , donations you make , the casino , the phone company ,medical insurance company's ! information is big business and they pay a lot for information and resell it . did you ever notice when you get to a certain age you get phone calls and mail about joining aarp and getting medical braces that Medicare will pay for or a home for 55 or older people, how did they know old you are? im not saying don't try to stop them from getting your information im saying its to late they already have it!

As it was said long time ago: "there is no free lunch". We got cheaper or free device/service so there will always be price to pay. Just get use to it. We are happy to buy GPS from Garmin for $150 instead for $750 as I paid for my Nuvi 770. But to get better money price you have to make up for this in something else. In this case it is your privacy. As far as I know Garmin didn't change into charity organization.

I've never felt the need to take a GPS into the bathroom with me.

[/quote]

How do you find your way back?

Like many insurance companies, mine wants me to install an app on my phone in order to save 'up to' 10% on my bill. If I let them track me and monitor my speeds and stops, I can save.

I hear that almost no one gets the whole 10% anyway. I resent it all. I don't even turn on location services on my Android until I need it. Besides, half the time I forget my phone anyway.

So......app ignored; email deleted.

Is that for real? Are you kidding me??

You can find Tin Foil Hats on Amazon with ease. They even have them for your cat.

I have to wonder why this thread from 2009 has been revived...

I have had an unlisted number for years and my name, address, and age are posted on Whitepages.com.

This is insightful information.

And if they don't know you, they have sequential dialers so you will get a phone call from someone eventually. I don't know how many calls I get a day from people wanting to save me interest on my credit cards or my electric bills or wanting to give me a back brace. Most of the time, I just give them a rough time and then they hang-up on me.

Especially if one is a traveling salesman, it will jam up Garmin

I have a lot of fun stringing them along. It doesn't take much effort to waste an hour of their time on a speakerphone while doing something else, especially the 'Windows support' scammers. I must have the slowest booting computer in existence, I kept a guy on the phone for 20 minutes the other day just saying it was still booting, then crashed, then had to reboot. I figure that was, eventually, 45 minutes he wasn't able to scam some little old lady out of her money.

And I still got to tell him he was a gullible scumbag at the end of it.

Get off the grid... But can't leave the matrix