Posted on

Google admits it tracks us even with location services turned off

Think Google can’t see where you are with its location services turned off?

Google tracks us even if we turn off location services, use no apps, and don’t install a SIM card.

The internet giant now admits it grabs data from Android phones with just an internet connection.

Quartz, a media outlet, explains:

Since the beginning of 2017, Android phones have been collecting the addresses of nearby cellular towers — even when location services are disabled — and sending that data back to Google. The result is that Google, the unit of Alphabet behind Android, has access to data about individuals’ locations and their movements that go far beyond a reasonable consumer expectation of privacy.

A spokesperson for Google reportedly said it used cell tower data to send push notifications and messages, but did not store the information. Google pledged to stop collecting the information by the end of November after Quartz called them on it.

“Android phones will no longer send cell-tower location data to Google, at least as part of this particular service, which consumers cannot disable,” the spokesperson reportedly said.

Is the information is collected under any other services?

“It is really a mystery as to why this is not optional,” Matthew Hickey, a security expert and researcher at Hacker House, a security firm based in London, said. “It seems quite intrusive for Google to be collecting such information that is only relevant to carrier networks when there are no SIM card or enabled services.”

In its privacy policy, Google says it uses “various technologies to determine location, including IP address, GPS, and other sensors that may, for example, provide Google with information on nearby devices, Wi-Fi access points and cell towers.”

The information is a hot commodity for advertisers. Companies can use phone data to track when someone enters a certain store. In turn, the data is used to send targeted advertising information.

A 2014 Federal Trade Commission report on data brokers showed that consumer information is sold to other parties or used to create profiles on consumers. The data provides a way to categorize and label people (sometimes in unflattering terms) such as: financial newsletter subscriber, allergy sufferer, “financially challenged,” Twitter user with more than 250 friends, and “working-class moms.”

via TheBlaze.com – Stories

Enjoy this article? Read the full version at the authors website: http://www.theblaze.com

Posted on

Drudge: Mark Levin Getting His Own Show At Fox News

According to Matt Drudge, conservative talk show host and author Mark Levin is getting his own political commentary show on Fox News.

The news aggregator reported the development via Twitter on Tuesday morning.

“Mark Levin set for a weekly TV show on FOXNEWS!” wrote Drudge. “Levin, who has sold millions of books and hosts a top-rated radio broadcast, was warmly received at White House last week during meets with TrumpPence. New FOX show will feature legal, political, social commentary. Expect fireworks!”

Levin, a constitutional lawyer and scholar and former Reagan administration official, has hosted his popular radio show, “The Mark Levin Show,” for over a decade. Prior to his show’s syndication in 2006, Levin was a frequent contributor to both the Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity radio shows.

Levin currently has his own subscription-based television show, “LevinTV,” with CRTV, a part of Conservative Review, a media company which he helped found.

Levin is also a prolific author. His book Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto (2009) was a New York Times Bestseller. His most recent books include Ameritopia: The Unmaking of America (2012)and Rediscovering Americanism: and the Tyranny of Progressivism (2017).

The addition of Levin and conservative commentator Laura Ingraham to the Fox News lineup is part of a shakeup that traces back to the resignation of Roger Ailes as chairman and CEO of the network in July 2016. Major talent, including Greta Van Susteren, Megyn Kelly, and Bill O’Reilly parted ways with the network in the following months. Van Susteren reportedly opted out of her contract after negotiations went south; Kelly reportedly left in part due to what she viewed as a toxic culture at the network; and O’Reilly left amid allegations of sexual harassment and left-wing efforts to pressure advertisers.

via Daily Wire

Enjoy this article? Read the full version at the authors website: http://ift.tt/1TJbF1r

Posted on

Justice for Kate Steinle at last?

It’s now been well over two years since Jose Ines Garcia Zarate murdered Kate Steinle on a pier in San Francisco. (I don’t say “allegedly” here because he’s admitted to being the shooter, but claims that it was an accident.) Given the quick response by authorities and the apparent lack of complicating factors during the investigation, you might think that the wheels of justice could have moved a bit more quickly on this one, but that’s just the nature of the beast I suppose. Still, the trial finally took place and this week the jury is hearing closing arguments. (Associated Press)

Attorneys are set to begin their final arguments Monday in the trial of Mexican man accused of killing a woman on a San Francisco pier in a case that touched off a national immigration debate.

Jose Ines Garcia Zarate had been deported five times and was wanted for a sixth deportation when Kate Steinle was fatally shot in the back while walking with her father on the pier. Garcia Zarate did not deny shooting Steinle but said it was an accident.

The shooting happened during the presidential campaign in July 2015 and touched off a fierce debate over the country’s immigration policies.

Garcia Zarate said he found the stolen gun wrapped in a shirt under a chair on a pedestrian pier and that the weapon accidentally fired when he picked it up. The bullet ricocheted on the pier’s concrete walkway before it struck Steinle.

The complicating factor which made this murder such a national story was, as you likely recall, is the fact that Garcia Zarate had been deported five times before the shooting. He had just finished a stretch behind bars for illegal reentry and was being held in jail on an older drug charge in July of 2015. But in spite of the fact that immigration officials had asked for him to remain in custody until they could pick him up, San Francisco police let him go. That fateful decision wound up costing Kate Steinle her life.

Will the jury bring back a guilty verdict? It looks likely, but it may be on less serious charges. The judge is allowing them to consider first-degree murder, but the defense has been arguing that since the bullet ricocheted off the concrete pier it must have been “an accident.” Prosecutors have pointed out that witnesses saw Garcia Zarate pointing the gun at Steinle, and just because he was a poor marksman that doesn’t mean that he’s not guilty of murder.

Assuming he gets some sort of prison sentence out of this, what will California do with him when he’s eventually released again? If they turn him loose on the streets of San Francisco the people should seriously rise up and physically throw their elected leaders out of their offices and then march on Washington. It was the municipality’s sanctuary city policies which set Garcia Zarate on a path toward his terminal encounter with Kate Steinle and it was our porous southern border that allowed him to keep coming back into the United States over and over again.

Kate’s Law was passed in the House this summer but the Senate has yet to act on it. This might be an opportune time to remind Senate Democrats that there’s a reason people have been pushing for it so hard. And that reason is about to have his fate handed to a jury in California.

The post Justice for Kate Steinle at last? appeared first on Hot Air.

via Hot Air

Enjoy this article? Read the full version at the authors website: https://hotair.com

Posted on

Texas Mall Owner to Trigger Libs With Giant Ten Commandments Statue and American Flag

At a time when malls are desperate to find new ways to get new shoppers in, one mall in Texas has a unique idea: get God and America back into the picture.

According to Fox News, the owner of the Music City Mall in Lewisville says he wants to erect an 8-foot tall statue of the Ten Commandments inside the mall as well as a massive 30-by-60-foot American flag flying outside of the establishment.

“We just feel like if we expose God’s word out to everyone that it might have an impact on people and be a positive thing for anyone,” owner John Bushman said during an appearance on “Fox and Friends” on Saturday.

The monument and flag are part of a rebrand for the mall. According to the Lewisville Texan Journal, Bushman’s ICA Properties bought out the struggling Vista Ridge Mall in the Dallas suburb and renamed it.

Bushman’s company has had similar success with a mall out in the West Texas town of Odessa, also named the Music City Mall.

TRENDING: Jesse Jackson Suffering From Deadly, Wasting Disease

“When ICA Properties took that mall over they probably had about a 60 percent vacancy rate and now they’re full,” new Music City Mall manager Richard Morton said. “ICA Properties has a great track record of turning properties around, and that’s the goal for Vista Ridge.”

And for Bushman, part of that turn-around is turning the Music City Mall at Vista Ridge into a family-friendly destination.

“We’re not trying to overwhelm anyone or make a statement. We just believe in the Lord’s love,” Bushman told the Dallas Morning News.

“That’s the sole reason. We hope when someone sees it, it will touch their heart and give them new hope that day.”

Video below:

Bushman’s other properties — which include hotels and a restaurant in addition to shopping centers — include the Ten Commandments. Although the hyper-sensitive environment we’re in is no doubt going to bring out haters, Bushman insists he’s not looking to offend anybody.

“We’re not denigrating anyone when we do this,” Bushman said. “We’re certainly making the statement that this is our belief.”

RELATED: NHL Continues to Honor Vets, Gives Service Dog Center-Ice Honor

Of course, in Texas, taking a stand for God and country might not be as controversial as in, say, New York.

However, in this modern world, what Bushman is doing is still pretty radical. It’s destined to trigger liberals — and we love it. Our ten-gallon hats are off to him and his stand for God.

H/T Breitbart

Please like and share on Facebook and Twitter if you agree with what John Bushman is doing.

Would you be more likely to shop at a mall that displayed the Ten Commandments? Scroll down to comment below!

via Conservative Tribune

Enjoy this article? Read the full version at the authors website: http://ift.tt/2gEOIzE

Posted on

PAPER: “No One is Talking About Trump’s Game-Changing Deal”

In a piece titled “Why no one is talking about Trump’s game-changing deal,”, the New York Post’s Salena Zito notes the mainstream media’s near comical aversion to honestly reporting on the U.S.’s agreement with China about a “$83.7 billion “memorandum of understanding, to create a number of petrochemical projects in West Virginia over the next 20 years.”

This agreement could mean thousands of new jobs for Americans who struggled under the Obama administration. Business sections in major newspapers refused to give the story the placement it deserved.

New York Post reports:

If the agreement holds tight, it is an economic game changer for the state.

And yet, speaking to the locals here, you wouldn’t even know it had happened.

“I am surprised I heard nothing about it on the national news, nor in my local paper and newscasts,” said Jerald Stephens, 67, a West Virginia native and union rep, who has been a keen observer of local politics for as long as he can remember.

The BBC and CNN covered the news in their business sections, while The New York Times picked up a short story by The Associated Press on the deal. The stories’ headlines were muted; their placement low-key.

“One would have suspected that the prospect of an investment this large — nearly three times the total annual budget for the department of energy — would have been front-page news,” said Paul Sracic, political-science professor at nearby Youngstown State University.

“We really have no influence or power here, so that is interesting to me that he still kept his promise to us, something I suspect he will likely get little credit for in the national news,” Stephens told the New York Post.

Of course, this would not be the first time the media has opted to ignore President Trump’s economic accomplishments. The Gateway Pundit’ Joe Hoft has been closely covering the current administration’s stock market records.

The Dow has increased 4,830 points since the November 8th election and the Dow all time high has increased by 4,527 since the election (the all time high on election day was 18,636 set on August 15, 2016). The Dow has never increased the All Time Highs this much in such a short period of time in its more than one hundred year history.

Since the election the Dow has surpassed 5 major milestones – 19,000, 20,000, 21,000, 22,000 and 23,000.  This is the first time this has happened in less than a year in US history.

The post PAPER: “No One is Talking About Trump’s Game-Changing Deal” appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

via The Gateway Pundit

Enjoy this article? Read the full version at the authors website: http://ift.tt/SIPp5X

Posted on

WATCH: University Instructor Attacks Conservative Students, Steals And Smashes Phone

Liberal “tolerance” was in the air at a one-year anti-Trump commemoration protest on Thursday at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. A triggered anti-Trump TA identified as Tariq Khan was arrested after allegedly assaulting conservative students present at the protest, seen in captured video throwing a punch and stealing one student’s cellphone, which he eventually smashed on the sidewalk.

According to Campus Reform, Khan is a PhD candidate and has taught courses like “Constructing Race in America” and “U.S. Gender History since 1877.” He’s also active with “anarchist and communist organizations including Black Rose Anarchist Federation and Antifa, in addition to working with the undergraduate socialist students.”

The protest was apparently some sort of symbolic act against the election of President Trump. In between the “f*** Donald Trump” chants, Khan gave an impassioned speech to impressionable students about resisting fascism in the White House and targeted conservative members of Turning Point USA (TPUSA) on campus who were mocking the inane protest.

Taking issue with Khan’s rhetoric, freshman and TPUSA member Joel Valdez shouted, “Don’t you have anything better to do? Don’t you have kids?”

This triggered Khan. The leftist is seen via cellphone video sprinting over to the students, getting in their faces and accusing them of “threatening” his “kids.”

The students ask how they “threatened” his kids, but were only met with more belligerence.

The TA continues to berate the students and at one point steals Valdez’s cellphone from his hands. After the students call the cops, Khan smashes the freshman’s phone, an iPhone 7 Plus valued at $700, on the sidewalk.

“The LCD is experiencing discoloration, so both the top and bottom layers of the screen are severely damaged,” Valdez told The Daily Wire.

Khan was arrested and is set to appear in court for criminal charges.

As of Sunday night, Valdez told The Daily Wire that the university had yet to respond to the incident.

WATCH:

via Daily Wire

Enjoy this article? Read the full version at the authors website: http://ift.tt/1TJbF1r

Posted on

Press Mostly Indulges UCLA Player’s Dad Who Denies Trump Helped Free His Son

<p>The 2017 competition for Ingrate of the Year is now closed; the disgraceful distinction belongs to LaVar Bell. Rather than thank President Donald Trump for his part in keeping his son and two other UCLA basketball players from rotting in a Chinese prison for several years, Bell, when asked by ESPN about Trump’s role, shot back "Who?" — and <em>complained</em> that "Everybody wants to make it seem like he helped me out." Well sir, that’s because he did.</p>

via NewsBusters – Exposing Liberal Media Bias

Enjoy this article? Read the full version at the authors website: http://ift.tt/2v7eUfC

Posted on

Understanding the Uranium One “Scandal”

Understanding the Uranium One Scandal
Despite assertions by Hillary Rodham Clinton that the Uranium One scandal has been debunked as “fake news,” there exists ample evidence to suggest otherwise—with additional corroborating evidence being revealed almost daily. In today’s environment where few people care to read a report that extends beyond a sentence or two, the facts behind the Uranium One scandal are often readily dismissed due to its transactional complexity, the complicity of those involved, and the media’s collusion in keeping this story under wraps.

via CanadaFreePress.Com

Enjoy this article? Read the full version at the authors website: http://ift.tt/11sy9G3

Posted on

Brooklyn College Seeks to Ban Police From Using Campus Bathrooms

Brooklyn College in New York City has directed police officers who need a bathroom break to use the broken-down facilities in a building on the far edge of campus.

With a petition in the works to ban cops from the taxpayer-funded campus, the school’s director of public safety, Donald Wenz, told the student newspaper the Excelsior that he is pushing to keep law enforcement out of sight, the New York Post reported Sunday night.

Wenz said that all of the school’s restrooms are still open to police officers, but the college prefers that they stick to using those in the isolated West End Building, or WEB, "rather than walking across either quad to use the bathroom."

The Post visited the first-floor men’s room in the WEB and found a broken toilet with a stained seat and an out of order sign taped to the door of the stall. The newspaper staff also found a lack of soap and paper towels.

A junior at the college who identified himself as Abe said the bathroom is very far away and the worst place to go on campus.

"The bathroom is horrendous," Abe said. "You can only wash your hands in one of the sinks because the other two are broken."

The Excelsior reported that an unidentified student is drafting a petition to college President Michelle Anderson to completely exile police.

The student wants Anderson to make it clear "that we do not want the NYPD on campus in any respect even if it’s just to take breaks and use the bathroom," he told the school paper. Many students agree with the idea, with one senior explaining that "people get triggered" by cops.

"I know students from every background and across every major," one student said. "They don’t feel comfortable around cops. They just don’t. It makes safe spaces feel not so safe."

NYPD sergeants-union chief Ed Mullins suggested an idea for students who want to ban cops from campus.

"Maybe it’s time these students, who fail to recognize the value of those protecting them, go take classes abroad—where they can have their bathrooms all to themselves," he said.

Wenz said that if people see police walking across the quad, some could interpret it as an active emergency taking place.

"Brooklyn College offers the use of our facilities to the NYPD and other public servants … as a courtesy," a college spokesperson told the Post.

The post Brooklyn College Seeks to Ban Police From Using Campus Bathrooms appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.

via Washington Free Beacon

Enjoy this article? Read the full version at the authors website: http://freebeacon.com