Android 15 may let you control when your location is shared with carriers
Android 15 is adding a new location privacy feature that can block location requests from carriers for non-emergency use cases.
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This is disingenuous as to be connected to a cellular network means that you can be found, especially with the cell tower grid getting tighter and tighter due to higher and higher frequencies.
Edit: This definitely helps, but thinking it will stop the carrier from getting your location is not accurate. Your phone has a very weak radio transmitter and therefore only very nearby towers will be able to hear it and respond to it. The higher the radio frequency, the closer these towers must be to you in order to hear your phone. So the carrier can easily triangulate which three towers can hear your phone and draw your location from that.
They address that in the last paragraph. I wonder however if this does much. I mean it's just one of several modes and then certain requirements must be met, too. What would carriers send such requests for in non-emergency scenarios anyways?
Yeah, I did see that last paragraph. I'm not sure if people realize just how accurate a location can be gotten just with that method though.
Sure. In urban environments the cell tower should be able to determine your location down to a few meters or at least tens of meters. They know the angle from which antenna is in use. And I think I read an article or paper that newer technologies also compensate for the signal delay introduced by the speed of light and your distance... So the phone can hit the slot in the multiplexing correctly. So distance from the cell tower should be known to both parties somewhat precisely. No "active" positioning requests needed. I think requesting the location during an 112 / 911 call has also saved some lives already. I'm not sure if it pops up automatically for the dispatchers, though.
