The Power of Place

I agree, an offline mapping option would be very nice, although idk how the integration of it would work

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What a great conversation we’re all having here.:slightly_smiling_face: My personal opinion is that the pure should not have any GPS whatsoever. One of the main reasons I have bought a pure is because of its philosophy when it comes to privacy. I read a thread on this forum a couple days ago about a guy who has developed a free turn-by-turn navigation system through text messaging. You basically send a text message with the your destination and your origin to the phone number he provided and you will receive a text message with turn by turn directions. Perhaps this could be it solution for many on the pure.

I also feel that it is a great idea to put the Mudita center app on Android and iOS.

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Im in the process of moving away from google as much as possible. Sytarted using protonmail a while back instead of gmail. Right now Im looking at alternatives to google drive cloud storage that is secure.

Any suggestions?

Earlier today I logged into my google account, reviewing my “timeline”, a function where your location gets logged through your smartphone and visually presented using google Maps, apparently. I got an iphone in 2010 and switched to android in 2014. From 2014 and forward every step Ive taken has been monitored, it seems. Interesting.
In 2020 the only location they recorded me in is in my home. I guess its the wifi when using the computer.
Its strange that despite all encryption and secure technologies, the best device to keep my location data private is my non-encrypted, very unsecure 2G phone.

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If you already use ProtonMail and don’t mind paying for privacy and convenience ProtonDrive should be a good fit for you, it’s in beta right now and it doesn’t have a lot of features but it’s evolving quickly and you can expect the same quality as other Proton products in the future.
There are other good alternatives like Tresorit or more complex solutions like Syncthing or self-hosting Nextcloud

For more recommendations you can check out Switching Software, there are even complete all-in-one solutions like Disroot or Framasoft that try to replace most Google services

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GPS isn’t a hard dealbreaker for me, but I am a fan of it for a couple of reasons.

  1. Freedom. I try to get out and explore my city and be spontaneous, and find new things to do in different areas. For example, if I’m in a new town I can look up ‘dog parks’ on my Maps app and have discovered wonderful nearby dog parks I never would have known about otherwise. I can do this easily without having to find a computer somewhere, or go ask someone and have to deal with them using their phones or computers to look it up for me. You could call it anti-social, but it’s more like having a yellow pages in your pocket.

  2. Ease. Maps and directions simply aren’t as available these days the way they were prior to GPS. If I’m at my doctor and they order lab work at a nearby lab, it’s troublesome to get directions from them. There’s just something so easy about being able to punch in an address and get walking directions.

  3. Sustainability. Firstly, I don’t want to have to use paper to print out mapquest directions. Even bigger than that—but not exactly based solely on GPS—I really value ride-sharing. In an effort to reduce my carbon footprint, I use ride-sharing instead of buying and driving ANOTHER car of my own.

My general interest in these kinds of feature phones comes down to phones that make your life easier — with less distractions and more specific utility. GPS increases my quality of life without making me feel complacent, which I enjoy. So it’s something that I wouldn’t mind. To me, it’s no different than having something like a calculator on your phone. It’s purely a tool.

Without GPS, my wife would have to buy ANOTHER device — GPS for her car. And we would have to make even more use of our computers at home, printing pages just to go a restaurant, etc. I know many people who couldn’t justify doing something like that.

Not terribly concerned about the privacy aspect, personally. So long as GPS is only active during use. :slight_smile:

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@urszula, now that my Android phone has been dumbed down for two months in anticipation of the Mudita Pure, I use the GPS navigator in my car more often.

But, I also have become more mindful about my longer, planned drives. In particular, I now look up a route a day or two ahead of time on MapQuest and/or Google Maps. I may print what one of these sites provides. Or, as I did today for an upcoming drive, I may draw my own map with notes about turns.

By studying maps instead of relying on GPS, I discover “back routes” to my destinations. And, I am learning again to memorize the names of the roads along the way.

To my happy surprise, there often are not too many road names and turns to memorize! :smile:

This gives me two benefits over relying on GPS to tell me what to do.

  1. I still can wayfind when the in-car navigation dies.
  2. I can tell someone else from memory how to reach the same destination.
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@kirkmahoneyphd I’ve become quite mindful about my GPS use. Fortunately, in the last year, I haven’t traveled much and I stick to familiar places in my neighborhood, which limits my need to use GPS. However, this weekend, I had to pick someone from the airport & I realized that I need to remember which way to go. It was an interesting experience.

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@John_Andersson your post got me thinking about cloud-based storage. As we are moving away from BIG TECH in terms of phones/ social media & email, there’s still this concept of cloud based storage that is pretty much cornered by the BIG TECH companies. Personally, I’ve been quite apprehensive about using any of the common ones, such as GoogleDrive, iCloud or Dropbox. I’ve started a topic for it. Cloudbased Storage

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The Mudita Pure’s lack of WiFi, geo-location, accelerometer, compass, gyro or apps is exactly what attracts me to this phone. Tech and government surveillance of citizens has gone too far.

I recently purchased an Android phone with Android Open Source Project (LineageOS) containing no Google Apps. My service provider is Verizon (USA), and there are concerns that they may soon be forcing customers to VoLTE only. I wrote Mudita Tech Support, and received a potentially favorable response from Lucasz earlier today. When I get more concrete confirmation, I may place an order at that time.

Looking forward to hearing more soon.

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The lure of GPS tracking can get people killed:

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@kirkmahoneyphd Thanks for this. Really interesting article.

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Just came across an interesting article about GOOGLE: Google was sued by Arizona’s attorney general over its data collection practices last year. In court they admit that the company made it nearly impossible for users to keep their location private. Even Google execs and employees in charge of location data were confused about how privacy settings worked. Yikes

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This is exactly why big tech is evil. There is really no way to stop them legally, but only when consumers consciously make the decision not to use their products. I’ve stopped using Amazon a year ago. Completely stopped. I don’t shop at Whole Foods (owned by Amazon). I only support small businesses for my groceries. I am degoogled my phone & now I’m just waiting for Mudita Pure.

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I agree. I have sold my ebooks and paperbacks since 2010 on Amazon (plus many other sites, including Google Play Store, since then). I am now disentangling my life from Amazon, starting with letting go of my Fire TV devices. I plan to stop selling my books on Amazon. I also plan to let my Amazon Prime membership expire.

So, I have a question for you, @alayah: Where/how do you now buy books?

I want to keep selling my books, but I don’t want to sell them through companies that invade customers’ privacy or that decide to stop carrying best-selling, fact-filled books that challenge some readers’ worldview.

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I generally go to independent book sellers. They can order anything with an ISBN number. I may have to wait for it and it won’t be here the next day, like with Amazon. If I want a specific book, then I try to order it directly from the author’s website if that’s possible. Amazon is just too evil for my liking. I can’t support that.

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I still like asking people for directions…

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@rudisimmons nothing beats human contact! I’d like to add that I actually stop people & ask them if they need help finding their way when I clearly see they are lost & are bewilderingly staring at their smartphone screen, confused, not knowing which way to go. I just did it yesterday. :slight_smile:

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I read this article awhile back & it really creeped me out. It came up in conversation again over the weekend. What are your thoughts on this:

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@urszula, thank you for sharing that article. That creeps me out, too.

Now I wonder:

  • Can Google get location data from a SIM-less Android phone?

I just removed two Google accounts from a SIM-less Android phone that I use only for podcasts, audiobooks, etc.

  • Does lack of Google accounts on a SIM-less Android phone BLOCK Google from getting location data?

Google Maps still works on my SIM-less Android phone with NO Google accounts.

  • Does disabling Location mode in Android settings BLOCK Google from getting location data?

Google Maps seems to require that Location mode be enabled for anyone who wants to use Google Maps for directions – even on a SIM-less Android phone – which makes sense to me.

My SIM-less Android phone now has:

  • Zero registered Google accounts;
  • Location mode disabled.

My SIM-containing (everyday) Android phone has a registered Google account and Location mode enabled.

  • I look forward to the GPS-free Mudita Pure!

It’s worth noting that law enforcement still get warrants for cell-tower-triangulation data. What’s creepy in that ‘Geofence’ article, however, is that geofence warrants sweep everyone within a geofence into suspicion, whereas cell-tower-triangulation warrants force law enforcement to focus on an individual.

I read this article earlier this year. It’s one of the pieces that I read before I wrote The Lure of Geolocation
According to this article- Google uses its Android devices to acquire the location of every Android smartphone owner even when the phone is turned off or operating without a SIM card

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