No Original Thought
Captain
Flight distance : 1364209 ft
United Kingdom
Offline
|
I don't know about iOS, but I do a bit of development on Android...
On Android, you need to alloow the location permission in order to use Bluetooth on a device. The Mimo app uses/can use Bluetooth to establish initial communications between a phone and a DJI device.
Android does not ask you to allow the app to use Bluetooth, though. It asks you to allow location use - which is confusing!
The reason for this is that Bluetooth can be used to determine your location!
Consider this, a database of Bluetooth devices tied to locations - bluetooth beacons (used for advertising) in particular, but also bluetooth speakers and other bluetooth devices that don't generally move about - can build a set of triangulation points that can be used to determine a users location. These Bluetooth beacons are a particular problem here as their proliferation is scary these days (install a beacon scanner and go for a walk aroudn a town centre, you'll be amazed).
If Android just asked for permission to use Bluetooth you'd probably be pretty hapy with that. BUT what is the app using Bluetooth for? Android has no way of knowing if you are using the infromation about which Bluetooth devices are close to you. It /may/ be legitimate use to connecto a device or it may be used to determine your location.
For that information it was decided that Android shoudl ask for permission to access location information in order to use BlueTooth connections.
While it is confusing, it is erring on the cautious side in these dyas of data slurping everywhere.
While allowing the location permission DOES allow an app to access your GPS location as well, which you may consider a privacy issue, it shoud be noted that allowing access to Bluetooth on your device can also reveal your location, so even if there was a seperate permission just for Bluetooth you could be giving away your location.
Beyond that, remeber that even having a cell connection, for your phone to work as a phone, can be used to determine your location! Triangulation between cell-towers can be pretty accurate! |
|