Ad-Rich User Tracking GPS Maps: Can You Be Guided Off a Cliff?
September 3, 2021
It is easy to go on autopilot when using a GPS device like Waze or Google Maps, but never Apple Maps because it is never accurate. Unfortunately even trusted apps are not error free and Auto Evolution explains why in: “Don’t Trust Google Maps And Waze, Colorado Officials Say.” While many GPS apps are reliable, they are notorious for containing inaccurate data, especially in rural or foreign countries.
GPS horror stories haunt the Internet like old MySpace accounts. Two Russians blindly followed Google Maps to a location, where they lost their signal. They spent the night in frigid temperatures, one of them died. Other drivers use roads that are only meant for off-road vehicles or tractors. Local authorities end up rescuing these drivers, because they are often stranded.
In Colorado, drivers are trusting Waze, Google Maps, and other GPS apps way too much. The Colorado Department of Transportation even issued a statement telling drivers not to use these apps, because it could take them down dangerous or dead end roads.
“‘Don’t trust your cell phones, they are really getting people into trouble,’ Amber Barrett, the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer, has been quoted as saying.
Trusting apps like Google Maps and Waze is a big issue, she said, though, in theory, all these solutions should be updated by map editors or volunteers with accurate data. But of course, no app is bulletproof, yet we wouldn’t go as far as not using these apps at all.”
The department advises people to not take GPS directions as set in stone. If a road appears that it is not meant for regular travel, then do not follow it. The GPS will persuade drivers to make a U-turn or turn around at the next possible place.
Ad supported map makers have an incentive to keep their users from killing themselves by following incorrect directions. Dead people cannot buy advertisers’ products nor can they deliver useful real time data to the map providers.
Whitney Grace, August xx, 2021
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