Why does the search for "found oil" trigger the location on the mobile phone?

Witty cat

2024-04-26 16:54Posted in Chongqing Science and Technology Creators

If you open the short video platform recently, you can find a strange phenomenon: every short video with high popularity will emerge with comments such as "oil found" and "a lot of oil found here", densely occupying the barrage area.

A lot of unsuspecting users have been asking what is the meme of "discovering oil" recently?

First of all, let's talk about the origin of this stalk. The reason why there is this stalk is because some netizens have reported that when using the Apple mobile phone to search or comment on "discovering oil" related topics, the device will automatically turn on the positioning, and it is suspected that the iPhone is collecting and sending location information to monitor the user.

According to the video posted by the user, when commenting "A lot of oil was found", a clear blue location logo will appear in the upper left corner of the iPhone. Some netizens believe that this means that the iPhone is recording your current location data at this time.

As a result, there are a lot of conspiracy theories on the Internet, thinking that the iPhone may be spying on your daily life, and when you send out "Discover Oil", you will soon receive the "Eagle Sauce Gift Package". For this statement, it is obviously not necessary to popularize science. Because this statement itself is a kind of ridicule from netizens.

In fact, after our tests, no matter what words are typed, it is possible to trigger the positioning of the iPhone. For example, if I type "Discover Witty Cat" in WeChat, I can see that the location of my iPhone in the upper left corner also appears with a positioning mark.

So why does your phone have to get your location permission when you're searching and commenting?

Again, this has to do with the features and services of the current application.

I see that some people have explained this by saying that the reason for getting the location information is to show the IP attribution information after the content of the comment. You can see whether you are from Guangdong or Shandong. However, in fact, this statement is not reliable, because obtaining the IP attribution is actually based on the address of the operator's base station or network IP. The app itself doesn't need to "ask" you every time if you're from Guangdong.

The most fundamental reason is that the current application itself has localization-based services. We checked the privacy policy documents of short video platforms, and the reason why we want to obtain your geographic location is largely to show and recommend content in your area, nearby people, or other local information. For example, if you search for "Xia Restaurant" on WeChat, WeChat may recommend some food content around your area, or even directly recommend restaurants to you.

Of course, the algorithm behind this is very complex, and in the eyes of the application, when you actively search or comment, it proves that you have a high interest in the search results or the current content. Therefore, in order to make it more convenient to recommend personalized content or services to you, location information is added.

It should be noted that the positioning button of iPhone is divided into two types: blue and black. The blue icon actually means that there is currently an app in the background to obtain location information. You can do an experiment: open your phone's navigation, then switch to another app, and you'll notice that the location icon is blue.

In other words, if Apple really wants to quietly monitor where you are "if there is oil", why would it pop up a location button to let you know? Wouldn't it be more convenient to quietly record in the background without risk?

In fact, you can turn off the app's location permissions in the settings options, but it's not really necessary, after all, turning off the location will affect the functionality a lot.

Looking back, the reason why the stalk of "discovering oil" is on the hot search has largely attracted the attention of many users. For friends who understand technology and digital related knowledge, it is just a joke. But for some users who don't know, this is likely to cause them a headache. The people who swiped "Discovery of Oil" in the comment area are a group of people who are currently forwarding xxx's birthday news and sending Q coins.

If you're in this way, listen to me: you don't have to.

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