Magrin knew that apps could track people’s movements. Magrin, who allowed The Times to review her location data. “It’s the thought of people finding out those intimate details that you don’t want people to know,” said Ms. It followed her hiking with her dog and staying at her ex-boyfriend’s home, information she found disturbing. The app tracked her as she went to a Weight Watchers meeting and to her dermatologist’s office for a minor procedure. Magrin’s identity was not disclosed in those records, The Times was able to easily connect her to that dot. It recorded her whereabouts as often as every two seconds, according to a database of more than a million phones in the New York area that was reviewed by The New York Times. Her smartphone goes with her.Īn app on the device gathered her location information, which was then sold without her knowledge.

Only one person makes that trip: Lisa Magrin, a 46-year-old math teacher. and travels to a middle school 14 miles away, staying until late afternoon each school day. Yet another leaves a house in upstate New York at 7 a.m. Another represents a person who travels with the mayor of New York during the day and returns to Long Island at night. One path tracks someone from a home outside Newark to a nearby Planned Parenthood, remaining there for more than an hour. The millions of dots on the map trace highways, side streets and bike trails - each one following the path of an anonymous cellphone user.

Find my device apps