Before heading out to capture Pokémon, you might want to consider the data the game has access to and the history of the company that created the game With Pokémon Go currently enjoying, what I would call, a wee-bit-o-success, now seems like a good time to talk about a few things people may not know about the world’s favorite new smartphone game. This is not an opinion piece. I am not going to tell you Pokémon Go is bad or that it invades your privacy. I’m merely presenting verifiable facts about the biggest, most talked about game out there. + Also on Network World: The Pokémon Go effect on the network + Let’s start with a little history. Way back in 2001, Keyhole, Inc. was founded by John Hanke (who previously worked in a “foreign affairs” position within the U.S. government). The company was named after the old “eye-in-the-sky” military satellites. One of the key, early backers of Keyhole was a firm called In-Q-Tel. In-Q-Tel is the venture capital firm of the CIA. Yes, the Central Intelligence Agency. Much of the funding purportedly came from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA). The NGA handles combat support for the U.S. Department of Defense and provides intelligence to the NSA and CIA, among others. Keyhole’s noteworthy public product was “Earth.” Renamed to “Google Earth” after Google acquired Keyhole in 2004. In 2010, Niantic Labs was founded (inside Google) by Keyhole’s founder, John Hanke. Over the next few years, Niantic created two location-based apps/games. The first was Field Trip, a smartphone application where users walk around and find things. The second was Ingress, a sci-fi-themed game where players walk around and between locations in the real world. In 2015, Niantic was spun off from Google and became its own company. Then Pokémon Go was developed and launched by Niantic. It’s a game where you walk around in the real world (between locations suggested by the service) while holding your smartphone. Data the game can access Let’s move on to what information Pokémon Go has access to, bearing the history of the company in mind as we do. When you install Pokémon Go on an Android phone, you grant it the following access (not including the ability to make in-app purchases): Identity Find accounts on the device Contacts Find accounts on the device Location Precise location (GPS and network-based) Approximate location (network-based) Photos/Media/Files Modify or delete the contents of your USB storage Read the contents of your USB storage Storage Modify or delete the contents of your USB storage Read the contents of your USB storage Camera Take pictures and videos Other Receive data from the internet Control vibration Pair with Bluetooth devices Access Bluetooth settings Full network access Use accounts on the device View network connections Prevent the device from sleeping Based on the access to your device (and your information), coupled with the design of Pokémon Go, the game should have no problem discerning and storing the following information (just for a start): Where you are Where you were What route you took between those locations When you were at each location How long it took you to get between them What you are looking at right now What you were looking at in the past What you look like What files you have on your device and the entire contents of those files I’m not going to tell people what they should think of all this. I’m merely presenting the information. I recommend looking over the list of what data the game has access to, then going back to the beginning of this article and re-reading the history of the company. Related Video: Related content opinion Lunduke’s Theory of Computer Mockery — no technology is sacred The more important the technology, the more ruthlessly and brutally it will be mocked. By Bryan Lunduke Nov 06, 2017 3 mins Technology Industry analysis What is MINIX? The most popular OS in the world, thanks to Intel You might not know it, but inside your Intel system, you have an operating system running in addition to your main OS that is raising eyebrows and concerns. It's called MINNIX. By Bryan Lunduke Nov 02, 2017 3 mins Intel Linux Servers how-to Linux command line tools for working with non-Linux users If you work within a Linux terminal, working with non-Linux users can be difficult. These tools help with document compatibility and companywide instant messaging. By Bryan Lunduke Nov 01, 2017 4 mins Small and Medium Business Linux Windows feature History of computers, part 2 — TCP/IP owes a lot to Xerox PUP An interview with Robert Taylor, former manager of Xerox PARC, shows TCP/IP designs were based a lot on the PARC Universal Packet (PUP) networking protocol suite. By Bryan Lunduke Oct 23, 2017 4 mins Internet Networking PODCASTS VIDEOS RESOURCES EVENTS NEWSLETTERS Newsletter Promo Module Test Description for newsletter promo module. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe