The team has been in touch with Waze about this issue for a while, and the Google-owned firm says it already tackled "some" of the concerns through some privacy protections. For instance, there's a "cloaking" system that's supposed to mask your actual location. However, it doesn't appear to be all that effective -- in a Fusion test, the UCSB group could trace a writer's journey in detail. Moreover, this exploit isn't limited to Waze. You could wreck a dating app by creating legions of robotic romantics, among other examples.

Waze is aware of the remaining flaws and hopes to fix them. Right now, one of the best options may simply be to put a limit on data requests so that one computer can't create a fleet of fake cars. And there isn't that much risk that you'll be tracked, since any would-be snoop will need a general idea of where you go to get started. If you're at all concerned that someone might want to study your movements, though, you'll want to either use that invisible mode religiously or use another app to get from A to B.