Google SPYING on your real-world movements even if you have Location History turned off
The tech giant has been exposed for mapping the movements of users who have Location History turned off
GOOGLE may be tracking your location – even if you've explicitly told it not to.
The tech giant has been accused of stalking users' real-world movements using their smartphones, completely against their will.
Generally, Google is very good about asking for permission to track you.
If an app wants to follow your location on Android, you'll need to provide explicit permission before it can find out where you are.
This holds true even for official Google apps like Google Maps, which may come pre-installed on your phone – and don't work properly without the permission enabled.
But an investigation by the Associated Press that Google may be tracking you even without your permission.
Usually when you allow Google Maps to track your location, it'll follow you wherever you go.
So if you've entered a restaurant, it'll know you're there – and may offer you the opportunity to write a review, for instance.
You can check out your own Google Maps "timeline" here:
To stop this from happening, you simply need to turn Location History off, which you can do from the above page.
Google states: "You can turn off Location History at any time. With Location History off, the places you go are no longer stored."
According to the AP, that's a complete lie.
A joint investigation with computer scientists at Princeton University found that Google was storing time-stamped location data without ever asking you for permission.
It's claimed that Google "stores a snapshot of where you are" whenever you open the Maps app.
And automatic daily weather updates on your Android smartphone track approximately where you are.
Worse still, even random Google searches that you make will hand over information to the tech giant.
The report notes that searches that have nothing to do with location – like "chocolate chip cookies" and "kids science kits" – will tell Google your exact latitude and longitude.
Google's location tracking turned OFF – how much does it still know?
Princeton researcher Gunes Acar carried an Android phone with Location History turned off, but it still tracked...
- Two separate train commutes
- Visits to several parks
- Trips to various New York districts
- His home address
- Specific city addresses
- Exact times (down to the second) and dates tied to specific locations
This information is reportedly "accurate to the square foot", and is saved to your Google account.
If true, this means that all two billion users of Google's Android phones are at risk, as well as any iPhone user (likely hundreds of millions) that uses Google Maps or Google's search functions.
"If you’re going to allow users to turn off something called ‘Location History,’ then all the places where you maintain location history should be turned off," said Princeton's Jonathan Mayer, speaking to the AP.
"That seems like a pretty straightforward position to have."
Google admitted the rogue tactic in a statement sent to the AP.
"There are a number of different ways that Google may use location to improve people’s experience, including: Location History, Web and App Activity, and through device-level Location Services," a Google spokesperson said.
"We provide clear descriptions of these tools, and robust controls so people can turn them on or off, and delete their histories at any time."
In a separate statement given to The Sun, a Google spokesperson said: "Location History is a Google product that is entirely opt in, and users have the controls to edit, delete, or turn it off at any time.
"As the story notes, we make sure Location History users know that when they disable the product, we continue to use location to improve the Google experience when they do things like perform a Google search or use Google for driving directions."
It is possible to turn these tracking mechanisms off, though it's a little more complicated than declining Location History tracking.
You'll need to turn Location History off first, but you'll also need to switch off "Web and App Activity", a setting that's enabled by default.
This setting tracks a host of information across Google services that all gets tied into your Google account.
Turning Location History off simply means that Google won't show you a map of your location.
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But by turning "Web and App Activity" off, you'll stop Google from collecting other location markers.
It's an obscure set-up, because nothing about "Web and App Activity" suggests that Google would be following your movements in the real world.
You can see your tracked location markets here:
Sadly, they're inter-mixed with a host of other invasive data points about you, so it's not easy to cleanse this information without scrapping all of your other activity, too.
We've asked Google for comment and will update this story with any response.
Do you trust Google with your information? Let us know in the comments!
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