Every fourth dimension a service similar Google Maps wants to role your location, Google asks your permission to allow access to your location if you lot desire to role it for navigating, but a novel investigation shows that the fellowship does runway you lot anyway.
An investigation yesteryear Associated Press revealed that many Google services on Android as well as iPhone devices shop records of your location information fifty-fifty when you lot bring paused "Location History" on your mobile devices.
Disabling "Location History" inwards the privacy settings of Google applications should forbid Google from keeping runway of your every movement, every bit its ain back upward page states: "You tin plough off Location History at whatever time. With Location History off, the places you lot instruct are no longer stored."
However, AP constitute that fifty-fifty alongside Location History turned off, some Google apps automatically shop "time-stamped location data" on users without bespeak them, eventually misleading its claim.
"For example, Google stores a snapshot of where you lot are when you lot simply opened upward its Maps app. Automatic daily weather condition updates on Android phones pinpoint roughly where you lot are," the AP explains.
"And some searches that bring nada to create alongside location, similar "chocolate fighting cookies," or "kids scientific discipline kits," pinpoint your precise latitude as well as longitude—accurate to the foursquare foot—and salve it to your Google account."
To demonstrate the threat of this Google's practice, the AP created a visual map of the movements of Princeton postdoctoral researcher Gunes Acar, who carried an Android smartphone alongside 'Location History' switched off to forbid location information collection.
However, the researchers discovered that the map includes records of Dr. Acar's develop commute on 2 trips to New York as well as visits to the High Line park, Chelsea Market, Hell's Kitchen, Central Park as well as Harlem.
To protect the privacy of Dr. Acar, the publication did non plot the well-nigh telling as well as frequent marking on the map which includes Acar's abode address.
According to the researchers, this privacy number affects roughly 2 billion Android users as well as hundreds of millions of iPhone users across the basis who rely on Google for maps or search.
Google Admits Tracking Users' Location
In reply to the APs investigation, Googled issued the next statement:
"There are a number of dissimilar ways that Google may role location to better people's experience, including Location History, Web, as well as App Activity, as well as through device-level Location Services. We render clear descriptions of these tools, as well as robust controls thus people tin plough them on or off, as well as delete their histories at whatever time."
Well, technically Google made it alone clear, but Jonathan Mayer, a Princeton researcher as well as onetime principal technologist for the FCC's enforcement bureau, argued:
"If you're going to allow users to plough off something called 'Location History,' thus all the places where you lot maintain location history should hold upward turned off. That seems similar a pretty straightforward seat to have."
Here's How to Stop Google From Tracking Your Location
To terminal Google from saving time-stamped location markers, users demand to plough off some other setting, called "Web as well as App Activity"—a setting which is enabled yesteryear default as well as stores a diverseness of information from Google apps as well as sites to your Google account.
Once disabled, it volition non only terminal Google from storing location markers but also prevents the fellowship from storing information generated yesteryear searches as well as other activities.
For Any device:
Open your spider web browser, instruct to myactivity.google.com, choose "Activity Controls" from the upper left drop-down menu, as well as at nowadays plough off both "Web & App Activity" as well as "Location History."
For Android Devices:
Head on immediately to the "Security & location" setting, scroll downwards to "Privacy", as well as tap "Location." Now you lot tin toggle it off for the entire device.
You tin also role "App-level permissions" to disable access to diverse apps.
For iOS Devices:
If you lot role Google Maps, Go to Settings → Privacy Location Services as well as suit your location setting to 'While Using' the app. This volition forbid the app from accessing your location when it is non active.
