Google tracks your movements even when told not to
AP | Aug 13, 2018, 01:40PM IST
SAN FRANCISCO: Google records your movements even when you explicitly tell it not to.
An Associated Press investigation shows that using Google services on Android devices and iPhones allows the company to record your whereabouts as you go about your day, even if you've used privacy settings that are supposed to prevent it from doing so.
Google stores time-stamped location data when its Maps app is simply opened. Automatic, daily weather updates pinpoint roughly where you are. And some searches that have nothing to do with location, like "chocolate chip cookies," are pinned with precise coordinates down to the square foot to your Google account.
The privacy issue affects some two billion users of Android devices and hundreds of millions of worldwide iPhone users that rely on Google for maps or search.
An Associated Press investigation shows that using Google services on Android devices and iPhones allows the company to record your whereabouts as you go about your day, even if you've used privacy settings that are supposed to prevent it from doing so.
Google stores time-stamped location data when its Maps app is simply opened. Automatic, daily weather updates pinpoint roughly where you are. And some searches that have nothing to do with location, like "chocolate chip cookies," are pinned with precise coordinates down to the square foot to your Google account.
The privacy issue affects some two billion users of Android devices and hundreds of millions of worldwide iPhone users that rely on Google for maps or search.
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