Prying Eye: Google tracking without permission is serious breach of trust

An Associated Press investigation has found that many Google services on Android devices and iPhones store your location data even if you have used privacy settings that say they will not do so. This has been confirmed by computer science researchers at Princeton, opening up yet another debate on privacy in this digital age. The matter came to light when a graduate researcher at UC Berkeley noticed that her Android phone was giving her location specific prompts even though she had turned location history off on her Google Maps. It turns out now that some Google apps automatically store time-stamped location data even when no such permission has been given.

Collecting, storing and using digital data is a complicated issue. It pits privacy against corporate interests and raises the spectre of regulation. The Cambridge Analytica scandal earlier this year exposed how data can be surreptitiously filched and used for purposes users never agreed to. While such instances exemplify a breach of trust between users and service providers, regulation brings with it the fear of the state obtaining access to people’s personal lives.

Countries around the world have been trying to address these dilemmas in light of growing digital transactions. In India, the committee of experts headed by Justice Srikrishna recently submitted its report on the issue along with a draft personal data protection bill. The non-negotiable principle here ought to be that primary ownership of data rests with customers. In other words, while companies like Google will handle consumer data, they should only be custodians of this digital information. Hence, neither should they be allowed to use this information without the knowledge of users, nor be able to surreptitiously collect data in the name of enhancing user experience. It’s time companies like Google are held to account.