Update August 17 : Google has clarified that it records the history of users' locations even when they uncheck the option.
Google has clarified that it records the history of users' locations even when they uncheck the option
Google records data on the locations of users of various of its services – both on the Android and iOS operating systems – even when these users have explicitly deselected the main option that agrees to provide that data. This was discovered by the Associated Press, which conducted its investigation in collaboration with computer scientists at Princeton University.
Apps like Google Maps, used extensively by both Android and iPhone users, explicitly ask the user if they intend to provide location information when used. The main place where this data ends up is the “Location History”, a service that allows you to «receive better results and recommendations on Google products» such as «recommendations based on places you have visited with devices you are logged in on or traffic forecasts along your daily commute ». Google says “You can turn off Location History at any time. If it is deactivated, the places you visit are no longer stored “.
That's not exactly the case, AP discovered, and the same Google information page that appears when you deactivate the function says so (you can access it from your Google profile, by going to Personal data and privacy -> Activity management -> Location history) . If you turn off the tick, Google says that “some location data may be saved as part of your business on other Google services, such as Search and Maps.” However, it is information that appears only to those who manually deactivate the tick.
As AP explains, Google collects location information (associated with the time) even from users who have deselected the Location History option: for example when opening Maps, but not only. Also to provide automatic daily weather updates on Android, for example, or for very general searches on Google, which apparently have nothing to do with one's position (AP gives the example of “chocolate biscuits”). According to AP, this data collection covers approximately two billion Android devices and hundreds of millions of iPhones.
This data does not end up in Location History, but elsewhere. There is a feature to completely prevent Google from storing your location data, even if the name would not tell. In the same screen where the Location History option is located there is one called “Web & App Activity”: deselecting it prevents any service from storing location data. But by leaving it on and only deselecting Location History, you prevent Google from only recording your locations on the history, but not collecting other user location data for other services. By re-enabling the Web & App Activity option, a warning from Google says that the feature records information about the user's activity on Google services, including location. Even in this case, however, the warning appears only to those who manually deactivate and then reactivate the function.
Contacted by AP, Google confirmed, explaining however that the operation of the data collection systems on the user's location are clearly explained so that anyone can decide whether to keep them active or deactivate them. Deleting the location data collected by Google is a long and tiring process, because you have to select them one by one, unless you delete all the data collected by Google.
Google particularly cares about user location data because it allows you to sell local and personalized advertisements, which for example appear to users within a certain radius of a store. Location information is then used to make many services work better and to provide personalized search results.
