A few days ago, The Associated Press conducted a survey showing that many Google services on Android and iOS store your location data in complete violation of your privacy settings. The danger that these recordings could represent for private life had already led the company to add a feature to Google Maps to disable the history of locations. This function, as described by the company, was intended to prevent the movements being recorded.
But what the company did not notice is that despite this deactivation, some of its services (Google Maps, Android updates, keywords, etc.) continue to systematically store timestamps. locations without having the choice to approve this storage or not. The company then explained that location data was used to improve the services offered to users in different ways and that clear descriptions of these tools were provided to users so that they could activate, deactivate or delete records relating to them.
Google then stated that disabling Location History without disabling another Web and app activity defined setting (which is turned on by default and saving app data and sites in your Google Account) only guarantees that your daily displacements do not become more additions. There are many other placemarks that tell Google your location. And to get rid of it, you have to delete one unless you want to delete all your backup.
Lenqute has revealed that the operation of the history of locations is clearly explained after you have been expelled. The same applies to the web and app activity, which is only explained clearly after you have played (remember that this parameter is enabled by default). In response to the wave of dissatisfaction generated by these disclosures, Google has changed the description of the location history, stating that the trips are always followed even after deactivating this parameter.
On the Location History help page, we can read this: this parameter does not affect the other localization services of your device. Some location data may be recorded by other services such as Google Search and Google Maps. Remember that before these changes on the page it could be read that when the Location History is disabled, the places you visit are no longer registered.
Google has therefore stated that it has updated its platforms and centers in the notes to the history locations to make it more coherent and clearer. It should be remembered that the same company stated a few days ago to give clear descriptions of its resources.
However, this change does not convince all specialists. Jonathan Mayer, a Princeton computer scientist and former lead technologist at the Federal Communications Commission office, said the change in wording was only a step in the right direction. For him, the confusion created by Google through the use of different ways to store location data will not disappear, just because of this change of description.
K. Shankari, a research assistant at the University of California, Berkeley, also said that this step was a step forward, but she added that Google could improve things. It increases the fact that the new description still does not mention the Web and App activity whose deactivation would stop the registration of location data.
Remember that Google signed an agreement with the Federal Trade Commission in 2011 to hold the location 20 years old. This agreement clearly states that Google may not use misleading procedures to determine how users can protect their privacy. Also remember that barely a year after the signing of this agreement, Google had already been raped by giving Safari users, despite the institutions, location cookies to prevent this. The company was then fined $ 22.5 million.
Source: AP News
And you?
What about you? Do you think Google is imposing a new punishment? What do you think of this change?
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