Like it or not, Google is watching your every step
In what many might have suspected but couldn't earlier prove, it's now been proven that Google tracks your location whether you like it or not. An investigation by the Associated Press revealed that even when users have their 'Location History' switched off, a plethora of Google apps store time-stamped location data. Google, of course, denied doing it behind users' backs. Here's more.
Google's claims about its users' location privacy
In most cases, Google asks for explicit permission for accessing your location data. With users' permission, Google also tracks location data over time, but this can be opted out of by tweaking the setting called 'Location History'. Google claims that location data of those who turn this setting off are "no longer stored", but AP found plenty of evidence to show otherwise.
What AP found in its investigation
Even with Location History turned off, AP found that Google stores a snapshot of a user's location every time Google Maps is opened. A similar case also holds true for Google's automatic daily weather update which uses location data irrespective of whether Location History is turned on or off. Additionally, un-related queries like "chocolate chip cookies" and "kids science kits" use precise locations too.
Over two billion users are affected by Google's practices
Such precise tracking of location is a massive breach of privacy, and affects some two billion odd Android users, and hundreds of millions of iPhone users who use Google services such as Maps or Search. Google, however, claimed they weren't collecting location data without users' consent, and cited their policy regarding location data to demonstrate the same.
What Google had to say about its practices
"There are a number of different ways that Google may use location to improve people's experience, including: Location History, Web and App Activity, and through device-level Location Services. We provide clear descriptions of these tools," explained Google in a statement to the AP.
Technical correctness v/s ethical correctness: Google leaning towards the former
While Google is technically correct in its statement, one would expect a company like Google to have caveats regarding its data collection policy sorted out. However, the problem lies in the ethics surrounding the practice - with so many of Google's services collecting location data, it's virtually impossible for an average user to know how many services to disable to prevent location data collection.
But, here's how you can disable further tracking by Google
Given the implications of such massive data collection, it doesn't hurt to be on the safe side. To prevent Google from further tracking you (to the extent possible), open your web browser and head to myactivity.google.com. Once there, click on the triple dotted menu, click 'Activity Controls', and turn off both 'Web & App Activity' and 'Location Services'. This should prevent further tracking.
The consequences of turning off location data collection
Do remember, if you decide to switch off Google's location services as explained above, several features and devices that heavily use location data, especially Google Assistant and Google Home, will lose a significant amount of their functionalities.
How to wipe your past location data stored by Google
If you also want to erase your past location-related data, head to myactivity.google.com again, and check for entries that have a location pin beside 'Details'. Clicking on 'Details' will open a pop-up from where you can delete the activity by clicking the triple dotted icon. Notably, if you're only willing to wipe location data, this has to be done individually for each entry.
