Android: An inquiry from Quartz revealed that Google’s been spying on some of its users. The search giant has been collecting location data from Android smartphone owners, whether or not they have location services enabled. Though Android users can’t disable it, it looks like they won’t have to worry about it for much longer.
Image credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty
According to the investigation, Google’s surreptitious location data collection practice has been in operation since the start of 2017, and isn’t limited to users with location data enabled, or users connected to mobile towers: Android phones connected to the internet via Wi-Fi were also transmitting location data to Google. Even devices that have gone through a factory reset were found to be transmitting private data back to the company.
The bad news: You can’t turn this off. The good news: Google told Quartz that it’s discontinuing this practice by the end of November. Want to see what other bits of data you might be sharing without your knowledge? Check out Google’s Privacy Checkup page to edit what data you’re sharing with the public, your friends or even advertisers.
Google collects Android users’ locations even when location services are disabled [Quartz]
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.