We told users we track them – Google
Google tracks the location of your Android phone even when you tell it not to, the AP reported. Google stated, however, that this is made clear to users.
AP published its report after conducting an investigation into the matter, which it asked Princeton university researchers to confirm.
Google states on its support pages that you can turn off Location History to prevent the company from storing the places you have been, but AP said this is not true.
Disabling Location History on your devices, however, stops Google from tracking your movements for the purposes of creating a timeline and map of your travels.
A separate feature, called “Web and App Activity,” will continue to store time-stamped location information when you use certain Google apps or browse the web.
It is possible to delete this data, though. Users must remove their web and app location history one point at a time – or delete all of their stored history with Google.
Google has also disputed that there is anything unclear in the way it handles its location history settings on Android.
In a statement to AP, it confirmed there are several ways that Google may use location data – including: Location History, Web and App Activity, and through device-level location services.
“We provide clear descriptions of these tools, and robust controls so people can turn them on or off, and delete their histories at any time,” said Google.
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