Blog

Android Still Tracking Users With Location History Turned Off

Aug 21, 2018 | Blog

According to Google’s support page on the matter, disabling your phone’s “Location History” in your phone’s privacy settings will prevent Google from tracking every move you make.

The support page reads as follows:

“You can turn off Location History at any time.  With Location History off, the places you go are no longer stored.”

That doesn’t leave much in the way of wiggle room.  A pity it’s not even close to being true.

A new investigation conducted by the Associated Press reveals that even with your Location History turned off, some Google Apps are designed so that they automatically store time-stamped location data on users, without asking their permission.

The AP report on the matter explains in further detail:

“…for example, Google stores a snapshot of where you are when you merely open its Maps app.  Automatic daily weather updates on Android phones pinpoint roughly where you are, and some searchers that have nothing to do with location, like “chocolate chip cookies,” or “kids science kits,” pinpoint your precise latitude and longitude – accurate to the square foot – and save it to your Google account.”

To demonstrate their claim, the AP created a map of the movements of Gunes Acar, who carried his Android phone with “Location History” switched off in a bid to prevent his location data from being collected.

Despite taking this step, the AP researchers were able to produce a map of his train commute on a pair of trips to New York and visits to the High Line park, Chelsea Market, Hell’s Kitchen, Central Park, and Harlem.  The team also discovered his home address in this manner, but in a bid to protect the professor’s privacy, they did not publish that information on the map tracing the routes mentioned above.

At this point, Google has not responded to the AP’s research.

FBI Program Tasked with Infrastructure Security Compromised

FBI Program Tasked with Infrastructure Security Compromised

The FBI program tasked with ensuring critical infrastructure security has been compromised by hackers, who now offer access to the program's data on the dark web. The breach was initially disclosed by Brian Krebs of Krebs on Security, who claims that the data was for...

Streamline Your Business with the Latest Smart Home Technology

Streamline Your Business with the Latest Smart Home Technology

Are you a business owner looking to get the most out of your Google smart home devices? If so, you're in luck! Google has enabled its Nest products and Android OS with the initial rollout of the Matter smart home standard. This means that businesses now have the...

Data Breach at Sequoia One Exposes Sensitive Customer Information

Data Breach at Sequoia One Exposes Sensitive Customer Information

What do you do when your most personal information has been compromised? This is likely the question that customers of Sequoia One asked themselves earlier this month as they were informed that the company had been hacked. Sequoia One specializes in the management of...

Cisco Reports Critical IP Phone Vulnerability

Cisco Reports Critical IP Phone Vulnerability

As a business owner, it's important to stay informed about potential vulnerabilities that could impact your organization. Recently, Cisco reported a critical vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2022-20968, affecting its IP Phone 7800 and 8800 Series. This new vulnerability...

Google Chrome Releases Two New Features

Google Chrome Releases Two New Features

Google Chrome is one of the more commonly used web browsers. Over the years, though, Chrome has gained a reputation for utilizing a large portion of a computer's memory. This can be a problem if you're running other resource-intensive tasks and don't want to slow...

Get a Free Consultation

 

Fill out the form below to receive a free consultation and learn how we can make your technology worry-free!

 

Contact Information

  • 39301 Badger Street, Suite 500
    Palm Desert, CA 9221
  • (760) 333-8523
  • info@icn.tech