Two things that happened to me: A) I walk into a store, get a notification from google photos asking me "I see you're at store X, wouldn't you like to take some pictures?". Possibly to use as part of google maps. Thinking back I think this is when I started de-googlifying my life. B) I get a notification from google maps asking me "you're travelling to place X soon, wouldn't you like to download an offline map, just…
Frankly Google needs to be broken up. They pulled the "we're a cool company doing ethical and interesting stuff" for far too long." They are too big to exist. I wonder if Matt Cutts is still shilling for Google, talk about losing respect.
What are these "Google" notifications? Is that a "Google" app generating them? If so, can't it be disabled or uninstalled? I don't have this on my Android phone but I've uninstalled or disabled everything Google related. And if you don't want to be tracked, you can also switch off Location History.
On newer Android versions, "essential" Google apps can not be disabled or uninstalled anymore. As this was downvoted last time I made this statement, and claimed to be a lie, this time I took screenshots on a Nexus 5X running Android Oreo 8.1 official build, showing that this is the case: https://imgur.com/a/AVmLN
Google Maps can be disabled just fine, on 5X or new Pixel XLs running 8.1.
That'd be "Google Opinion Rewards" ( https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.and... ), and it does periodically throw surveys out about your travel history.
Do they actually pay users a fair wage for their time?
Just turn off location services on the phone unless you really need them.
Turn it off in your Google account, not your phone (unless that's what you meant). I turned it off years ago and when I read an article that says "click on this link to see how google tracks you!" I see nothing.
Turning off location history in your account settings is also important, but turning off location services on your phone will prevent the messages from appearing (since Google will, in theory, not have your location readily available).
There's a huge and meaningful distinction about the technical ability to violate your privacy, and actually doing so, and trust (slash non-creepiness) is largely about not doing so when you could. For instance, the fact that my roommate can open my bedroom door at any time does not mean that I have no privacy when making phone calls in my room; it means that I have privacy because I trust my roommate not to do so, ex…
Your cell phone cannot function without actually knowing where you are (to some approximation) at all times. This information is known to the phone company, at the very least. The phone company almost always records and retains that information. Similarly, you cannot communicate to anyone on the internet without using an IP address, which your counterparty must know and nearly always retains.
Your cell phone cannot function without actually knowing where you are (to some approximation) at all times.
That's like saying a transistor radio needs to know where broadcast antennas are, which is obviously absurd.
Google are a deeply, deeply unethical company and all of their employees are complicit. On a more practical note, I live in apartment above a restaurant. My phone now asks me to review this restaurant every time I come home and wants me to post photos I take in my apartment to the restaurant's map page. Now that OSM data is as good as Google and Maps.Me is a good enough client, my next phone will be completely de-Goo…
"Google are a deeply, deeply unethical company and all of their employees are complicit." ... "My phone now asks me to review this restaurant every time I come home ..." Why are you using their products (specifically, their phones with their ecosystem built-in) if they are "deeply, deeply unethical") ? Every single step you take while your phone on is giving them more data and building their resource base.
because in the world we live in there are only two practical options; Android or iOS. Yes, you can do your homework and spend serious time customizing either one through the numerous amounts of gotchas to increase your privacy. At the end it boils down to "do you want Internet, email and maps that work in your phone? Good, deal with all this then!". If there was a single option that offered all of this at a reasonable price, you would see a lot of people moving to this. It is a sad frustrating state of affairs that could only be fixed with laws that would be impossible to pass with the current US lobbying system.
I've always found it kind of alarming in Waze that when you stop at an intersection where there's a gas station they prompt you to enter an updated gas price...even when the app presumes you are the driver. I get that they're trying to get everyone to chip in for the common good but not while I'm literally driving, please.
There's a simple fix for this problem. Give them false information.
Wow, the author is surprised that when she/he shared her/his location with Google, Google actually got her/his location. If only Google made it ridiculously easy to disable this. Oh, wait, it does: https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/3118687?hl=en
If you have to stop and think about every bad consequence of any of your actions on your phone, then at some point the phone loses its usefulness, and becomes a nuisance. The device should think for you, not against you.
This isn't even your phone, this is your Google Account. Isn't even limited to Android.
But yes, you should think of the consequences of signing up for a service that clearly states that it records your location history.
People in this thread are clutching their pearls about invasion of privacy and are going on about how they won't do any free work for Google yet hardly any of them has voluntarily given a dime to Google in return of the tons of services they get from it. Where do you think all the reviews come from? Who puts information about traffic cops on Waze? From a million monkeys smashing keyboards?
A paying Google customer here. The fact that I'm giving them quite more than a dime doesn't make me exempt from stalking. What's your point?
Two things that happened to me: A) I walk into a store, get a notification from google photos asking me "I see you're at store X, wouldn't you like to take some pictures?". Possibly to use as part of google maps. Thinking back I think this is when I started de-googlifying my life. B) I get a notification from google maps asking me "you're travelling to place X soon, wouldn't you like to download an offline map, just…
Frankly Google needs to be broken up. They pulled the "we're a cool company doing ethical and interesting stuff" for far too long." They are too big to exist. I wonder if Matt Cutts is still shilling for Google, talk about losing respect.