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Google, You Creepy Sonofabitch

bradfrost.com

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Re: Google, You Creepy Sonofabitch

#131

Post by abawany »

FreakyT wrote: post #87

This issue reminds me of a key permission iOS gives control over while Android (even post-Nougat) doesn't: The distinction between allowing an app to use location while the app is open versus anytime . Android makes no distinction between these two states, which opens up the ability for many apps (not just Google's) to enable automatic stalking mode. Take Yelp, for example. I do want it to be able to access my locati…

And Maps gets very annoying when I refuse to enable full location permissions for Google Play; the random prompts to enable it, hoping I would agree when not paying attention, are super sleazy. I uninstalled it last night after trialing a combination of HERE and OsmAnd. It is a lot more inconvenient but the idea of location tracking when the app in question is not in use is creepy and wasteful.

Re: Google, You Creepy Sonofabitch

#132

Post by jonathankoren »

daodedickinson wrote: post #98
sillysaurus3 wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, if they were behind a configuration option and defaulted to on, most people would be fine turning it off and forgetting about it. This seems to be about lack of control. It's good for developers to think carefully before they ship products that do things with no way of being told not to. EDIT: Welp. Apparently these settings exist. I don't understand the point of the blog post then. Why is it so upsetting, if y…

Default on is outrageous. It's clear the average person doesn't know how to access and manage even some of these settings, much less understand what they do or be able to understand what privacy violations will continue despite turning something off in one place.

And that is why they default to on. If they defaulted to off, no one would turn it on, and they wouldn’t be able to hoover up the data.

Re: Google, You Creepy Sonofabitch

#133

Post by cosmotron »

pdelbarba wrote: post #76
tacomonstrous wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can turn off these notifications in the Maps app. It's annoying they're on by default though.

How? Everyone says there is an option under "Notifications" but I only see "People & places" and "Ride services".

I have Maps version 9.69.1 running on Android 8.1. I see the following options in Maps' "Notifications" menu: Traffic, Commute, Transit, Navigation, Your contributions, People & places, Ride services, Offline maps, New on Maps.

From these, the "Your contributions" seems to have the majority of toggles that people are discussing in this thread (e.g. "Adding your photos", "Contribution ideas", "Questions about places", etc.).

Re: Google, You Creepy Sonofabitch

#134

Post by fwdpropaganda »

koyote wrote: post #78
fwdpropaganda wrote: post #10

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…

I really don't see a use-case for A from the consumer perspective. Why would anyone ever want such a notification? For case B we can see where scraping all this information can be genuinely useful.

Who knows what they're thinking. Might be just playing numbers. Or maybe they only show that notification after you've been at that store several times which means you must really like it, and they're hoping that you go "why yes google, I'd quite like some pictures of this store!". It was my local supermarket by the way.

Re: Google, You Creepy Sonofabitch

#135

Post by ucaetano »

sillysaurus3 wrote: post #65
saulrh wrote: post #42

I'm going to be completely honest here: If these things were behind a configuration option and defaulted to off, I'd have gone into my phone and turned that option on. I want to leave reviews for restaurants as I'm walking out of them - it serves the common good and doing it immediately is better for memory. I want to remember to download offline maps when I'm about to go somewhere where I won't have coverage. My mem…

Also, if they were behind a configuration option and defaulted to on, most people would be fine turning it off and forgetting about it. This seems to be about lack of control. It's good for developers to think carefully before they ship products that do things with no way of being told not to. EDIT: Welp. Apparently these settings exist. I don't understand the point of the blog post then. Why is it so upsetting, if y…

> I don't understand the point of the blog post then. Why is it so upsetting, if you have the ability to turn it off?

Because people like to complain. Especially when they're getting a free service (as in money).

Re: Google, You Creepy Sonofabitch

#136

Post by stordoff »

Zhenya wrote: post #3

OP is freaked that the data that was shared with Google is used to help Google get a bigger dataset... Get a grip. Edit: Downvotes now rolling in. I'd love to know why. Is this a bug? Is Google doing something wrong? Or did OP hand over the data and not bother to go through the settings to turn off things they didn't like .

"data that was shared with Google" seems like a stretch - it's closer to "data that Google took" IMO (I doubt most people would assume the default is that Google knows what restaurants you are visiting).

Then using that data to send you a request to, basically, do work for Google is just annoying.

Re: Google, You Creepy Sonofabitch

#137

Post by izacus »

crag wrote: post #108
aiiane wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maps app -> Settings -> Notifications -> Your Contributions (and uncheck boxes as desired). The controls exist.

But does that mean Google stops collecting the data? Sure, no notifications, but will they still know what restaurant I just walked past?

As mentioned several times, disable Location History under Settings -> Google -> Location (on stock Google Androids you find that setting under Settings -> Location as well).

Re: Google, You Creepy Sonofabitch

#138

Post by codingdave »

Mizza wrote: post #18

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.

Your comment would have been equally relevant without including this statement at all. But as you did include it, you need to support it. What exactly are the ethical problems, and how do you justify carrying them over onto every employee? If you have a solid backing for those statements, by all means share it, as it would also be relevant, and probably a good discussion.

Re: Google, You Creepy Sonofabitch

#139

Post by kinkrtyavimoodh »

mike_ivanov wrote: post #129
kinkrtyavimoodh wrote: post #105

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?

Are you paying for the reviews?

Re: Google, You Creepy Sonofabitch

#140

Post by bjt2n3904 »

refurb wrote: post #63
nerflad wrote: post #21

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.

I'm sure they're still tracking you, they just don't show you it. ;)
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