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Google Maps won't let you save home address without allowing all Google tracking

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Re: Google Maps won't let you save home address without allowing all Google tracking

#91

Post by gaius »

system2 wrote: post #52
yipbub wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you uninstall Google Maps from an android phone? It's because that private corp is so big that it is starting to control much of the internet and devices so this is an issue very much in the public purview. It's not as simple as take it or leave it. The corp in question spends billions to insinuate itself into your life, make you dependant, eat competition, and then you can take it, but you definitely can't leave…

Yes, that starts with "leaving it". Though some found my comment above irritating, the more people use these apps or try to make it "their way", these corps won't go anywhere. Yes, either you take it, or leave it. Imagine everyone leaving google today. They can't make money. People made them rich, people can take them down. If genpop doesn't understand, you have to find your own ways to navigate thru the internet bec…

Yes, either you take it, or leave it

That is a false dilemma, because there are more than two choices. To many of us, the third option is the one we choose.

Re: Google Maps won't let you save home address without allowing all Google tracking

#92

Post by Fej »

ENGNR wrote: post #4

I can’t even ask my phone to set an alarm anymore without giving it my entire web and app history. Google is vulnerable here as they’re creating a very real need for basic alternatives

I switched my assistant app to Cortana, if you can believe that.

It works well enough, and doesn't require every permission to be enabled. It'll work fine with whatever you give it. (Within reason. It can't give you information about your calendar unless you give it that permission, etc.)

Reminders and such get synced to my PC.

There are, of course, many holes in its functionality... hoping it gets better. Don't know if there's a better assistant app for Android at this point.

Re: Google Maps won't let you save home address without allowing all Google tracking

#93

Post by user111233 »

trophycase wrote: post #12
Alex3917 wrote: post #7

I wonder how many people have died in car accidents while trying to type their home address because of this while driving.

Not even joking, I rear ended someone while trying to dismiss the "USE OUR APP" popup that comes when you navigate via maps.google.com instead of the phone app.

User error. Don't use your phone while driving.

Re: Google Maps won't let you save home address without allowing all Google tracking

#94

Post by amf12 »

murukesh_s wrote: post #76

Looks like google has hit a gold mine with some algorithm to better sell ads or is under pressure from competitors (Facebook) to gather more data than they have currently. Their lack of presence in social media will hurt them in the long term. In Facebook you upload pictures, you like stuff, you spend more time on someone's profile, you hover more on an ad even if you don't click all these while you are logged in. Go…

>you upload pictures, you like stuff, you spend more time on someone's profile >Google doesn't have that graph

Google has that information from the contacts of all Android phones, Google Photos, etc. Granted they don't probably have the information from iPhones, but then a lot of people don't have or use their FB account too.

> No one logs into Google search and give their identity

No one here. Most of the non-tech people (and some tech people) do log into Chrome and Google account, which means they are logged into Search too.

Re: Google Maps won't let you save home address without allowing all Google tracking

#96

Post by amf12 »

user111233 wrote: post #87
tdb7893 wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the main barrier is that people are generally unwilling to pay for these products now so it's hard to fund things with anything besides ads. If someone finds other ways to fund it I could see it but for now even with them vulnerable it would be hard to compete with them if you also were funded via ads.

People are paying $1000+ for Pixel phones. I think that should cover the cost of an alarm app.

Alarm apps don't need tracking. Asking Google Assistant to set an alarm needs tracking.

I wish there was a SaaS application which provided assistant capabilities by a monthly subscription. You can see all the data stored, you own the data the service just creates models to enable use. And you could stop the subscription which wipes all the data including the models. Perhaps some startup founder is reading this?

Re: Google Maps won't let you save home address without allowing all Google tracking

#97

Post by hammerdahl »

woranl wrote: post #35
lvs wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From the outside, it seems to have reached a tipping point in the past year that is now getting quite dramatic. A whole string of heavy-handed, anti-user, and privacy-hostile decisions. What just happened to the culture that would allow all this evil behavior? Or did we misunderstand it all along?

Sundar Pichai is now CEO. What else do you expect?

I feel like this is bigger than just Google. It seems like all of Alphabet is tending in that direction.

Re: Google Maps won't let you save home address without allowing all Google tracking

#98

Post by computerfriend »

lvs wrote: post #34
digitaLandscape wrote: post #26

There was a lot of uproar about this internally but nothing changed. They told us that this was the only "practical" option. The company has rotted.

From the outside, it seems to have reached a tipping point in the past year that is now getting quite dramatic. A whole string of heavy-handed, anti-user, and privacy-hostile decisions. What just happened to the culture that would allow all this evil behavior? Or did we misunderstand it all along?

> Or did we misunderstand it all along?

I think yes. Google has been considered "evil" by the tinfoil hat crowd for quite some time, and once again it has become apparent to the mainstream that they were right.

Re: Google Maps won't let you save home address without allowing all Google tracking

#99

Post by avh02 »

Buge wrote: post #73
avh02 wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My favorite part has been them pretending they no longer store your address, but when search results on the web places a pin they somehow manage to suggest it's an "x minute drive" from home... Which is it Google? Do you have the address saved or not? You forget where my address is only when it's inconvenient and coercive?

Are you sharing your location? Maybe nothing is stored, but your current location is used for searches you make.

I'd have given you that as a fair point if it hadn't said "x minute drive - home" next to the pin while I was checking a store's location on my work laptop at work (while signed in to my personal account)

Re: Google Maps won't let you save home address without allowing all Google tracking

#100

Post by gaius »

scalablenotions wrote: post #66

Dark patterns seem to be becoming standard UX for Google now. I notice so much of it all over their products.

Meaningful reform won’t happen until the wider industry looks at the CVs of ex-Google workers with suspicion that they may be smart but lack a moral compass.
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