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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

#351

Post by tracker1 »

jchw wrote: post #335
nrook wrote: post #328

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google is a fascinating test case for Elizabeth Warren's plan to create board representation for workers. Googlers have a very distinct culture that would advocate for very different positions from the ones Google is making right now. If Google employees had 40% of the board, they'd be able to do a lot more to stop decisions like this one.

Disclaimer: I myself am an employee of Google, but my opinions and views do not represent those of Google in any way. Just to be completely fair, there's a balance to be had. I think Googlers are a very passionate group about many issues. That doesn't mean they know what's best for the company or the world. If Googlers lead Google's business decisions, I think it would be a worse place. Firstly, developers are often…

I think, personally that Product Owners at google should be empassioned, benevolent dictators that dictate some usage in their applications. As it stands, so many applications and areas are either incomplete, confusing or unusable. Groups in particular is one of the worst things I've had to use... yet the only way to get an internal email list allowing external contact for GSuite. Really? I can do single address forwards from domains, but not group.

Not to mention the crapstorm happening with YouTube, censorship in docs, drive and who knows what else.

In the end, I'm not sure it won't collapse, leaving MS and Apple to reign the way things are going. It seems Google's leadership has taken a "show me the money" shift in focus.

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

#352

Post by tracker1 »

pluma wrote: post #176
hylianwarrior wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why on earth would you think Google would sell its most valuable asset? Google does not sell user data, it builds on it. The more data they get, the better and better their AI will develop. Looking back, when they announced they were going to become an AI-first company these sort of drastic data-grabs and privacy issues should have been apparent. But hindsight is 20/20...

%s/sell/monetise/g You know what they meant. Google is milking users for all data they can derive from their activity and creating value from that. It's not so much the use of the data that's the problem as the lengths they go to to create that data. I recall someone from one of the major tech companies talking about how their users "emit data", implying the data just happens and their role is purely passive with the…

That in and of itself is the sole reason Google doesn't bug me as much as some other networks (Facebook comes to mind).

They provide a lot of value, but in the end, I think a lot of their products will eventually use market and mindshare.

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

#353

Post by GycDH6mb »

huy-nguyen wrote: post #22

I want to be able to quickly input my home address into google map but don’t want to turn on google search history so I had to resort to an imperfect solution: use the “text replacement” feature to expand a unique short phrase like “hmad” to the full home address when typed into the google maps search bar.

I use "&&" as the shortcut for for my address, "@@" for my email, and "##" for my phone

For my work address, email, and phone, I just append "w"

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

#354

Post by murukesh_s »

amf12 wrote: post #94
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 p…

> Google has that information from the contacts of all Android phones

Not really. Manufacturers like Xiaomi (and I believe Samsung) use their own cloud to sync stuff.

> "Most of the non-tech people (and some tech people) do log into Chrome and Google account"

That is the recent change right? Like said, google seems desperate to get into that information graph.

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

#355

Post by koyote »

avh02 wrote: post #60
techntoke wrote: post #5

This! They used to allow you to, but now I don't save my home address and can't use a lot of Google features because they want you to enable activity tracking. WTF... why do I need all my activity to be tracked to use basic features?

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?

If you download your maps data from Google you will see the address is still saved as it was before (in json format).

So the address is still there, they are just actively blocking you from making use of it in most of their apps (but evidently not all of them, as you noted above).

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

#356

Post by Buge »

avh02 wrote: post #99
Buge wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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)

Are you saying google's looking at your current location? That sounds to me like it's saying the store is an x minute drive from your home. It says nothing about your current location (work).

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

#357

Post by Buge »

lovich wrote: post #82
Buge wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

I've had the same results when I've explicitly not shared location. I will also use Google maps to find the route to some restaurant, turn off the GPS because I don't like being tracked and it's no too far, then head to the restaurant within 10-60 minutes of when I checked the GPS. If I have wifi on I will invariably get asked to rate the restaurant within 5 minutes of arriving there, regardless of how much time has…

Are you turning off GPS or all location? Because location can still be enabled when GPS is off. There's location via wifi and via bluetooth.

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

#358

Post by amf12 »

vagab0nd wrote: post #305
amf12 wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

The problem is, how does the saas prove to you that you own the data and privacy is not violated? I see no way of doing it unless the customer owns the server.

TOS/Contract. Something like Dropbox. You do believe you own the data on Dropbox right? This is something Microsoft can do as an Azure service to counter Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant maybe.

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

#359

Post by amf12 »

icebraining wrote: post #200
amf12 wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

I'm expecting good things from Snips; they're already build a device like Alexa that runs all recognition locally: https://air.snips.ai/ Making an Android frontend seems easy enough. (You can also DIY by installing Home Assistant and Snips on a Raspberry Pi or other computer)

This looks promising! Thanks, I'll check it out.

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

#360

Post by lovich »

Buge wrote: post #357
lovich wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've had the same results when I've explicitly not shared location. I will also use Google maps to find the route to some restaurant, turn off the GPS because I don't like being tracked and it's no too far, then head to the restaurant within 10-60 minutes of when I checked the GPS. If I have wifi on I will invariably get asked to rate the restaurant within 5 minutes of arriving there, regardless of how much time has…

Are you turning off GPS or all location? Because location can still be enabled when GPS is off. There's location via wifi and via bluetooth.

The location option in the android quick menu. I was unaware there was any other way to even turn off the GPS. I assumed it was wifi since it seems to not happen when the wifi is turned off.

It would have at least been corporate speak to have an option called GPS that people assumed was location tracking and was not. Having an option called "Location" that does not stop your phone from tracking your location when turned off has crossed the line into fraudulent behavior for me

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