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Google – My Location History

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Re: Google – My Location History

#51

Post by bauc »

wppick wrote: post #44
m0dest wrote: post #19

I used to willingly enable this and enjoyed this page. But it was recently revealed that Google shares bulk location data with law enforcement, offering the list of all devices that were in a certain area. That was the line for me. Disabled. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/04/13/us/google-loc... > The new orders, sometimes called “geofence” warrants, specify an area and a time period, and Google gathers info…

Unless you are planning criminal activity in the future, this feature could act as an alibi to absolve you of being in the place where a crime was committed. And, false positives aside, I think it's great that law enforcement has the tools to keep society safe and civil. Law enforcement is not always == bad

It's nice in theory but can also be helped to convict you if you happen to be near the wrong place at the wrong time. Interesting related video by Law Professor and Police Officer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-7o9xYp7eE

Re: Google – My Location History

#52

Post by yellowarchangel »

wppick wrote: post #44
m0dest wrote: post #19

I used to willingly enable this and enjoyed this page. But it was recently revealed that Google shares bulk location data with law enforcement, offering the list of all devices that were in a certain area. That was the line for me. Disabled. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/04/13/us/google-loc... > The new orders, sometimes called “geofence” warrants, specify an area and a time period, and Google gathers info…

Unless you are planning criminal activity in the future, this feature could act as an alibi to absolve you of being in the place where a crime was committed. And, false positives aside, I think it's great that law enforcement has the tools to keep society safe and civil. Law enforcement is not always == bad

Tracking the movements of all citizens is not a compromise that ought to be made to keep society safe. This power can and will be abused to target minority groups (closeted LGBT, minority ethnic groups..). Also in America law enforcement has too many times to count abused their power, and fabricated results from "evidence".

As any lawyer would say: Don't speak to the police, even if you're innocent. Same with this. If I personally want to share my own private tracking data that my lawyer says I can share.. sure. But I do not want this entire data free for law enforcement to see.

Re: Google – My Location History

#53

Post by arkades »

wppick wrote: post #44
m0dest wrote: post #19

I used to willingly enable this and enjoyed this page. But it was recently revealed that Google shares bulk location data with law enforcement, offering the list of all devices that were in a certain area. That was the line for me. Disabled. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/04/13/us/google-loc... > The new orders, sometimes called “geofence” warrants, specify an area and a time period, and Google gathers info…

Unless you are planning criminal activity in the future, this feature could act as an alibi to absolve you of being in the place where a crime was committed. And, false positives aside, I think it's great that law enforcement has the tools to keep society safe and civil. Law enforcement is not always == bad

I once did an FOIA request and found I was being monitored by the NYPD for being a regular donor to the NYCLU.

Law /enforcement/ isn’t always bad, but mass surveillance of the general populace is.

Re: Google – My Location History

#54

Post by 0xffff2 »

futureastronaut wrote: post #43
periferral wrote: post #27

Like many other comments, I like this and find it useful. Recently I took a Lyft ride late from SFO to home and it was late and I was tired and I didnt concentrate on the route taken by the driver but I was certain we took the 101. Later when I saw the charge, I was surprised to see the ride map showing me taking a roundabout way, heading on 280 and essentially doing a 70mile ride. I complained to Lyft and they refun…

> it was in fact a regular 101 ride home Confused... you make it sound like faulty location history led you to erroneously report your Lyft driver. But that doesn't jive with the tone and thrust of your comment.

I too am confused. If I'm interpreting (guessing) correctly, Lyft showed (and charged based on) an erroneous route in their app. GP reported it and got a refund, but after reviewing Google's location history found that the driver had actually driven the route that they expect, not the route that Lyft claimed they did.

Re: Google – My Location History

#55

Post by brianpgordon »

anoonmoose wrote: post #22
danielecook wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like it as well - but google is almost certainly using this data to target you. I also wish I more control. Is there a way to export to GPX? It would be fun to create a heat map of your daily locations over the course of years.

By "target", do you mean that they're using the information I voluntarily give them to provide me with more accurate and useful ads? Because, I mean, that's not a terrible trade-off.

You actually see nonzero value in more targeted ads? Genuinely asking.

Re: Google – My Location History

#56

Post by brogrammer5 »

wppick wrote: post #44
m0dest wrote: post #19

I used to willingly enable this and enjoyed this page. But it was recently revealed that Google shares bulk location data with law enforcement, offering the list of all devices that were in a certain area. That was the line for me. Disabled. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/04/13/us/google-loc... > The new orders, sometimes called “geofence” warrants, specify an area and a time period, and Google gathers info…

Unless you are planning criminal activity in the future, this feature could act as an alibi to absolve you of being in the place where a crime was committed. And, false positives aside, I think it's great that law enforcement has the tools to keep society safe and civil. Law enforcement is not always == bad

You have a very naive and sheltered view of the world we live in then.

Re: Google – My Location History

#57

Post by ryandrake »

tdb7893 wrote: post #42
danielecook wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like it as well - but google is almost certainly using this data to target you. I also wish I more control. Is there a way to export to GPX? It would be fun to create a heat map of your daily locations over the course of years.

This is something I've never gotten. I don't really mind targeted ads, they generally are more interesting to me than non targeted ads (which is a super low bar) and are worth more money, which is how all of these services are able to be "free" (and personally I would rather they are free with targeted ads in a lot of cases than having to pay, streaming services being the main exception. I know much of HN would disag…

I don’t click on ads so, if given the choice between targeted and non-targeted ads, I’d rather have non-targeted ones, because then at least I have a little more assurance that I’m not being tracked. The “relevance” of an ad is totally unimportant to me since I disregard them. What’s important is whether my PII is being traded around like baseball cards.

Re: Google – My Location History

#59

Post by everdrive »

wppick wrote: post #44
m0dest wrote: post #19

I used to willingly enable this and enjoyed this page. But it was recently revealed that Google shares bulk location data with law enforcement, offering the list of all devices that were in a certain area. That was the line for me. Disabled. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/04/13/us/google-loc... > The new orders, sometimes called “geofence” warrants, specify an area and a time period, and Google gathers info…

Unless you are planning criminal activity in the future, this feature could act as an alibi to absolve you of being in the place where a crime was committed. And, false positives aside, I think it's great that law enforcement has the tools to keep society safe and civil. Law enforcement is not always == bad

What I'm hearing is that I should strap this to my dog, and commit a phone-less crime.

Re: Google – My Location History

#60

Post by anoonmoose »

brianpgordon wrote: post #55
anoonmoose wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

By "target", do you mean that they're using the information I voluntarily give them to provide me with more accurate and useful ads? Because, I mean, that's not a terrible trade-off.

You actually see nonzero value in more targeted ads? Genuinely asking.

Yes. I'd rather see ads for things I might actually buy than things I would never buy. If I could have an ad for a website I like instead of an ad for a website I would never go to that sounds like a good things to me.
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