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Google can use Bluetooth to track phones even with Bluetooth turned off (2018)

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Re: Google can use Bluetooth to track phones even with Bluetooth turned off (2018)

#121

Post by franga2000 »

Angostura wrote: post #59
dmos62 wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's easy to hide these things behind It Just Works (tm). Give me a device that doesn't "just work". I want actual freedom in what my peripherals are doing.

If you want actual freedom, you have to take time to look at all the menus.

Except more and more options are being taken away by Google, so there's no menu (not even developer setting?!?) that could give you any sense of freedom back. For examples (not all privacy-related), see clipboard permissions, background usage rules, Firebase notifications, WiFi scanning...

The only way to get freedom back on Android is to either run a very old version (bad!) or undo all the bad changes in an AOSP fork (difficult).

Re: Google can use Bluetooth to track phones even with Bluetooth turned off (2018)

#123

Post by tinus_hn »

Tagbert wrote: post #95
tinus_hn wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also airplane mode by default no longer turns off everything. Really annoying. By the way this is not for ‘Find My’ services because these only work if the device has internet connectivity. The newly announced mesh functionality is not active yet.

I think that they realized that many/most of us are using Bluetooth headphones on the plane even in airplane mode. Airlines do allow Bluetooth so no reason to shut it off in airplane mode.

This is true but airplane mode used to be ‘all antennas off’. It would be really nice if there were an ‘all antennas off’ mode now that airplane mode means ‘cellular off’.

Re: Google can use Bluetooth to track phones even with Bluetooth turned off (2018)

#124

Post by vel0city »

ohmyblock wrote: post #99
vel0city wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm on Android 8.1. When turning off Bluetooth the entire Bluetooth menu showing previously paired devices changes to just show the string "When Bluetooth is turned on, your device can communicate with other nearby Bluetooth devices. To improve location accuracy, system apps and services can still detect Bluetooth devices. You can change this setting in _scanning settings_[link to the associated settings page]". I do…

On Android 10 here, no such message on my Xiaomi Mi 8

I noticed that string about the additional settings disappears when those high precision location settings are disabled. Maybe you already have the precision location via WiFi/BT disabled?

Re: Google can use Bluetooth to track phones even with Bluetooth turned off (2018)

#125

Post by myopenid »

kilo_bravo_3 wrote: post #94
markstos wrote: post #17

The article says turning off Location History "cripples" certain features of Android and Google. That's a stretch. I have had Location History disabled for years and have yet to notice what crippled experience I suffered from, but I did learn today that my location is not being sent to Google when Bluetooth is turned off. Disabling Location History seems like it has significant upside to me. Think about it this way.…

>would you have opted in? Yes. >For what feature or benefit? By the time I pull into my driveway my garage door has opened and the lights in my hallway have turned on. If I'm working from home, my thermostat stays at its "comfy" setting. If I leave the geofence between certain hours during the week it goes into "ultra cheap-ass energy miser" mode. When I am at a meeting, and I have another meeting in a different loca…

This kind of hyper-connected lifestyle seems..... kind of exhausting. Constant barrage of information that you may or may not need; being reliant on many bits and pieces of services that change all the time (when they drop out of support or starts asking for money) in which you have to adapt or find alternatives to.

Re: Google can use Bluetooth to track phones even with Bluetooth turned off (2018)

#126

Post by markstos »

kilo_bravo_3 wrote: post #94
markstos wrote: post #17

The article says turning off Location History "cripples" certain features of Android and Google. That's a stretch. I have had Location History disabled for years and have yet to notice what crippled experience I suffered from, but I did learn today that my location is not being sent to Google when Bluetooth is turned off. Disabling Location History seems like it has significant upside to me. Think about it this way.…

>would you have opted in? Yes. >For what feature or benefit? By the time I pull into my driveway my garage door has opened and the lights in my hallway have turned on. If I'm working from home, my thermostat stays at its "comfy" setting. If I leave the geofence between certain hours during the week it goes into "ultra cheap-ass energy miser" mode. When I am at a meeting, and I have another meeting in a different loca…

I see things in this list which require your current location, but it's not clear that any of them require storing your permanent location history.

Why is Google storing your location history if they don't need it to offer these services you care about?

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