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No reasonable expectation of privacy in one's Google location data

fourthamendment.com

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Re: No reasonable expectation of privacy in one's Google location data

#61

Post by rossjudson »

jmward01 wrote: post #54
gruez wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Missing from this is the reality that the modern world increasingly requires using these applications From the second paragraph in the linked article: >Location History is turned off by default, so a user must take several affirmative steps before Google begins tracking and storing his Location History data. [...] Roughly one-third of active Google users have enabled Location History. This is specifically about the…

1/3 of active google users is a lot of people to opt into giving away their privacy. Either they actually don't understand what they did, understand but were forced in some way or understand and truly believe the value of the service was worth the privacy invasion. It is pure speculation on my part but my guess is that the first two reasons dwarf the third. The decision in question though would, in my view, only have…

Do you carry a smartphone?

Re: No reasonable expectation of privacy in one's Google location data

#62

Post by titaniumtown »

Sytten wrote: post #45

Is there an alternative to google location history that is privacy friendly? I like the feature during trips to record where I went. Maybe just me but when I get a bit nostalgic I like to retrace my steps and find again some lost memories/places.

I've personally heard of https://owntracks.org/ though I haven't been able to try it myself. Seems like a location history and see where other members of your instance are.

Re: No reasonable expectation of privacy in one's Google location data

#63

Post by paganel »

dabber wrote: post #60
justinpombrio wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Anyone can choose to avoid any one of these parts of the modern world. Well my apartment building is about to replace the doorbells with a cell phone app (or phone calls as an alternative). No cell phone -> no door bell. I'm just a renter; I get no say in the matter.

> I'm just a renter; I get no say in the matter. Surely you evaluated alternative apartments before deciding to rent at the one you are currently in, right?

You provably missed the “is about to replace” part, not sure the OP was aware of what would be coming when he moved in.

Re: No reasonable expectation of privacy in one's Google location data

#64

Post by ranger_danger »

gruez wrote: post #20
ranger_danger wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

pretty sure one of the 47 agree buttons people blindly click on while using their phone has given them the permission already

Source? According to the article it's presented to the user in pretty straightforward language: >Before he can activate the setting, however, Google always presents him language that explains the basics of the service. Moreover, most people did not blindly click through all the prompts: >Roughly one-third of active Google users have enabled Location History.

I don't have a direct source but I found some other posts that suggest many people are unknowingly turning it on.

"While this feature is turned off by default, many of Google's services and apps require it to be turned on, so unless you're actively keeping it off, there's a good chance it's enabled for your Google account." https://www.xda-developers.com/google-location-history/

"lots of people seem to have it switched on without even realising" https://news.sophos.com/en-us/2017/10/03/the-google-tracking...

Also, "Turning off the timeline feature doesn’t remove Google’s access to your location data as long as you use it for navigation and Google searches." https://www.guidingtech.com/how-to-view-and-manage-location-...

Re: No reasonable expectation of privacy in one's Google location data

#65

Post by titaniumtown »

BenFranklin100 wrote: post #39

Get an iPhone. Android and iOS are equivalent, while Apple’s revenue is overwhelmingly based on hardware and services, unlike Google’s revenue which is overwhelmingly based on advertising and tracking.

I use GrapheneOS with my Pixel 7 with no issues. I won't ever buy an apple device. If the OS isn't opensource, I'm not buying it.

Re: No reasonable expectation of privacy in one's Google location data

#66

Post by modeless »

0cf8612b2e1e wrote: post #21
gruez wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Missing from this is the reality that the modern world increasingly requires using these applications From the second paragraph in the linked article: >Location History is turned off by default, so a user must take several affirmative steps before Google begins tracking and storing his Location History data. [...] Roughly one-third of active Google users have enabled Location History. This is specifically about the…

Google used to (still does?) disable many features of Maps if location history was disabled. I kept it off, but could easily see many people felt forced to give up on their privacy for the convenience.

This is false. The "Location History" setting that the article is talking about is a different feature entirely from the "Web and App Activity" setting that you are referencing. "Location History" has never been required for any Google Maps features other than (obviously) Timeline, AFAIK.

Re: No reasonable expectation of privacy in one's Google location data

#68

Post by modeless »

Sytten wrote: post #45

Is there an alternative to google location history that is privacy friendly? I like the feature during trips to record where I went. Maybe just me but when I get a bit nostalgic I like to retrace my steps and find again some lost memories/places.

Google Location History is privacy friendly now. It was just recently changed a month or two ago and it no longer works in the way the article describes. The history data is now stored on your phone. Cloud backups are optional and default off and always end-to-end encrypted if enabled, so your location history database is not ever accessible to any Google server. Google made this change in response to issues like the ones described in this article.

Re: No reasonable expectation of privacy in one's Google location data

#69

Post by renewiltord »

modeless wrote: post #52
judge2020 wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The actual accuracy is worse than before but it’s a welcome change. They do still offer a way to keep an encrypted backup of the database on Google servers (so you don’t lose it if you lose your phone) but its disabled by default and it doesn’t even have a modal popup making it easy to enable backups, you have to specifically click the UI button to see the modal with the info sheet and a button to enable backing it u…

Thank you for posting this. I had no idea that there was a default off option to keep encrypted backups. I would be pretty mad if I lost all my years of timeline data because I switched phones. It's ridiculous that Google didn't even show an option for this in the long and needlessly convoluted migration process.

It looks like they did the right thing since privacy advocates don't even consider that sufficiently difficult https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40959052

Re: No reasonable expectation of privacy in one's Google location data

#70

Post by boschfish »

Sytten wrote: post #45

Is there an alternative to google location history that is privacy friendly? I like the feature during trips to record where I went. Maybe just me but when I get a bit nostalgic I like to retrace my steps and find again some lost memories/places.

I have been using https://scoria.info/. It is privacy first and offers great flexibility with how you can filter, view, and export your location data.
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