A shocking reports from Quartz indicates that the Android OS constantly collects your location data and sends it to Google the moment you connect to the internet! Reportedly, Google is collecting location data even when the phones location services are turned off – even without a SIM card!
Privacy in the modern day world is a myth. Big data is the key to consumers and brands have understood it really well. When it comes to privacy, location data is a major factor and many people prefer to keep location services turned off so that apps cannot track where they are.
Image: Quartz
This is something which is quite recent. Since early 2017, the Android OS is reportedly collecting addresses of nearby cellular towers. This is happening even when location data tracking is turned off. This raises serious concerns over the privacy of users. Google is potentially tracking every Android user and knows where they are, even when the user has willingly turned off data services.
As per Quartz, Google has agreed that they have been collecting this location data from the users. Google states that this is important when it comes to sending out push notifications and messages on Android smartphones.
“In January of this year, we began looking into using Cell ID codes as an additional signal to further improve the speed and performance of message delivery,” the Google spokesperson said in an email. “However, we never incorporated Cell ID into our network sync system, so that data was immediately discarded, and we updated it to no longer request Cell ID.”
This is a serious violation of privacy, especially for people who do not want their location data to be tracked – such as those working in law enforcement and other similar professions. However, you need not be worried any more as Google has now confirmed that some time in November, they will end this practice and will no longer track location of devices when location services are turned off!
Source: Quartz
The post Google Is Collecting Your Location Data Even When Location is Turned Off appeared first on Google Tricks Blog.
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