Here’s an idea — How about we all just turn the *location off on our phones. Better yet, how about tech having location shut off by default. If the end-user decides that he or she wants to be followed around, then they would have to be the ones to actually physically turn it on.
I’ve found it somewhat odd that we Americans would be so concerned about privacy, while at the same time eagerly wanting big tech to follow us around anyway.
There’s no reason to have to delete anything if it wasn’t there to begin with.
Google has announced plans to help protect user privacy in relation to health data. While the company does not make explicit reference to the recent overturning of Roe v Wade, there has been concern in the wake of the historic ruling, including fears that data collected by apps and websites could be used against individuals.
With this in mind, Google says that it will start to automatically delete location data about visits to “particularly personal” facilities such as abortion clinics and domestic violence centers. The company has also announced update to both Google Fit and Fitbit that will give users greater control over their data.
Google has insisted that it’s location tracker is already off by default, but with the new Android phone, it was turned on by default and the process for turning it off is somewhat convoluted and confusing. Turning off the location tracking was met with notices like, “If you disable tracking, other features on your phone may quit working”.
I got the same kind of notice when I removed the Google Chrome browser app from my phone.
Anybody that knows Google at all, and has had any experiences at all with them over the years, already knows most of this stuff. Remember, back in the day, when we could turn the Google tool bar off, but it wasn’t really turned off?
Yeah … good times.
Google got caught.
The only way you could turn the Google tool bar off was to actually uninstall it, and then, if you were on a Microsoft Windows machine, you had to literally go into the registry and remove all of the Google entries related to the tool bar itself.
You have to actually go in and turn *location OFF on a new Android phone, regardless of what Google might say. (you disable the app and disallow it’s connection to any other areas of your phone)
Google says that Google Play has strict protocols to protect user privacy, when really it doesn’t. Your data is collected by Google and is either shared or sold to Google partners every single day. When you shut your phone off, Google knows about it. When you plug in for a charge, Google knows about it.
The location node on your phone however, if turned off, won’t give you any real exact specifics with regard to weather or other sorts of GPS information. All Google can do is give a best estimate of where you might be in town. Google only records the exact location if the node is turned on.
Don’t be fooled by all of Googles faux privacy statements.
