7 ms·

Yet another reason to disable GPS and location history (and any other functionality you use infrequently) when not actively necessary.

Normal_gaussian 9y ago
Or alternatively use a self hosted or less well known alternative.
karmakaze 9y ago
The only way is to not use any Google services. If you connect from mobile IP ranges as other users who are in the area, you could also easily be included. Same goes for cell towers but at least it's not a single entity.
- stefan_ 9y ago
  Google collects location data from WLAN networks in reach, triangulates from cell tower signal strength, GPS, GLONASS, geoip and if all that fails, sheer historical prediction. And no one quite knows why, other than "because we can". There is Google Maps, but when I'm not using it, when exactly is this orwellian infrastructure to my benefit and not exclusively Googles?
  - izuchukwu 9y ago
    “personalized search” While a true statement, it’s unfortunate how broad of a license it ultimately provides.
    - John_KZ 9y ago
      And the funny thing is that many of us don't even want personalized search.
    - strong_silent_t 9y ago
      2-way personalized search. You search Google and Google searches you.
    - mancerayder 9y ago
      It's extremely cumbersome and confusing to turn off. At first, it was opt-in. Once would ignore the notifications to turn things on, and eventually things became opt-out. But it's not 100% clear what one is opting out of - the only thing that seems you can really opt out of are ad-related tracking (by 'request' it seems - the ad tech companies get to use the honor system), and personalized recommendations. Well, just because you turn off recommendations doesn't mean they're not already collecting your personalized data - even if you don't use it. Did I make mistakes in the above paragraph? Probably. But you know what, that's Google's fault, because it sure isn't clear what they aren't and are doing, who can and can't use it, and what I can can't opt out of. That's the really frustrating part, here. It's purposely obfuscated and changing - similar to Facebook's privacy settings - to keep you on your toes even if you are in the tiny percentage of the population that actually cares. Most won't until something panicky / headliney happens to make them care. I'm kind of glad the EU is making life tough for American tech companies with regards to privacy (even though I work for American tech companies).
  - raverbashing 9y ago
    An it still gets some of it wrong. A lot of time
  - user5994461 9y ago
    For reference, there was an article here on what it takes to track a million cell phones in real time. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14803443 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14803443
  - dingo_bat 9y ago
    If you turn off continuous background location tracking in Android, Google maps will bug you every time you use it. Even though foreground location is on and set to use all available signals.
dumbsite5692 9y ago
That does absolutely nothing. If you don't want to be tracked, don't carry a phone. It's the only way.
- matthewmacleod 9y ago
  I mean, it literally does things.
  - olympus 9y ago
    Don't act all snarky when someone says the only way not to be tracked is to not carry a phone. It's pretty close to being true, and you don't know if hitting the software switch to turn off your GPS really turns it off or if it goes into a low power mode where it only updates your position every five minutes- this is not unheard of to keep the time to fix low for when a person turns location services back on. As mentioned in the article, Google was previously caught tracking people even when they had location, data, and Wi-Fi turned off. We just have to take their word now that they don't do it anymore, and the word of a big profit driven corporation that has been implicated in PRISM and previously tracked people isn't worth too much. Furthermore, even if Google doesn't track you the cell phone companies still know which tower your cell phone was connected to, so they know your location within three miles at all times. It's not as precise as GPS info, but the police could still ask the cell phone companies to give them a list of phone accounts that were visible to a specific set of cell phone towers at a particular set of times.
  - dumbsite5692 9y ago
    It does something that's completely useless since you're already being tracked by other means. By the mechanisms of physics, you can't have untrackable wireless communications. It's not how radiation works.
- giancarlostoro 9y ago
  Airplane mode?
  - 9y ago

Normal_gaussian 9y ago

Or alternatively use a self hosted or less well known alternative.

karmakaze 9y ago

The only way is to not use any Google services. If you connect from mobile IP ranges as other users who are in the area, you could also easily be included. Same goes for cell towers but at least it's not a single entity.

stefan_ 9y ago
Google collects location data from WLAN networks in reach, triangulates from cell tower signal strength, GPS, GLONASS, geoip and if all that fails, sheer historical prediction. And no one quite knows why, other than "because we can". There is Google Maps, but when I'm not using it, when exactly is this orwellian infrastructure to my benefit and not exclusively Googles?
- izuchukwu 9y ago
  “personalized search” While a true statement, it’s unfortunate how broad of a license it ultimately provides.
  - John_KZ 9y ago
    And the funny thing is that many of us don't even want personalized search.
  - strong_silent_t 9y ago
    2-way personalized search. You search Google and Google searches you.
  - mancerayder 9y ago
    It's extremely cumbersome and confusing to turn off. At first, it was opt-in. Once would ignore the notifications to turn things on, and eventually things became opt-out. But it's not 100% clear what one is opting out of - the only thing that seems you can really opt out of are ad-related tracking (by 'request' it seems - the ad tech companies get to use the honor system), and personalized recommendations. Well, just because you turn off recommendations doesn't mean they're not already collecting your personalized data - even if you don't use it. Did I make mistakes in the above paragraph? Probably. But you know what, that's Google's fault, because it sure isn't clear what they aren't and are doing, who can and can't use it, and what I can can't opt out of. That's the really frustrating part, here. It's purposely obfuscated and changing - similar to Facebook's privacy settings - to keep you on your toes even if you are in the tiny percentage of the population that actually cares. Most won't until something panicky / headliney happens to make them care. I'm kind of glad the EU is making life tough for American tech companies with regards to privacy (even though I work for American tech companies).
- raverbashing 9y ago
  An it still gets some of it wrong. A lot of time
- user5994461 9y ago
  For reference, there was an article here on what it takes to track a million cell phones in real time. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14803443 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14803443
- dingo_bat 9y ago
  If you turn off continuous background location tracking in Android, Google maps will bug you every time you use it. Even though foreground location is on and set to use all available signals.

dumbsite5692 9y ago

That does absolutely nothing. If you don't want to be tracked, don't carry a phone. It's the only way.

matthewmacleod 9y ago
I mean, it literally does things.
- olympus 9y ago
  Don't act all snarky when someone says the only way not to be tracked is to not carry a phone. It's pretty close to being true, and you don't know if hitting the software switch to turn off your GPS really turns it off or if it goes into a low power mode where it only updates your position every five minutes- this is not unheard of to keep the time to fix low for when a person turns location services back on. As mentioned in the article, Google was previously caught tracking people even when they had location, data, and Wi-Fi turned off. We just have to take their word now that they don't do it anymore, and the word of a big profit driven corporation that has been implicated in PRISM and previously tracked people isn't worth too much. Furthermore, even if Google doesn't track you the cell phone companies still know which tower your cell phone was connected to, so they know your location within three miles at all times. It's not as precise as GPS info, but the police could still ask the cell phone companies to give them a list of phone accounts that were visible to a specific set of cell phone towers at a particular set of times.
- dumbsite5692 9y ago
  It does something that's completely useless since you're already being tracked by other means. By the mechanisms of physics, you can't have untrackable wireless communications. It's not how radiation works.
giancarlostoro 9y ago
Airplane mode?
- 9y ago