7 ms·

Google tracks your exact location every few seconds. They know which stores you visit, which restaurants you frequent, which friends you spend the most time wit

Google tracks your exact location every few seconds. They know which stores you visit, which restaurants you frequent, which friends you spend the most time with, how often you go to the gym, who you're sleeping with and much more. The targeted advertising and surveillance capabilities that are possible as a result of this level of data collection are absolutely terrifying.

samirm 7y ago
Is this assuming you have GPS on all the time or are you saying they're actively tracking everyone's locations using other means as well?
- JohnFen 7y ago
  Google does not rely solely (or even primarily) on GPS for its location tracking. It also uses methods like triangulating based on what WiFi APs your device can see.
  - samirm 7y ago
    source please?
    - magicalhippo 7y ago
      Any Android phone with semi-recent Android version. Here's the disclaimer from my phone: "Location may use sources like GPS, Wi-Fi, mobile networks, and sensors to help estimate your device's location. Google may collection location data periodically and use this data in an anonymous way to improve location accuracy and location-based services." They have had similar-worded ones for a while now. IIRC basically if the phone has GPS enabled it'll upload the list of visible APs from that location, so they can use that as an estimate for when a phone without GPS is nearby.
      - JohnFen 7y ago
        Yes. They publish that online, too, as part of their privacy policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy https://policies.google.com/privacy
    - JohnFen 7y ago
      All of this has been well-known for years, and Google doesn't hide it (quite the opposite, this is a feature). Location tracking is done through three primary methods: GPS, triangulation from nearby WiFI APs, and triangulation based on what cell towers the device can see. I recommend spending a little time searching the web and Google's Android developer pages for more, but here's a Quartz article that gives a decent overview: https://qz.com/1131515/google-collects-android-users-locations-even-when-location-services-are-disabled/ https://qz.com/1131515/google-collects-android-users-locatio... If you're interested in being able to find your location under the most possible circumstances, you can't rely just on GPS because there are so many situations where GPS won't work.
- thsowers 7y ago
  Previous discussion on companies tracking location using abilities outside of software permissions: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17081684 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17081684
soheil 7y ago
What evidence is your statement based on? On iPhone Google Maps only has access to your location while the app is in use, that means either when A) the app is open or B) it's in the background and there is a blue background around the clock indicating the map is in use.
- sorenjan 7y ago
  Check out https://www.google.com/maps/timeline https://www.google.com/maps/timeline to see what positions they have saved.
  - bduerst 7y ago
    That doesn't list who you're sleeping with. Their point was that GP was exaggerating.
    - CameronBanga 7y ago
      If two people have their phones in the same room every night, I think Google can make presumptions on the situation.
      - bduerst 7y ago
        That they live in the same high rise? That they're roommates? Again, this is further to GP's point about exaggeration.
        lalos 7y ago
        They can easily obtain the SSID of the network they are at and that's it. Or scrape the Uber receipt from relevant gmail accounts the morning after with the appropriate time stamps. It's trivial with a reasonable degree of confidence to deduce it.
        bduerst 7y ago
Jerry2 7y ago
>surveillance capabilities that are possible as a result of this level of data collection are absolutely terrifying. ... and they share this data with the police and then some innocent people get entangled in this mess. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/04/13/us/google-location-tracking-police.html https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/04/13/us/google-loc... https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/13/technology/google-sensorvault-location-tracking.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/13/technology/google-sensorv...
hnick 7y ago
And it's still not enough.

samirm 7y ago

Is this assuming you have GPS on all the time or are you saying they're actively tracking everyone's locations using other means as well?

JohnFen 7y ago
Google does not rely solely (or even primarily) on GPS for its location tracking. It also uses methods like triangulating based on what WiFi APs your device can see.
- samirm 7y ago
  source please?
  - magicalhippo 7y ago
    Any Android phone with semi-recent Android version. Here's the disclaimer from my phone: "Location may use sources like GPS, Wi-Fi, mobile networks, and sensors to help estimate your device's location. Google may collection location data periodically and use this data in an anonymous way to improve location accuracy and location-based services." They have had similar-worded ones for a while now. IIRC basically if the phone has GPS enabled it'll upload the list of visible APs from that location, so they can use that as an estimate for when a phone without GPS is nearby.
    - JohnFen 7y ago
      Yes. They publish that online, too, as part of their privacy policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy https://policies.google.com/privacy
  - JohnFen 7y ago
    All of this has been well-known for years, and Google doesn't hide it (quite the opposite, this is a feature). Location tracking is done through three primary methods: GPS, triangulation from nearby WiFI APs, and triangulation based on what cell towers the device can see. I recommend spending a little time searching the web and Google's Android developer pages for more, but here's a Quartz article that gives a decent overview: https://qz.com/1131515/google-collects-android-users-locations-even-when-location-services-are-disabled/ https://qz.com/1131515/google-collects-android-users-locatio... If you're interested in being able to find your location under the most possible circumstances, you can't rely just on GPS because there are so many situations where GPS won't work.
thsowers 7y ago
Previous discussion on companies tracking location using abilities outside of software permissions: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17081684 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17081684

soheil 7y ago

What evidence is your statement based on? On iPhone Google Maps only has access to your location while the app is in use, that means either when A) the app is open or B) it's in the background and there is a blue background around the clock indicating the map is in use.

sorenjan 7y ago
Check out https://www.google.com/maps/timeline https://www.google.com/maps/timeline to see what positions they have saved.
- bduerst 7y ago
  That doesn't list who you're sleeping with. Their point was that GP was exaggerating.
  - CameronBanga 7y ago
    If two people have their phones in the same room every night, I think Google can make presumptions on the situation.
    - bduerst 7y ago
      That they live in the same high rise? That they're roommates? Again, this is further to GP's point about exaggeration.
      - lalos 7y ago
        They can easily obtain the SSID of the network they are at and that's it. Or scrape the Uber receipt from relevant gmail accounts the morning after with the appropriate time stamps. It's trivial with a reasonable degree of confidence to deduce it.
        bduerst 7y ago

Jerry2 7y ago

>surveillance capabilities that are possible as a result of this level of data collection are absolutely terrifying. ... and they share this data with the police and then some innocent people get entangled in this mess. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/04/13/us/google-location-tracking-police.html https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/04/13/us/google-loc... https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/13/technology/google-sensorvault-location-tracking.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/13/technology/google-sensorv...

hnick 7y ago

And it's still not enough.