3 ms·
source please?
by samirm 7y ago
source please?
- magicalhippo 7y agoAny 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 agoYes. They publish that online, too, as part of their privacy policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy https://policies.google.com/privacy
- JohnFen 7y agoAll 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.