4 ms·

I’m curious, does anyone know if the location data collected under “Web & Activity Data” is derived from GPS, WiFi, and/or IP data?

ehsankia 6y ago
I assume it would be whatever you gave the specific app. If you search for "weather in [your city]", they might get either that or ip data. If you share your GPS to get your weather, then they get that. Unlike Location History, which is a specific feature that keeps a history of your location, Web & Apps activity is just that, activity from Google websites and apps. Said activity may include location data depending on the app or website.
- ocdtrekkie 6y ago
  This is a gross mischaracterization of what occurred, of the level of falsehood that Google itself is being punished for: "That isn't true. Even with “location history” paused, some Google apps automatically store time-stamped location data without asking. For example, Google stores a snapshot of where you are when you merely open its Maps app. Automatic daily weather updates on Android phones pinpoint roughly where you are. And some searches that have nothing to do with location, such as “chocolate chip cookies” or “kids science kits”, pinpoint your precise latitude and longitude accurate to the square foot and save it to your Google account." https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/aug/13/google-location-tracking-android-iphone-mobile https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/aug/13/google-lo... Yes, Web and App Activity both includes location data still collected despite Maps being told not to, or when obviously-location-specific information like Weather is being retrieved, but also when unrelated searches are made for ad targeting purposes. Basically, every unrelated bloody app would collect your location, and since your Google phone is running 20 some-odd Google services, they still had a pretty good location history, even when your location history was completely off.
  - ehsankia 6y ago
    The next paragraph: > For example, Google stores a snapshot of where you are when you merely open its Maps app. Automatic daily weather updates on Android phones pinpoint roughly where you are. And some searches that have nothing to do with location, such as “chocolate chip cookies” or “kids science kits”, pinpoint your precise latitude and longitude accurate to the square foot and save it to your Google account. Obviously, if you open Maps and you've given the app location permission, it'll get your location. Similarly, if you have weather enabled, it'll regularly update to not become stale. Searches for products is a bit more subtle, I agree, but your browser also asks for location access per site, so you simply can refuse to give it for Google search. Each of these is connected to a specific feature you're using, it's not just constantly pinging your location for the sake of your location. Each ping is specifically for a service you're using. The real issue here is the fact that "Web & Apps activity" didn't explicitly mention location, and it happened to be next to this other feature named "Location History", and this juxtaposition implied that the former didn't collect location. That's it, that's the only issue here, and since 2018 thye've fixed it by adding "this might include location data" to Web & Apps activity.
    - geoduck14 6y ago
      Well hold on. GETTING my location for a map is one thing STORING my location is quite another. Also, I might want to use map to search for where OTHER things are - I don't need to display my current location to search for "a map of Topeka Kansas". Also, for the weather app specifically, there was a weather app that retrieved your location every 30 seconds (to give you up to date info) - and then promptly sold that data to advertisers. Just because the weather app "needs to poll my location", doesn't mean it should get fine-grained access every 4 hours.
    - geoduck14 6y ago
      Oh, also, something I learned when I wrote an app for android. In order for me to use the GPS chip on the cell phone, I needed to: use Google's API, send the phone information (you know, so they could log who was looking at the GPS and where they were); this MANDATED an updated version of the play store. So if there is some 3rd party app that "you totally trust with your location" - Google is getting that data, too.

ehsankia 6y ago

I assume it would be whatever you gave the specific app. If you search for "weather in [your city]", they might get either that or ip data. If you share your GPS to get your weather, then they get that. Unlike Location History, which is a specific feature that keeps a history of your location, Web & Apps activity is just that, activity from Google websites and apps. Said activity may include location data depending on the app or website.

ocdtrekkie 6y ago
This is a gross mischaracterization of what occurred, of the level of falsehood that Google itself is being punished for: "That isn't true. Even with “location history” paused, some Google apps automatically store time-stamped location data without asking. For example, Google stores a snapshot of where you are when you merely open its Maps app. Automatic daily weather updates on Android phones pinpoint roughly where you are. And some searches that have nothing to do with location, such as “chocolate chip cookies” or “kids science kits”, pinpoint your precise latitude and longitude accurate to the square foot and save it to your Google account." https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/aug/13/google-location-tracking-android-iphone-mobile https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/aug/13/google-lo... Yes, Web and App Activity both includes location data still collected despite Maps being told not to, or when obviously-location-specific information like Weather is being retrieved, but also when unrelated searches are made for ad targeting purposes. Basically, every unrelated bloody app would collect your location, and since your Google phone is running 20 some-odd Google services, they still had a pretty good location history, even when your location history was completely off.
- ehsankia 6y ago
  The next paragraph: > For example, Google stores a snapshot of where you are when you merely open its Maps app. Automatic daily weather updates on Android phones pinpoint roughly where you are. And some searches that have nothing to do with location, such as “chocolate chip cookies” or “kids science kits”, pinpoint your precise latitude and longitude accurate to the square foot and save it to your Google account. Obviously, if you open Maps and you've given the app location permission, it'll get your location. Similarly, if you have weather enabled, it'll regularly update to not become stale. Searches for products is a bit more subtle, I agree, but your browser also asks for location access per site, so you simply can refuse to give it for Google search. Each of these is connected to a specific feature you're using, it's not just constantly pinging your location for the sake of your location. Each ping is specifically for a service you're using. The real issue here is the fact that "Web & Apps activity" didn't explicitly mention location, and it happened to be next to this other feature named "Location History", and this juxtaposition implied that the former didn't collect location. That's it, that's the only issue here, and since 2018 thye've fixed it by adding "this might include location data" to Web & Apps activity.
  - geoduck14 6y ago
    Well hold on. GETTING my location for a map is one thing STORING my location is quite another. Also, I might want to use map to search for where OTHER things are - I don't need to display my current location to search for "a map of Topeka Kansas". Also, for the weather app specifically, there was a weather app that retrieved your location every 30 seconds (to give you up to date info) - and then promptly sold that data to advertisers. Just because the weather app "needs to poll my location", doesn't mean it should get fine-grained access every 4 hours.
  - geoduck14 6y ago
    Oh, also, something I learned when I wrote an app for android. In order for me to use the GPS chip on the cell phone, I needed to: use Google's API, send the phone information (you know, so they could log who was looking at the GPS and where they were); this MANDATED an updated version of the play store. So if there is some 3rd party app that "you totally trust with your location" - Google is getting that data, too.