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> They just don't do it to force you to let them track your location. The final straw for me was when I disabled location services for Google Play Services[1]
by taneq 5y ago
> They just don't do it to force you to let them track your location.
The final straw for me was when I disabled location services for Google Play Services[1] and the Gmail app, of all things, started nagging me about Google Play Services not having location data. Every time I opened it. Why the fuck does a mail client need location data so badly it has to nag you on every startup?
Oh wait, it doesn't. It's just their most popular app and so the premier spot for a nag screen.
My life's been de-Googled (apart from the odd video on YouTube) since the start of 2018 and my skin feels so much less crawly.
[1] You know, after they pushed all app developers to stop using the GPS APIs and instead get location through Google Play Services, so that you had to 'consent' to Google Play Services getting your location data if you wanted ANYTHING to be able to use location data?
- soraminazuki 5y agoEven opting out in Play Services would not be enough. Because Google tracks SSIDs, your smartphone location can get scooped up if you enable the hotspot feature. You'd have to rename your smartphone in order to opt out.
- hulitu 5y agoThey do this for every google app on the phone: phone app, messages app, contacts app, chrome etc. They just want your data.