6 ms·

I assume every app that has location permission does this. I can't imagine google doesn't, or the phone company. I don't think it's right (and even less right t

I assume every app that has location permission does this. I can't imagine google doesn't, or the phone company. I don't think it's right (and even less right that apparently google will provide this information to law enforcement). I just think the only practical thing to do is assume you are being tracked and don't install apps unless you're ok with the tradeoff. The flip side of this, is why would I ever install a Tim Hortons app, why do I think they are offering an app, and what possible meaningful benefit (even assuming I went there regularly) would I drive from having an app?

davidkuennen 4y ago
Most store apps I know offer some kind of discount or membership program with points if they use the app. I guess something like that.
- monkeybutton 4y ago
  Afaik they made Roll Up The Rim digital and in-app only because of covid.
  - ChoGGi 4y ago
    I used their website for rolling up, worked mostly alright.
Li7h 4y ago
Smart assumption to make. On the flip side, people install the app because they usually are how the rewards programs are implemented now. From the app page: Mobile Order & Pay Select and customize your favourite food and drinks, choose your preferred Tim Hortons location, and pay from the app. It’s now that easy to order your favourite Tim Hortons items from your phone. Personalized Menu Add recently ordered items with one tap. Customized orders are saved on your menu so you can get your order just the way you like it. Tims® Rewards After just seven eligible purchases, receive your choice of a FREE coffee, tea or baked good. Keep checking for more special offers to come. It’s time to reward your routine! Scan for Tims® Rewards A digital version of your loyalty card that you can scan easily when ordering in the restaurant – never miss an opportunity to earn rewards. Scan to Pay Save time and pay for your order right from the app -- no need to carry cash or a credit card! Take Out, Dine In or Drive Thru Choose your pick-up method. Payment is completed in-app, so you can grab your order to go, or dine in with us. Your choice.
- version_five 4y ago
  I must be an outlier. On the remote ordering side, I feel like inevitably it won't work out and will end up taking as much time as just ordering - but I do see the the appeal if it works well enough that it doesn't leave me pissed off once a week because they gave away my order or something. For the rest of it, it's just a meaningless distraction to me. I have enough going on without caring about tracking coffee rewards, or managing yet another payment method. I just don't find they make my life easier, and they take time and focus, plus nudge me to buy stuff I don't need or load money onto cards or whatever. I have frequent flyer memberships for the perks, but otherwise I've always found loyalty cards to be a gimmick, even more so when they want me to install a data harvesting app.
  - frosted-flakes 4y ago
    They have frequent heavy discounts on certain items. I often eat there anyway, and almost half price for a meal at least once a week is a good deal. (I know, I know, spending money on cafes is a "waste of money", I can already hear you say it. For me it's not, trust me.) Plus, a free XL coffee/tea every 7 purchases if you're a regular customer is a no-brainer. (You can deny the Location permission prompt if that bothers you. You don't even need the app to collect points, just register once and delete it, but you do need to manually "activate" offers that are then linked to your card.)
LegitShady 4y ago
>The flip side of this, is why would I ever install a Tim Hortons app, why do I think they are offering an app, and what possible meaningful benefit (even assuming I went there regularly) would I drive from having an app? All of the fast food restaurants now offer "deals" and/or points only available through the app. Tims popular game "Roll up the Rim to Win" used to be printed on the cups, and is now only available through the app. I wouldn't install them anyways, but lots of people have no idea how compromising these applications are to their privacy, and wouldn't infer the amount of information collected even if they read the privacy policy. These sorts of spying applications should just be banned. Nothing will change due to this investigation, and I doubt Tims will be fined any amount that would actually stop them from doing it, and no one will go to jail.
kjs3 4y ago
why would I ever install a Tim Hortons app Discounts, freebees, coupons, loyalty club benefits and other financial incentives, usually. Pretty much the only reason you want it, because all these kinds of things usually do otherwise is nag you that you're near one of their locations.
- JacobThreeThree 4y ago
  You can get all of these benefits by using the Tim Hortons mobile website with an account.
  - dylan604 4y ago
    But that's like not native and so unhip. I'm convinced the whole push to get away from mobile web to native app is solely for the personal data hovering for the vast majority of apps. For example, a friend just downloaded the Wayfair app. Why is that necessary? She saved a couple of items, and now the app relentlessly notifies her about things even with notfications off. Doesn't happen with a mobile website.
    - hydrok9 4y ago
      Yes, this is the entire corporate rational behind everything "mobile" and "cloud."
      - jrockway 4y ago
        One of my deepest worries about the field of software engineering is what happens when people in general stop responding to ads or irritating demands to engage. Suddenly, the demand for software becomes much smaller than it is today.
        dylan604 4y ago
        I'm never happy about people no longer having jobs, but there's an entire swath of the industry specializing in building crap apps/sites specifically to 'all your data now belong to us' that could just go away and make the planet a better place. That's one of the rare occassions that I actually agree with that lame SV phrase.
peterkos 4y ago
I used to go there a ton and I wanted to see if there were any good deals, see if my go-to was in stock, accumulate rewards, and check hours if I went to a new store. The app theoretically provides the "best" experience as well -- I've yet to see a mobile website recently for something I use day-to-day that isn't trying to push me towards the mobile app, or was clearly never tested on a real device. (Obviously, that's the ideal, but such is the state of things.) The website didn't really suffice because the UX was bad, and wrestling with it got tiring. Apple+Google's hours were never quite correct.
- midislack 4y ago
  In retrospect you probably feel pretty silly for falling for such a stupid ploy to rape your privacy just so you can save a nickel on a donut. I know Canada's in a food crisis but is it worth your soul?
  - dave5104 4y ago
    Unless you want to unplug your modem, turn off your cell service, and live life as a luddite, your privacy on the internet doesn't exist.
    - pueblito 4y ago
      I’m strongly considering it
    - Forbo 4y ago
      I strongly disagree with the way people just throw up their hands and accept defeat. It is possible to have privacy on the Internet. Projects like Tor, I2P, and Nym are working to make this a reality. Fight back against the surveillance capitalist dystopia. Normalize privacy.
    - midislack 4y ago
      Stopping yourself from installing a donut store "app" so you can feed them data is an easy way to start, actually.
seanalltogether 4y ago
This is the reason I've been so frustrated with working with bluetooth devices on Android. Android places all bluetooth usage under Location permissions, and if you need talk to bluetooth devices in the background, users have to manually consent to background location tracking, even though that's not what we want to actually do.
- mirntyfirty 4y ago
  Is this because it automatically becomes possible to obtain location when accessing Bluetooth?
  - alephxyz 4y ago
    It's because it's easy to estimate someone's location from nearby Bluetooth beacons or wifi access points.
  - lern_too_spel 4y ago
    This is in fact what most iOS apps that ask for Bluetooth permission use it for. https://www.theverge.com/2019/9/19/20867286/ios-13-bluetooth-permission-privacy-feature-apps https://www.theverge.com/2019/9/19/20867286/ios-13-bluetooth...
- mormegil 4y ago
  IIANM, this is only when _scanning_: as soon as you pair/bond with a device, the app can communicate with it even with the location permission switched off.
- gnabgib 4y ago
  Unless I'm misunderstanding you, none of this is true for the Android devices I've owned. Vendor specific perhaps? Devious way to do it. Doesn't Apple suffer with the same problem (location+bluetooth tied?)
  - lern_too_spel 4y ago
    It depends on the targetSdkVersion. https://www.androidpolice.com/2021/05/19/android-12-apps-wont-ask-for-location-permissions-when-all-they-want-is-bluetooth-scanning-which-yes-was-a-thing/ https://www.androidpolice.com/2021/05/19/android-12-apps-won...
bstar77 4y ago
Clearly you've never bought coffee from a chain after 2015.
stanmancan 4y ago
I have the app and it's surprisingly useful, mostly because Tim Hortons can have pretty long, slow lines. I'll usually place my order when I'm a few minutes away so that I can simply grab my order and walk out. It can also be helpful if you show up and there's a long lineup. Mobile orders get pushed to the front of the line, so instead of waiting in line you can place a mobile order and go grab it right away. I feel a bit guilty doing that though.
- interestica 4y ago
  >guilty Do we need... App neutrality laws? Ha
- gnabgib 4y ago
  It isn't really an app though, it's one of those half arsed SPA in an webview that CONSTANTLY updates the large JS payload whenever you open it. Agree about the line bypass feature.. Tims can be insanely slow at rush hours. They also switched Roll Up the rim to REQUIRE the app if you want to roll (2? 3 years ago?) - I hope a successful lawsuit comes out of that given this privacy ruling.. a lot of people were forced to install the app just so they could collect an occasional free coffee/doughnut. If they did that last minute at the counter they wouldn't even have read the permissions (a similar argument to that which renders many EULA invalid in Canada).
  - Teever 4y ago
    > a lot of people were forced to install the app just so they could collect an occasional free coffee/doughnut. They weren't forced. No one held a gun to their head. They willingly traded their privacy for a donut.
    - stanmancan 4y ago
      There's nothing "willing" about it; the vast majority of users have no clue what private information these apps are hoarding.
- elevaet 4y ago
runevault 4y ago
This is why I install so few apps. Yes granular permissions are a thing, but I always ask myself am I okay with this app potentially getting my data even if I saw no thanks to some yet-unknown side channel attack? Google apps are whatever because obviously they already have my data since I'm on Android.
- heleninboodler 4y ago
  Yes, I am waiting patiently for the backlash against everyone and their brother "needing" you to install an app. Every device you buy, every new service you sign up for, they all want you to install an app that easily could have been a web page. My phone contains none of this (ok, I have 6 apps that I consider essential and they all have permissions as restrictive as possible, and I honestly even feel a little dirty with a few of those). My old phone, which spends 99% of its life in a drawer in airplane mode, is riddled with trash apps like my Asus router setup app and any app that is forced down my throat by a product that I want to use and can't be properly set up without installing an app. Loyalty program app? Not a chance. I have no idea what group of clowns wrote that thing, but one thing I do know is that it was outsourced most of the time. I look forward to the day when we've reverted back to simple web-based interfaces and most of the general public says "install an app? yeah, right" because they've learned not to trust that shit.
  - runevault 4y ago
    Yup completely agreed. Restaurant chains badly wanting everyone to install apps is one that really annoys me. Mind you the general hunger for data even beyond mobile bugs me. I went and bought shoes a few weeks ago and they needed my email address as that was how I would get my receipt. So of course now they keep sending me all their sales bullshit. It is all incredibly frustrating and stupid.
    - frosted-flakes 4y ago
      For what it's worth, the email address for receipt thing is not always a marketing scam. Home Depot asks if you want a receipt emailed to you, and they have never sent marketing emails. Furthermore, they link the email address with the card you used to pay, so the next time you buy something it auto-fills the email address field. If it's a one-off purchase it's not worth it, but if you buy stuff there all the time (often expensive stuff that might need to be returned), having emailed receipts is great.
jeroenhd 4y ago
Not just the location permission; apps have been found to scan pictures taken to build a location history out of the location metadata that is stored in pictures and such. Practically speaking, unless you disable location tagging in pictures, any app with media access can track your coarse location history, depending on how many pictures you tend to take throughout the week.
brailsafe 4y ago
It's their attempt at keeping up with Starbucks, who locked in the app game years ago. A better question is why would anyone go to Tim Hortons in the first place
- frosted-flakes 4y ago
  Because it's ubiquitous and highly consistent, they have decent food and tea/coffee, it's relatively cheap and very fast, it's a great place to meet friends or work from home (away from home), and most of them are open until midnight at least, if they're not 24 hours.
  - brailsafe 4y ago
    I was being a bit facetious, but it is really hard to work remotely from Tims, and it doesn't really function like a cafe in the community sense. 24 hours is nice, I'll grant them that, but they fight tooth and nail to not pay their workers even 10c more per hour and strive for cheapness above all else. There's a place for that, but if the only cafe within a 20 min walk is Tims, that place would suck to live, and that's pretty often the case.
    - frosted-flakes 4y ago
      > it doesn't really function like a cafe in the community sense. Some do, and those are the ones I frequent. At mid-day and early afternoon it is often very busy with people that hang around for half an hour or more—not just to eat, but to socialize. The amount of first dates I've witnessed (universally older people, often divorced), mothers or fathers with babies or toddlers catching up with a friend, college-aged people having openly-public heated discussions about their sex lives, old biker dudes planning their next trip and going on the wildest tangents about mystery vacations picked by lottery, primary-aged boys arriving by bike to get an iced cappuccino and hang around talking, work colleagues planning a company outing and dissing their other colleagues, etc. is incredible. Dozens and dozens of interactions that I've observed. And I haven't even mentioned the staff yet: the ones nearby me are almost always jovial and are free to discuss things among themselves, plainly audible due to the open kitchen designs, and listening to them is oddly inviting. Also, most of them don't play music, or if they do it's pretty quiet and is not distracting.
CobrastanJorji 4y ago
I don't see why Google would sell your location data to others. Store your location data? Absolutely. Use your location data? Absolutely. Target ads to you based on your location data? Absolutely. Sell it to others, though? No way. Why would they give away their valuable advantage? It's very much in their interest to stop anybody else from getting that information, and I trust them to be self-interested.
- rossjudson 4y ago
  https://policies.google.com/privacy https://policies.google.com/privacy is pretty comprehensive, and details pretty much everything about what Google does with various types of information.

davidkuennen 4y ago

Most store apps I know offer some kind of discount or membership program with points if they use the app. I guess something like that.

monkeybutton 4y ago
Afaik they made Roll Up The Rim digital and in-app only because of covid.
- ChoGGi 4y ago
  I used their website for rolling up, worked mostly alright.

Li7h 4y ago

Smart assumption to make. On the flip side, people install the app because they usually are how the rewards programs are implemented now. From the app page: Mobile Order & Pay Select and customize your favourite food and drinks, choose your preferred Tim Hortons location, and pay from the app. It’s now that easy to order your favourite Tim Hortons items from your phone. Personalized Menu Add recently ordered items with one tap. Customized orders are saved on your menu so you can get your order just the way you like it. Tims® Rewards After just seven eligible purchases, receive your choice of a FREE coffee, tea or baked good. Keep checking for more special offers to come. It’s time to reward your routine! Scan for Tims® Rewards A digital version of your loyalty card that you can scan easily when ordering in the restaurant – never miss an opportunity to earn rewards. Scan to Pay Save time and pay for your order right from the app -- no need to carry cash or a credit card! Take Out, Dine In or Drive Thru Choose your pick-up method. Payment is completed in-app, so you can grab your order to go, or dine in with us. Your choice.

version_five 4y ago
I must be an outlier. On the remote ordering side, I feel like inevitably it won't work out and will end up taking as much time as just ordering - but I do see the the appeal if it works well enough that it doesn't leave me pissed off once a week because they gave away my order or something. For the rest of it, it's just a meaningless distraction to me. I have enough going on without caring about tracking coffee rewards, or managing yet another payment method. I just don't find they make my life easier, and they take time and focus, plus nudge me to buy stuff I don't need or load money onto cards or whatever. I have frequent flyer memberships for the perks, but otherwise I've always found loyalty cards to be a gimmick, even more so when they want me to install a data harvesting app.
- frosted-flakes 4y ago
  They have frequent heavy discounts on certain items. I often eat there anyway, and almost half price for a meal at least once a week is a good deal. (I know, I know, spending money on cafes is a "waste of money", I can already hear you say it. For me it's not, trust me.) Plus, a free XL coffee/tea every 7 purchases if you're a regular customer is a no-brainer. (You can deny the Location permission prompt if that bothers you. You don't even need the app to collect points, just register once and delete it, but you do need to manually "activate" offers that are then linked to your card.)

LegitShady 4y ago

>The flip side of this, is why would I ever install a Tim Hortons app, why do I think they are offering an app, and what possible meaningful benefit (even assuming I went there regularly) would I drive from having an app? All of the fast food restaurants now offer "deals" and/or points only available through the app. Tims popular game "Roll up the Rim to Win" used to be printed on the cups, and is now only available through the app. I wouldn't install them anyways, but lots of people have no idea how compromising these applications are to their privacy, and wouldn't infer the amount of information collected even if they read the privacy policy. These sorts of spying applications should just be banned. Nothing will change due to this investigation, and I doubt Tims will be fined any amount that would actually stop them from doing it, and no one will go to jail.

kjs3 4y ago

why would I ever install a Tim Hortons app Discounts, freebees, coupons, loyalty club benefits and other financial incentives, usually. Pretty much the only reason you want it, because all these kinds of things usually do otherwise is nag you that you're near one of their locations.

JacobThreeThree 4y ago
You can get all of these benefits by using the Tim Hortons mobile website with an account.
- dylan604 4y ago
  But that's like not native and so unhip. I'm convinced the whole push to get away from mobile web to native app is solely for the personal data hovering for the vast majority of apps. For example, a friend just downloaded the Wayfair app. Why is that necessary? She saved a couple of items, and now the app relentlessly notifies her about things even with notfications off. Doesn't happen with a mobile website.
  - hydrok9 4y ago
    Yes, this is the entire corporate rational behind everything "mobile" and "cloud."
    - jrockway 4y ago
      One of my deepest worries about the field of software engineering is what happens when people in general stop responding to ads or irritating demands to engage. Suddenly, the demand for software becomes much smaller than it is today.
      - dylan604 4y ago
        I'm never happy about people no longer having jobs, but there's an entire swath of the industry specializing in building crap apps/sites specifically to 'all your data now belong to us' that could just go away and make the planet a better place. That's one of the rare occassions that I actually agree with that lame SV phrase.

peterkos 4y ago

I used to go there a ton and I wanted to see if there were any good deals, see if my go-to was in stock, accumulate rewards, and check hours if I went to a new store. The app theoretically provides the "best" experience as well -- I've yet to see a mobile website recently for something I use day-to-day that isn't trying to push me towards the mobile app, or was clearly never tested on a real device. (Obviously, that's the ideal, but such is the state of things.) The website didn't really suffice because the UX was bad, and wrestling with it got tiring. Apple+Google's hours were never quite correct.

midislack 4y ago
In retrospect you probably feel pretty silly for falling for such a stupid ploy to rape your privacy just so you can save a nickel on a donut. I know Canada's in a food crisis but is it worth your soul?
- dave5104 4y ago
  Unless you want to unplug your modem, turn off your cell service, and live life as a luddite, your privacy on the internet doesn't exist.
  - pueblito 4y ago
    I’m strongly considering it
  - Forbo 4y ago
    I strongly disagree with the way people just throw up their hands and accept defeat. It is possible to have privacy on the Internet. Projects like Tor, I2P, and Nym are working to make this a reality. Fight back against the surveillance capitalist dystopia. Normalize privacy.
  - midislack 4y ago
    Stopping yourself from installing a donut store "app" so you can feed them data is an easy way to start, actually.

seanalltogether 4y ago

This is the reason I've been so frustrated with working with bluetooth devices on Android. Android places all bluetooth usage under Location permissions, and if you need talk to bluetooth devices in the background, users have to manually consent to background location tracking, even though that's not what we want to actually do.

mirntyfirty 4y ago
Is this because it automatically becomes possible to obtain location when accessing Bluetooth?
- alephxyz 4y ago
  It's because it's easy to estimate someone's location from nearby Bluetooth beacons or wifi access points.
- lern_too_spel 4y ago
  This is in fact what most iOS apps that ask for Bluetooth permission use it for. https://www.theverge.com/2019/9/19/20867286/ios-13-bluetooth-permission-privacy-feature-apps https://www.theverge.com/2019/9/19/20867286/ios-13-bluetooth...
mormegil 4y ago
IIANM, this is only when _scanning_: as soon as you pair/bond with a device, the app can communicate with it even with the location permission switched off.
gnabgib 4y ago
Unless I'm misunderstanding you, none of this is true for the Android devices I've owned. Vendor specific perhaps? Devious way to do it. Doesn't Apple suffer with the same problem (location+bluetooth tied?)
- lern_too_spel 4y ago
  It depends on the targetSdkVersion. https://www.androidpolice.com/2021/05/19/android-12-apps-wont-ask-for-location-permissions-when-all-they-want-is-bluetooth-scanning-which-yes-was-a-thing/ https://www.androidpolice.com/2021/05/19/android-12-apps-won...

bstar77 4y ago

Clearly you've never bought coffee from a chain after 2015.

stanmancan 4y ago

I have the app and it's surprisingly useful, mostly because Tim Hortons can have pretty long, slow lines. I'll usually place my order when I'm a few minutes away so that I can simply grab my order and walk out. It can also be helpful if you show up and there's a long lineup. Mobile orders get pushed to the front of the line, so instead of waiting in line you can place a mobile order and go grab it right away. I feel a bit guilty doing that though.

interestica 4y ago
>guilty Do we need... App neutrality laws? Ha
gnabgib 4y ago
It isn't really an app though, it's one of those half arsed SPA in an webview that CONSTANTLY updates the large JS payload whenever you open it. Agree about the line bypass feature.. Tims can be insanely slow at rush hours. They also switched Roll Up the rim to REQUIRE the app if you want to roll (2? 3 years ago?) - I hope a successful lawsuit comes out of that given this privacy ruling.. a lot of people were forced to install the app just so they could collect an occasional free coffee/doughnut. If they did that last minute at the counter they wouldn't even have read the permissions (a similar argument to that which renders many EULA invalid in Canada).
- Teever 4y ago
  > a lot of people were forced to install the app just so they could collect an occasional free coffee/doughnut. They weren't forced. No one held a gun to their head. They willingly traded their privacy for a donut.
  - stanmancan 4y ago
    There's nothing "willing" about it; the vast majority of users have no clue what private information these apps are hoarding.
elevaet 4y ago

runevault 4y ago

This is why I install so few apps. Yes granular permissions are a thing, but I always ask myself am I okay with this app potentially getting my data even if I saw no thanks to some yet-unknown side channel attack? Google apps are whatever because obviously they already have my data since I'm on Android.

heleninboodler 4y ago
Yes, I am waiting patiently for the backlash against everyone and their brother "needing" you to install an app. Every device you buy, every new service you sign up for, they all want you to install an app that easily could have been a web page. My phone contains none of this (ok, I have 6 apps that I consider essential and they all have permissions as restrictive as possible, and I honestly even feel a little dirty with a few of those). My old phone, which spends 99% of its life in a drawer in airplane mode, is riddled with trash apps like my Asus router setup app and any app that is forced down my throat by a product that I want to use and can't be properly set up without installing an app. Loyalty program app? Not a chance. I have no idea what group of clowns wrote that thing, but one thing I do know is that it was outsourced most of the time. I look forward to the day when we've reverted back to simple web-based interfaces and most of the general public says "install an app? yeah, right" because they've learned not to trust that shit.
- runevault 4y ago
  Yup completely agreed. Restaurant chains badly wanting everyone to install apps is one that really annoys me. Mind you the general hunger for data even beyond mobile bugs me. I went and bought shoes a few weeks ago and they needed my email address as that was how I would get my receipt. So of course now they keep sending me all their sales bullshit. It is all incredibly frustrating and stupid.
  - frosted-flakes 4y ago
    For what it's worth, the email address for receipt thing is not always a marketing scam. Home Depot asks if you want a receipt emailed to you, and they have never sent marketing emails. Furthermore, they link the email address with the card you used to pay, so the next time you buy something it auto-fills the email address field. If it's a one-off purchase it's not worth it, but if you buy stuff there all the time (often expensive stuff that might need to be returned), having emailed receipts is great.

jeroenhd 4y ago

Not just the location permission; apps have been found to scan pictures taken to build a location history out of the location metadata that is stored in pictures and such. Practically speaking, unless you disable location tagging in pictures, any app with media access can track your coarse location history, depending on how many pictures you tend to take throughout the week.

brailsafe 4y ago

It's their attempt at keeping up with Starbucks, who locked in the app game years ago. A better question is why would anyone go to Tim Hortons in the first place

frosted-flakes 4y ago
Because it's ubiquitous and highly consistent, they have decent food and tea/coffee, it's relatively cheap and very fast, it's a great place to meet friends or work from home (away from home), and most of them are open until midnight at least, if they're not 24 hours.
- brailsafe 4y ago
  I was being a bit facetious, but it is really hard to work remotely from Tims, and it doesn't really function like a cafe in the community sense. 24 hours is nice, I'll grant them that, but they fight tooth and nail to not pay their workers even 10c more per hour and strive for cheapness above all else. There's a place for that, but if the only cafe within a 20 min walk is Tims, that place would suck to live, and that's pretty often the case.
  - frosted-flakes 4y ago
    > it doesn't really function like a cafe in the community sense. Some do, and those are the ones I frequent. At mid-day and early afternoon it is often very busy with people that hang around for half an hour or more—not just to eat, but to socialize. The amount of first dates I've witnessed (universally older people, often divorced), mothers or fathers with babies or toddlers catching up with a friend, college-aged people having openly-public heated discussions about their sex lives, old biker dudes planning their next trip and going on the wildest tangents about mystery vacations picked by lottery, primary-aged boys arriving by bike to get an iced cappuccino and hang around talking, work colleagues planning a company outing and dissing their other colleagues, etc. is incredible. Dozens and dozens of interactions that I've observed. And I haven't even mentioned the staff yet: the ones nearby me are almost always jovial and are free to discuss things among themselves, plainly audible due to the open kitchen designs, and listening to them is oddly inviting. Also, most of them don't play music, or if they do it's pretty quiet and is not distracting.

CobrastanJorji 4y ago

I don't see why Google would sell your location data to others. Store your location data? Absolutely. Use your location data? Absolutely. Target ads to you based on your location data? Absolutely. Sell it to others, though? No way. Why would they give away their valuable advantage? It's very much in their interest to stop anybody else from getting that information, and I trust them to be self-interested.

rossjudson 4y ago
https://policies.google.com/privacy https://policies.google.com/privacy is pretty comprehensive, and details pretty much everything about what Google does with various types of information.