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Android Users Need To Delete Google Maps and Google Play If They Don't Want Their Locations Tracked (theregister.co.uk)
Kieren McCarthy, reporting for The Register: Google, it seems, is very, very interested in knowing where you are at all times. Users have reported battery life issues with the latest Android build, with many pointing the finger at Google Play -- Google's app store -- and its persistent, almost obsessive need to check where you are. Amid complaints that Google Play is always switching on GPS, it appears Google has made it impossible to prevent the app store from tracking your whereabouts unless you completely kill off location tracking for all applications. You can try to deny Google Play access to your handheld's location by opening the Settings app and digging through Apps -> Google Play Store -> Permissions, and flipping the switch for "location." But you'll be told you can't just shut out Google Play services: you have to switch off location services for all apps if you want to block the store from knowing your whereabouts. It's all or nothing, which isn't particularly nice. This is because Google Play services pass on your location to installed apps via an API. The store also sends your whereabouts to Google to process. Google doesn't want you to turn this off.
I love Big Brother. Don't you love Big Brother? Maybe you need re-education.
How about using Fake GPS location spoofer? Is it able to send fake coordinates to Google Play, too?
So finally a explanation why Google Play has started to be the most battery eating component in my Nexus 5. Fuck you Google and your spyware, this was my last Android phone.
Give XPrivacy a try.
Or you could just trust Google....
Has anyone thought of not using these services, and explaining why not to the salesmen?
Several years ago now, a UK IPS - British Telecom - decided it would be a good idea to deep packet examine all their customers data streams and sell the results to advertisers. They used a product called Phorm. They wee told that this would break practically all the data protection laws, but went ahead and did it anyway. Then they fought the resultant legal cases until the European Court of Human Rights became involved.
Whenever a BT salesman phones me now, I just tell him that the reason I'm not buying his product is this history. Invariably, they have never heard of it......
and really, of COURSE Maps needs my location. how the fuck else am I supposed to use it to navigate? /facepalm
"Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my Presidency. I'm fucked."; ~ Donald J. Trump
The power button still exists (unless apple deems it is not necessary in the next iphone).
BTW, apple and MS location track as much as they can too.
Silence is a state of mime.
If I have my GPS turned off, is it still recording my location? Or is the article saying that it records your location if the GPS is on, even if you're not actively using Maps? Big difference there.
Am I missing something, or there's no link to the actual article?
I thought /. had editors ...
"We'll need 2000 crickets, 4 cans of Easy Cheese, and the fluid from 18 glowsticks for this plan to work...." - ph0n1c
First post because I had Google Maps enabled for 4 dimensions.
I followed the instructions to turn off google play's permission to use my location, but this was already turned off. Am I missing something? The article only says the "latest Android build".
It won't be long before they start selling intrusive ads based on location, time of day, etc. It's around lunch time and you're walking on the street? Your phone buzzes to recommend a restaurant for you. That kind of advertisement could be sold to restaurants based on location, time of day, implied salary, whether you frequent a competitor, etc.
To be obnoxious, I've never actually given any app my location on my phone. And I use Google Maps often enough. But rather than using it for navigation, I use it for -- you'll never guess -- looking at maps. No facepalm needed!
Sorry but this post is so bullshit.
Of course google collects data. At least we know about it.
What about apple? Could you please post a similar one about apple? If this is to make android users skeptical, then please do the same about apple users.
Every bigger - and actually not even bigger - company collects a shit load of data about literally everything. There are dildos out there that send EVERYTHING about its usage to the company that made it.
I believe that those informations are a little more sensitive than a simple location - but that's up to your own habits.
When you think you're either good with apple or with google then you are wrong anyway.
Just accept that data is tracked and if not then read the disclaimers that tell it at least.
on mobile data, since I can't block "android system" from doing background data transfers. But eating up my bandwidth is not enough, now they're after my battery. I don't mind tracking though, since I'm wearing a tinfoil hat.
Granted being able to see where you are on the map is half of the usefulness.
But just being able to dynamically sort through maps at any zoom level has a lot of value. When I'm in a city I can look at cross-streets and see where I am, then use the map to navigate by just being aware of what upcoming streets (and the few streets before that) are named so I know where to turn...
But I agree it stinks you can't tell some other application to keep away from location data without disabling map location also.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
There are non-google app stores.
This isn't so much a question about the rights or wrongs of Google deciding they have the right to track a user's phone if it runs Android, but more about the implications for the user.
The introductory text, above, suggests that the Google Store will send your location data to Google, *without giving you the choice*. Now, if it also does this without explicitly telling you, without explicitly asking you to acknowledge and agree, then what happens if your monthly data usage cap is exceeded thanks to this "network chatty" application?
What will *definitely* happen is that your mobile phone provider will slap you with a usage charge, which may contain a punitive "excess" for going above an agreed limit. Will Google indemnify all Android phone users against excess charges?
I can't believe that they wouldn't have considered this, so either usage is trivially low, and/or there really is an opt-out with warning. If not this could be another class action waiting to happen...
Everyone is tracking you. Leave the phone at home if you want freedom from being tracked. Well, as far a cell phone tracking you.
And they are useless, and frequently riddled with malware. I use Google services because they have a value to me. Samsung services (for instance) do not.
I don't want carob instead of chocolate just to "prove a point". I bought an Android phone because I prefer it to Apple's walled garden, and have more freedom to use my hardware as I choose.
"Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my Presidency. I'm fucked."; ~ Donald J. Trump
Personally I'm really glad that Google tracks so much with my phones. I'm going through a divorce and ex has lied about so much. One of the lies involves when I was at work and got home. Thanks to Google location history, her lies have already been exposed to the child family investigator. She doesn't know it yet, but will soon. What I'm most looking forward to is using Google data, pictures and video recordings to finally shut her bitch of a lawyer down.
And a seperate GPS device (which stays in the car, unplugged if I'm not using it) if I need one for navigation.
This is why I've said over and over... Anyone who complains about Windows 10 thinking that it is the "big bad" when it comes to privacy simply hasn't been paying attention...
That doesn't make Windows 10 spying all good, it just puts it into the same league as Apple and Google...
Have you ever wondered how Google Maps has near-real-time display of traffic maps on surface streets that don't have monitoring equipment set up by the DOT? *THIS* is exactly how they do it. They track the relative speed and location of smart phones traveling down various streets to figure out current traffic patterns. This is simply another case of giving up a piece of privacy for a free service in return. Love it or hate it, that's how this shit works.
a margarita faz um site de merda e coloca o telefone pra encontrarr o traficantezimnho de merda que traz maconha do uruguai. ciúme eu tenho de quem pára de fumar, não de uma retardada que tem um cú maior que o intelecto dela.
There is something fundamentally wrong with this Voyeuristic and Parasitic society Monetizing your life.
But who is really doing the watching, why are they watching, what are they collecting and what are the doing with it?
Its my info so if they are selling it I should be getting a substantial cut.
I should have a right to know exactly the who, the what and the why about my info!
I should also have the right to say NO and opt out!
Like cockroaches they can't stand the light of day.
NSA and advertisers are paying them to track everyone.
They more they know the more they money can make.
It seems like every app wants permissions to all my texts, email, contacts, location, blood type, shoe size etc. even when the app would never need that access for its intended function unless it has some sort of malevolent covert function.
For example why would a fart app need all those permission when all it does is make stupid noises to annoy those around you.
But what if you are not using maps. Can't you turn off location services to maps when maps are not in use? I have been doing that iOS since 2008.
You won't even know where you are.
Google Play Services claims to provide the location API for all apps, so of course if you turn off location permissions for Play you're going to turn it off for all apps. And if Maps is constantly reporting my position to Mother Google, why is it always pestering me to turn on location tracking?
Personally, I have never been prompted by my phone to download an app just because of my location. Maybe that's because I don't leave Play (or Maps either) running in the background.
Unless I'm implicitly using navigation or something similar, I've always turned off location services and only turned it on if I've using the GPS, etc.
Otherwise, it's just too much of battery hog - especially if you're moving indoors or somewhere the GPS doesn't work well - and that's been a thing for years so it's not like this is a new revelation.
I can get why someone would want privacy and that's their prerogative. However, it's not a secret that owning a smartphone can compromise that privacy, whether innocuously or maliciously. If you've opened all the doors and windows, don't complain about all the bugs and rodents.
Finally allows me to select permissions for apps and services. Sure it'll bitch and yell "The sky will fall" but it hasn't.
Google Play location services have been disabled on my phone for awhile already.
Harrison's Postulate - "For every action there is an equal and opposite criticism"
> They made their money when I bought the goddamn phone.
No, no they didn't. Google doesn't charge money for Android. That's why you can get an Android phone for $15. They made nothing when you bought your phone. They make money while you use your phone.
If you prefer to pay for your phone in cash at the time of purchase, you can buy an iPhone for $650. Apple makes money when you buy your phone.
Of course, the iPhone also tracks you by default, but by paying $650 you can turn location tracking off. Well you can turn it off completely on Android too, but anyway, no Google didn't make money when you bought your phone. The store you bought it from made money, the company that made the phone made money, hell even Microsoft made money, not so much Google.
I suspect we can blame the entertainment mafiaa for this one - Google Play sells movies and TV and the studios want to control access by geo-location to content.
[Insert pithy quote here]
The Register article never mentions what application asked him if he wanted to see a McDonald's menu.
Google Play Services is simply the API gateway to Location services for many applications. You can still choose to enable/disable Location services from the individual application. For example, I may have Location on for Google Play Services so its functionality is on for application whom I choose to allow it on. I can then DISABLE Location permission on
Google App
Google Play Newstand
Google Play Store
Google+
Hangouts
Messenger
Then ENABLE it for
Earth
Maps
News & Weather
Street View
If he's insinuating that Location services are being sent for an application which has the Location service disabled then he should show proof.
By the time I switch to Android N, Xposed will be running on it and I suspect I'll just be able to switch this off -- right?
I never will understand why people use android. Yes, the google integration is convenient, but the performance of the phones is terrible. I bought a brand new Samsung 1.5 years ago, and by this time last year, the thing had slowed to a crawl. Every single Android phone for years has been like this, to the point things like answering calls and texts or entering a girl's number in your phone is a challenge.
So I got an IPhone 6S and a Lumia 950 just to check out the alternatives as I only had used android smartphones since the blackberry days. The iPhone interface is bland, and the sea of icons is cumbersome, but the apps are fast, plentiful, and I never have problems with crashes or slowdowns impeding normal activity. Windows 10 is a much better user experience, with a far more intuitive interface that is often even faster than iPhone, but the apps are lacking.
Android is just pure garbage. Mind boggling we have to deal with this.
You can try to deny Google Play access to your handheld's location by opening the Settings app and digging through Apps -> Google Play Store -> Permissions, and flipping the switch for "location." But you'll be told you can't just shut out Google Play services: you have to switch off location services for all apps if you want to block the store from knowing your whereabouts.
Is this something new in Nougat? (Does anyone even run Nougat on anything yet?)
I'm on Marshmallow (6.0.1), and I can turn off location permissions for the Google Play Store, and wasn't "told" anything when I did. Everything else works just fine. I can even turn on location for games or other apps, and they still work, and Google Play still doesn't have access to location. So I'm not sure what the summary is talking about, here.
"Somebody has to do something. It's just incredibly pathetic it has to be us."
--- Jerry Garcia
Good luck with them tracking me. My phone's GPS stopped working. I have a LG G Stylo that is just over a year old, and my daughter has the same phone that is about seven months old. Both GPSs on our phones stopped working at the same time. I would be happier if I had to worry about being tracked. I really like th LG G Stylo, but T-Mobile or LG needs to step up and fix these phones. LG has a systemic problem with the GPS failing.
Maybe it's that Google wants to track your every move.
Or maybe, more likely, they're trying to make Android suck a lot less by enforcing policy to 3rd party apps to prevent them from hammering your phone's battery by constantly polling GPS. Secondarily, they also can completely sanitize the GPS this way, preventing malicious apps from grabbing data that really could be compromising for the user. Or, gasp, maybe they're trying to have a clean, unified API so that apps work across different phones and OS versions. I'm not saying google is perfect on privacy and such, but compared to disorganized startups with minimal investment in IT and development, I don't think it's really a contest on who people will feel safer with the data residing - you don't read about huge Google Apps breaches, but everyday it seems a new app, service or retailer gets hit.
90 percent of the people that think that BB is watching them are delusional.
Big brother wants to wear out your batteries as soon as possible so you get on the replace-my-hardware train as often as possible.
Unless you root your device these apps are embedded into the OS. Can't even disable them as some apps can be. I supposed you could sign out of Google but you really have a handicapped device with no Google Play. Although if your creative you could side load apps or join Amazon Prime and use Underground.
I don't particularly mind some of this, and yet for me Google is too much about tracking and monitoring. They are not very good at security either which is more concerning to me.
And has probably been recording your location ever since you got your iPhone. Apple is also not afraid to secretly download this location history from your phone. You know how Google got in trouble with the EU because their Street View cars were also recording wifi hotspot info? Apple did the exact same thing, except instead of paying people to drive Apple cars around, they turned every iPhone owner into an unpaid contractor who would scurry around the globe gathering hotspot location information for them.
I just disabled Google Play and my fully charged battery ran down in 2 hours.
A low-power RF jammer at the right frequencies will prevent a GPS lock. Battery life will be long, since you just need to add some frequent spikes to corrupt the data beyond what the ECCs can handle.
The so called 'security researcher' got confused with Google Nearby https://support.google.com/acc... . Google also moved core android OS functions into Google Play Services so core functions could be updated without rolling an entire android update(which the oem would never do). Moving the location provider was part of the this rework, so everyone could get the latest google maps turn by turn directions and provide a consistent api to developers http://lifehacker.com/why-goog....
Wish I had thought of this! Would be a great app.
This is a CONSEQUENCE of Google tracking, not the start of it.
Google has always collected location information from nearly all users. Every time you turn location on, it will nag you to consent to 24 hour location monitoring, even while you have location turned off. And every time you run maps, it tries to turn location on, even if you aren't trying to see a map of your current location. If you misclick and accidentally agree, you actually can go back and fix it, but Google gives no indication that this tracking is active.
Having not experienced this problem, my guess is that it's because I have location off 95% of the time and do not consent to the full time monitoring.
The article seems to use "Play store" and "Play service" interchangeably, but according to my app list (Android 7.0), they are two different apps. So which is it?
You can't delete system apps on Android. You can turn them off on later versions of the OS, but that may cripple the operation of other apps that depend on them. Not sure about Google Maps, but Google Play is definitely deep in the system and there are also security-related reasons you need it.
Not sure about the GPS details, but the phone can get an approximate location by other methods.
These are the kinds of technical topics that were once addressed by slashdot discussions, assuming my memory is not playing tricks on me. I'll search some more among the comments that have been moderated "insightful" or "informative", but I'm not expecting much these days. (Expecting even less when I search for "funny". Where have all the comedians gone? Long time past.)
Of course, it may be a more fundamental problem that this discussion is already on the edge of death from old age. There is a fix, but slashdot is unlikely to implement that kind of dynamic search capability. I would even be willing to chip in towards implementing such capabilities, but even less likely that slashdot can shift to or supplementally add that sort of economic model.
Freedom = (Meaningful - Coerced) Choice != (Speech | Beer^2), and sad sock puppets' bad mods avail them naught.
Google probably already knows I'm pedophile. My walking patterns are least of concerns. :)
I find this absolutely reprehensible. I truly wonder why people put up with this. It's one thing to not care that google tracks you. I don't mind. But I'd be absolutely incensed if I had no way to prevent it and I'm locked into a 2 year contract with no way to have a usable phone and usable maps without granting google this prying eye. One of my kids has a phone which doesn't even allow google play to be turned off (the phone relies on it). Each week we notice data charges when he has used no data. When we trace their origin, it's google play. Now I know why.
Boycott google.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
There's a lot of misunderstanding here of how location and tracking on Android actually works.
First of all, google play store has nothing to do with it. It's google play services that provides location services and implements location tracking in Android. That's the service that is used to retrieve AGPS data from the net, to correlate nearby wifi and mobile masts with lists held on google's servers to give location without GPS, and yes to provide tracking data on your location to google. Setting the location mode to "GPS Only" or similar is supposed to disable much of the tracking, but I'm not sure how much I'd trust that.
Play services is a pretty core component of Android, and an awful lot of things will cease to function if you manage to remove it. You can block play services from accessing your location using 3rd party tools like XPrivacy, but location for most apps will cease to function without a complex set of workarounds.
If you genuinely don't want your Android phone calling home with your location while still being able to use GPS, you need:
Thanks google...
I'm running Android 6.0.1 and I have specifically disabled location for Google Play Store and Google Play Services has not asked for any location services. I have not been able to find any issues. Of course, the Android version I am using is fairly stock on the ZTE ZMAX Pro.
Why buy a smartphone with GPS, there are plenty of feature phones with no GPS. Then you can use a Garmin or any other dedicated GPS.
Facts are history now plebs have politics for religion on social media.
Not that I'm against spreading awareness about the privacy/security concerns that come along with constant tracking like this, but how is this news exactly? Google Play Services has always been bad about destroying my battery's charge because of its constant need to know my location, among other things, and it always broke whenever I tried to deny it permissions so I was just forced to turn off location globally in the settings anyway. Perhaps the experience was different for others, but if you're truly concerned about it, install an aftermarket OS without Gapps. At least Google provides access to the data it collects about you and offers a way to supposedly delete it, as opposed to companies like Microsoft that use malware tactics to trick you into providing it and then don't give you a way to delete it, at least that I'm aware of.
So android play - It's also the permission manager for android apps right? It needs to have location permission before it can pass your location safely to third party apps you've installed and authorised. And this is a bad thing why? Because google gets your location? Until someone can demonstrate to me that google is using this location information to my detriment, why should I care? I certainly don't want to hand top level location trust to unknown third party vendors on a case by case basis - that sounds like a problem to me. I guess it's time to switch to apple! /s
"lt;dr" is the correct response to most of my posts.
I just did a forcestop and uninstall on either the service or play and now I can't get it back. No possible way to recover.
Stupid me. Just use a firewall and limit access.
There's nobody to directly complain to.
Sure, you can PROBABLY dig this shit out, given enough time. But they make it a supreme pain in the balls.
Chas - The one, the only.
THANK GOD!!!
Really, what the fuck? 10 years ago if I suggested that everyone get a device that always tracks your location and reports it to me, I'd probably end up on sex offenders lists and all kind of other bad lists. Now this?
Google Play Services is just a library. It doesn't access locations itself, but offers an interface for retrieving location information. Apps still have to have location permission themselves to get location information through Google Play Services (See the description of the api here, particularly the "Specify App Permissions" section).
Nobody really cares where you are. You're a tiny blip in a vast sea of Android users, and their collective behavior is what's interesting. Quit worrying so much about "surveillance", because, really, you're boring and not profitable, so Google isn't watching you.
Have you read my blog lately?
Screw You Google,
girls & boys, time to Fork Android, to make it "Non Evil...." You will stop your contempt for Basic Human Rights!
Article 12.
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.
Anon*
> Is there a reason you can't pay the true cost up front, instead of giving up privacy?
Perhaps you missed this:
>> If you prefer to pay for your phone in cash at the time of purchase, you can buy an iPhone for $650. Apple makes money when you buy your phone.
> Could it be that Google is an advertising company, and makes far more money over time through third-party sales of your location data to sleazy marketers?
Not quite. They are an advertising company, NOT a marketing data broker. They don't do "third-party sales of your data to sleazy marketers" because that would be giving up the cow; they'd rather sell the milk. Google sells ad placements (called Adwords), they do not sell the data, the data is their treasure.
Publish a list of all your employees and their locations, continuously updated in real-time. You can anonymize it; no names, just cell phone IMEI, phone number and IP numbers.
There is an alternative which performs way better than OEM or Stock Android, Cyanogen. The issue is, other app stores (Amazon, various Chinese) does their own evil things if not switched off.
Google maps is and has always been overrated, disconnected from real World application, its walk and bicycle navigation is a joke compared to "Here" (Nokia) maps.
The only issue here is a good app store, everything else can be achieved with Cyanogen without Google Services.
I installed Google Keep to try location-based notes with a reminder (a shopping list in other words). It only notified me twice: AFTER I had already returned home from said store.
So silver lining: they do want to track you, but they're still rather shit at it.
Google Play is not the same thing as the Play store.
Google Play includes a sizeable part of the operating system. Yes, the Play store is amongst it but go and have a read of the documentation to see what else it contains - some of it anyway...
Why is this so? Well actually, it is the result of free enterprise - and not by Google!
Perhaps some people in the USA have learnt just how bad some of your telcos are in comparison with ones elsewhere? They like to delay updates - whether deliberately or just by giving them near zero importance. They have shown how they do not want "older" devices to get updates. They would rather you got a new one. This could end up with everyone not owning a super shiny flagship phone being years behind with the security..
A few years ago, Google put parts of the OS where they could get at with normal OTA updates. From time to time, you may receive updates even though you are still on Marshmallow or Lollipop . That is Google Play.
I'll see your Constitution and raise you a Queen.
So I just bought two new batteries because I thought my old battery was dying. Come to find out the new battery drains just as quickly. Their action caused me to spend money I did not need to.
It's not Google Play, but Google Play services, which provide the whole phone with location. If some app uses wifi location, the services provide it. in turn they send gps to google, so the matching gets more accurate (and google can improve the wifi map).
But yes, you virtually cannot stop GPS from talking to google all the time and that's a big problem. And many apps won't work without play (and thus gps) installed, because they use it for Google cloud messaging (GCM) push notifications, DRM management, inapp purchases, location and much more.
I can't be the only person who keeps location disabled until I actually need it ?
Usually only when I pull up the map and want to see what route to take to get somewhere.
Other than that, it stays off to help conserve the battery.
GOOGLE IS EVIL... people should be aware of it!.
https://productforums.google.c...
Google is constructing a complicated matrix of permissions to render the existing permissions system irrelevant. So my specific declaration of shenanigans was because your photos from the Camera app sends the photo to Google Maps. Camera has GPS permission turned off, but I can't use Maps without it. In order to disable the Camera/Maps off, I have to turn location history off which also disables Map's arrival time estimations. Meanwhile disabling web search history removes the ability for me to tag "Home" and "work" locations.
It's time we get a third phone OS, accountable and controlled to no one. Linux Phone OS anybody?
Slashdot's rate-of-post filter: Preventing you from posting too many great ideas at once.
Can google tracking data be used to prove I did not commit a crime?
changed and I didn't want to use G+. So I'll delete Google Maps too.
Piss off, mate.
And if you stop it being possible to remove, then I'll not buy anything, just like with OSes, games, DVDs, internet service and all the other crap that they demand moronic "agreement" to an asinine and feature-grabbing "license" for. Piss off and eat those products, you fuckwits.
then you're a coward.
Fight what's right, regardless of whether you can win. Even if it's doomed, if you aren't going to fight it, admit that it wasn't that big a deal for you, just an annoyance.
therefore those who complain about Windows or Microsoft MUST be partisan morons who are just claiming it's bad because of hate, rather than the thing being complained about is actually wrong.
NOTHING. YOU HAVE TO COMPLAIN. Otherwise all they know is their sales have dropped. ABSOLUTLEY NO IDEA WHY.
Because moronic fuckwits like you SCREAM that we should STFU and just not buy.
So they do random shit and that is unlikely to be the right thing, so sales slump more, and they close and no phone company replaces them because nobody will buy what people aren't willing to buy but aren't allowed by idiots such as yourself to explain WHY they aren't willing.
Why not just STFU, it's VERY unlikely that "not buying the phone" never occurred to someone else, so why the fuck say it? It's just a way for you to whine at someone else and make your "choice" to give up feel better. Not by making it a better choice, but by dragging down all the alternative people out there to leave you "no worse than" anyone else.
Pure Crab Bucket.