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Man Sues Over Google's 'Location History' Fiasco, Case Could Affect Millions (arstechnica.com)
Last week, The Associated Press found that many Google services on Android devices and iPhones store your location data even if you've explicitly disabled the location sharing feature. As a result, Google has now been sued by a man in San Diego, who argues that Google is violating the California Invasion of Privacy Act and the state's constitutional right to privacy. Ars Technica reports: The lawsuit seeks class-action status, and it would include both an "Android Class" and "iPhone Class" for the potential millions of people in the United States with such phones who turned off their Location History and nonetheless had it recorded by Google. It will likely take months or longer for the judge to determine whether there is a sufficient class.
Also on August 17, attorneys from the Electronic Privacy Information Center wrote in a sternly worded three-page letter to the FTC that Google's practices are in clear violation of the 2011 settlement with the agency. In that settlement, Google agreed that it would not misrepresent anything related to "(1) the purposes for which it collects and uses covered information, and (2) the extent to which consumers may exercise control over the collection, use, or disclosure of covered information." Until the Associated Press story on August 13, Google's policy simply stated: "You can turn off Location History at any time. With Location History off, the places you go are no longer stored."
Also on August 17, attorneys from the Electronic Privacy Information Center wrote in a sternly worded three-page letter to the FTC that Google's practices are in clear violation of the 2011 settlement with the agency. In that settlement, Google agreed that it would not misrepresent anything related to "(1) the purposes for which it collects and uses covered information, and (2) the extent to which consumers may exercise control over the collection, use, or disclosure of covered information." Until the Associated Press story on August 13, Google's policy simply stated: "You can turn off Location History at any time. With Location History off, the places you go are no longer stored."
This is a frivolous lawsuit if I ever heard one. First, the plaintiff must show actual damages, and there are none. Second, Google is only complying with the Law, which requires that phones sold in Interstate commerce support e911 location services *at all times*. The cellular network must have precise locations of every phone at all times, and Google can facilitate this service with complete immunity because the on-device GPS is far more accurate, and therefore far more life-saving, than tower triangulation. The public interest clearly outweighs the interests of someone who has no real reason to object.
This might be the real reason for sealed-in batteries: so you can't ever totally turn off the phone.
How is the Riemann zeta function like Trump rallies? Both have an endless number of trivial zeros.