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Google's Location Privacy Practices Are Under Investigation in Arizona: Report (washingtonpost.com)
Google's alleged practice of recording location data about Android device owners even when they believe they have opted out of such tracking, reports The Washington Post, has sparked an investigation in Arizona, where the state's attorney general could potentially levy a hefty fine against the search giant. From the report: The probe, initiated by Republican Attorney General Mark Brnovich and confirmed by a person familiar with his thinking but not authorized to speak on the record, could put pressure on other states and the federal government to follow suit, consumer advocates say -- though Google previously insisted it did not deceive consumers about the way it collects and taps data on their whereabouts. The attorney general signaled his interest in the matter in a public filing [PDF] that indicated the office had retained an outside law firm to assist in an investigation. The document, dated August 21, said the hired lawyers would help probe an unnamed tech company and its "storage of consumer location data, tracking of consumer location, and other consumer tracking through ... smartphone operating systems, even when consumers turn off 'location services' and take other steps to stop such tracking," according to the heavily redacted public notice.
First, Google starts making a search engine for the Chinese government that censors data. Next, they buy your credit card data from Mastercard. Now, they are spying on your location even after you turn location services off.
Google used to have an ethical code that made people believe that they were not some evil Silicon Valley company. I guess that is gone now.
Apple got caught doing the same damned thing several years ago. They stored a log of every tower and every GPS lock the phone had ever seen, which was then sent to Apple for processing. For some reason, no one cared when Apple did this.
But Google does it and it's now suddenly worthy of investigation?
the exact location in Arizona where it is under investigation.
Sig Follows: "Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself." -- Mark Twain
i have a big donger. let's make some gay babies
confirmed by a person familiar with his thinking
It might as well be made up.
People turned off having one app store and record their location, mistakenly thought they weren't being tracked and are now upset? They didn't notice that google maps still worked, that their uber driver still came to get them, that they still got asked to review stores they were in, etc. The app in question didn't even say it turned off tracking.
Maybe google should create an app to turn off tracking but it means turning off your cell phone, GPS and wi-fi. I know many people who might die of facebook/twitter withdrawal if they ever used such an app.
It's sure what it looks like. The Az attorney general isn't exactly known for NY style offensives against anti consumer practices and the timing is suspect. Plus there's been a lot of chatter on right wing media about doing "something" about the ban. Heck a it's been kind of funny to watch the party of small government taking about regulating private entities to prevent the bans...
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Opt-in should be the rule, it should be VERY clear what you're opting into, and screw Google for being sneaky.
When are corporations going to be held accountable like the "people" they fictionally are? As in, suspend their stock trading for a week (a month?) as a penalty for corporate misbehavior. When something like that is done, and the stockholders feel pain, then the corporation will be held accountable.
For real corporate malfeasance (Experian?), pull their business license, and don't let them get it back until they have an approved plan to prevent the problem in the future. Again, if the stockholders feel the pain, then the corporation will be held accountable, or in this case, disappear.
Jesus Fucking Christ, and this is why I don't carry a smart phone around with me. I have no intention of letting Google know I was in a store or not.
My personal Android phone is ancient, with no data plan, is never connected to wifi ... good luck getting location data out of that.
My work iPhone has the location services disabled.
One thing I've never been clear on ... is this location tracking happening if you turn location services off entirely? Or if you have location services on but location history off?
Because if there is an option to completely turn off location services, and Google is still collecting that, then I sincerely hope they get slammed for this shit.
My personal Android phone is ancient, with no data plan, is never connected to wifi ... good luck getting location data out of that.
The location data comes from the phone's GPS unit, not the wifi or data.
If I can be modded down for being a troll, can I be modded up for being an orc, or a balrog?
I think his point is that while the phone may know where he is if the phone can't connect to the outside world it won't be telling Google where he is.