- A report states that Google will track a user's location even when the company's "Location History" feature is turned off.
- The search giant keeps track of instances where apps and websites request the user's location through the Web and App Activity feature.
- The tracking can be disabled through Google's MyActivity settings menu.
Back in January, many were surprised by the amount of location data Google collects on a per-user basis. Privacy-conscious users could opt to turn off Google's "Location History" feature, believing it would completely stop Google from tracking their location. But it's not as simple as flipping the Location History switch in the settings. According to a report from the Associated Press, Google is still monitoring and saving users' locations whenever a website or app associated with the person's Google account requests the user's location.
A good number of apps and websites rely on Google's services to provide a better experience for users. So for example, what ends up happening is that anytime someone visits Google Maps or has a weather widget automatically show the temperature for their location, Google locates the user and then keeps track of that request. This is done through a feature called Web and App Activity, which is separate from Location History. In turn, this means that despite Location History being disabled, Google is still keeping track of the user's location when Web and App Activity is enabled.
The description of the Web and App Activity feature doesn't mention location tracking at all.
A Google spokesperson gave AP the following statement:
There are a number of different ways that Google may use location to improve people's experience, including: Location History, Web and App Activity, and through device-level Location Service. We provide clear descriptions of these tools, and robust controls so people can turn them on or off, and delete their histories at any time.
This location tracking isn't just an Android problem either, as it's affecting iOS users and those scrolling through the internet on a web browser. As long as there is a Google account associated with the user and Web and App Activity is turned on, the location data will be added to their activity log.
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While Google does let users disable its Location History tracking feature, it still needs to know where users are to provide them with the best experience possible. If anything, it might be a good thing that Google is still reporting the user's location in these instances — that way there's a level of transparency.
Google doesn't warn users that location tracking may continue when they disable Location History
The problem is users might be under the impression that they can turn off all location tracking simply by turning Location History off, which is not the case. On Android devices, when you turn off Location History, the pop-up message doesn't mention the fact that some location data will continue to be collected through the Web and App Activity feature. And if you go to Web and App Activity (which is on by default), the feature description doesn't mention location tracking either, which can lead you to believe that it has no bearing on location tracking at all.
Google does explicitly say that it collects location data when you toggle Web and App Activity back on, but most users won't see that message because the setting is on by default.
This screen is the only place Google lets users know about location tracking in Web and App Activity
To summarize, Google tracks your location when Web and App Activity is enabled, and it's not being upfront about it.
If you're against Google tracking your location, head to myaccount.google.com, select the vertical ellipsis menu button, and choose Activity controls. Here, the first two options will be Web and App Activity and Location History. Toggling both of these off should stop the search giant from keeping tabs on where you've been.
You can also disable Location History and Web and App Activity from the settings section of your phone. Go to Settings>Google>Google Account>Data and Personalization>Activity Controls to do so.
Just remember that disabling Web and App Activity will also radically change your experience within Google's services. Not only will your search history not be kept, but smart recommendations and suggestions will no longer be available. Services like Google Assistant, which need a lot of data about you in order to work, will also become much less useful.
If you want to keep Web and App Activity on, but not share your location data with Google, you can manually delete stored location information, but you'll have to spend a lot of time finding it and deleting it manually.
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