IF, LIKE MOST people, you lot idea Google stopped tracking your location i time you lot turned off Location History inwards your draw of piece of work organisation human relationship settings, you lot were wrong. According to an AP investigation published Monday, fifty-fifty if you lot disable Location History, the search giant soundless tracks you lot every fourth dimension you lot opened upward Google Maps, larn surely automatic conditions updates, or search for things inwards your browser. There's a way to halt it—but it takes some digging. The occupation affects anyone alongside an Android telephone together with iPhone users running Google Maps on their devices, according to the AP report, which researchers at Princeton University verified. That's to a greater extent than than 2 billion people. The Google back upward page for managing together with deleting your Location History says that i time you lot plow it off, "the places you lot become are no longer stored. When you lot plow off Location History for your Google Account, it's off for all devices associated alongside that Google Account." The AP's investigation constitute that's non true. In fact, turning off your Location History alone stops Google from creating a timeline of your location that you lot tin view. Some apps volition soundless rails you lot together with shop time-stamped location information from your devices. More specifically, the AP was able to rails Princeton researcher Gunes Acar's habitation address, every bit good every bit his daily activities, using merely Google Web & App activity, which he had shared alongside the intelligence agency.
"If Google is representing to its users that they tin plow off or suspension location tracking but it's all the same tracking their location, that seems similar textbook deception to me," says Alan Butler, senior council at the Electronic Privacy Information Center.
To genuinely plow off location tracking, Google says you lot remove hold to navigate to a setting buried deep inwards your Google Account called Web & App Activity, which is laid past times default to part your information, including non merely location but IP address together with more. Finding that setting isn't easy. At all.
Sign inwards to your Google draw of piece of work organisation human relationship on a browser on iOS or your desktop, or through the Android settings menu. In the browser, access your draw of piece of work organisation human relationship settings past times finding Google Account inwards the dropdown inwards the upper right-hand corner, together with then caput to Personal Info & Privacy, remove Go to My Activity, together with then inwards the left-hand nav click Activity Controls. Once at that spot you'll run across the setting called Web & App Activity, which you lot tin toggle off.
On your Android phone, become from Google settings to Google Account, together with then tap on Data & personalization. You'll notice Web & App Activity there.
Google farther buries the notion that Web & App Activityhas anything to do alongside location. In fact, the setting sits correct to a higher house the Location History option, suggesting at a glance that the 2 things are quite distinct. And Google's vanilla description of Web & App Activity is that it "Saves your activity on Google sites together with apps to give you lot faster searches, meliorate recommendations, together with to a greater extent than personalized experiences inwards Maps, Search, together with other Google services." From there, you lot remove hold to tap Learn more, together with then scroll to What's saved every bit Web & App Activity, together with tap i time to a greater extent than on Info close your searches & to a greater extent than before Google says anything close location whatsoever.
To halt that tracking, toggle the bluish Web & App Activityslider to off. Google volition together with then give you lot a popup warning: "Pausing Web & App Activity may bound or disable to a greater extent than personalized experiences across Google services. For example, you lot may halt seeing to a greater extent than relevant search results or recommendations close places you lot help about. Even when this setting is paused, Google may temporarily purpose information from recent searches inwards gild to improve the lineament of the active search session."
'This genuinely reads similar a classic instance of an unfairly deceptive draw of piece of work organisation practice. I genuinely intend that the FTC needs to investigate correct away.'
ALAN BUTLER, EPIC
Google told the AP that it provides "clear descriptions of these tools," but it takes viii taps on an Android phone—if you lot know just where you're going—to fifty-fifty access that description to laid about with. As the AP notes, most people who explicitly turned off their Location History tracking, every bit WIRED together with many other privacy witting publications remove hold advised people to do, would remove hold assumed they had already taken all steps necessary to maintain their location private.
As good they should. Google itself offers at to the lowest degree iii back upward pages on location: Manage or delete your Location History, Turn location on or off for your Android device, together with Manage location settings for Android apps. None of these makes whatever cry of Web & App Activity.
In spite of this, a Google spokesperson told WIRED that "we brand surely Location History users know that when they disable the product, nosotros cash inwards one's chips along to purpose location to improve the Google sense when they do things similar perform a Google search or purpose Google for driving directions." This manifestly refers to a warning that appears if you lot plow off Location History, which says that it "does non comport upon other location services on your device." However, nowhere inwards that popup does it dot that you lot tin plow off other forms of location tracking past times pausing Web & App Activity.
"Tracking people without their consent together with without proper controls inwards house is creepy together with wrong," wrote UC Berkeley graduate researcher K. Shankari inwards a blog post that kickoff alerted the AP to the problem.
Beyond creepiness, though, Google's location-tracking may also violate the Federal Trade Commission's consumer protection statutes against deceptive privacy practices. "This genuinely reads similar a classic instance of an unfairly deceptive draw of piece of work organisation practice. I genuinely intend that the FTC needs to investigate correct away," says Butler.
Google's Location History province of affairs is reminiscent of Facebook's diverse runnings alongside the FTC. In 2011, the way famously settled alongside Facebook over the social media giant's inability to maintain privacy promises to consumers. As business office of that deal, Facebook agreed to a consent decree inwards which it promised to reform how it tracked together with shared user data. That decree has been inwards the intelligence lately, later the FTC opened a new investigation this leap into whether Facebook's information sharing alongside Cambridge Analytica violated its 2011 settlement. The FTC has to a greater extent than latterly penalized Uber, Vizio, the telephone maker Blu, together with many others for misleading customers close how their information was collected, stored, together with shared.
Former FTC primary technologist Ashkan Soltani noted inwards a tweet that Google's "confusing privacy dialogue" may merit a closer await from the agency.
"Google’s reaction—that users tin delete private information points, or users tin become deep downwards inwards settings together with plow off surely spider web settings that seem to remove hold cypher to do alongside location, hence it should live on okay, I intend fundamentally misunderstands what they’re dealing with," says Butler. "When you’re creating a historical log of someone’s movements over time, that’s information that’s uniquely sensitive together with needs to live on handled accordingly."
The revelations are probable to touching off a firestorm for Google. For now, the best affair you lot tin do is navigate through your labyrinthine settings, together with hitting "pause" on something you lot probable idea you'd already stopped.
Correction on 8/15/2018: An before version of this article misspelled K. Shankari's name.
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