Android Tracks Your Location Even When You Ask It Not To !

               As you emerge from your turkey-induced coma, take a moment to reflect on the past week in security, which despite the holiday was chock-full of wonderments. From Uber shadiness to Android location-tracking, it was quite the whirlwind.

Google Tracks Android Location Even When You Tell It Not To
In a perplexing violation of privacy norms, Android phones collect the location of nearby cell towers even if you’ve turned off location services. The company confirmed the practice to Quartz, saying that the feature was in place to improve push notifications and messages. It also said it would stop doing so by the end of November.

In many ways, the headline sounds scarier than what it means in practice. Google encrypts the data in transit, and says it doesn’t store any of it. It’s also distinct from the location data that it provides app developers and advertisers. Someone could conceivably use the location data for ill if they’ve compromised an Android device, but by that point they’d likey have access to the phone’s location—and even more sensitive information—already.

None of which excuses Google! It’s still an extremely bad look to collect location info on people who are unaware, especially given the many, many situations where a person has reason to fear for their safety if their location at any given moment were widely known. At best, Google’s overreach was incredibly tone deaf and intrusive. At worst, it could have had serious real-world consequences.


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