Google Collects Android Users’ Locations Even When Location Services Are Disabled

Megalith

Megalith

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A Quartz investigation has revealed that even if you actively turn off location services, haven’t used any apps, and haven’t even inserted a carrier SIM card, phones running Android software gather data about your location and send it back to Google when they’re connected to the internet. Since the beginning of 2017, Android phones have been collecting the addresses of nearby cellular towers and sending that data back to Google.

Quartz observed the data collection and contacted Google, which confirmed the practice. The cell tower addresses have been included in information sent to the system Google uses to manage push notifications and messages on Android phones for the past 11 months, according to a Google spokesperson. They were never used or stored, the spokesperson said, and the company is now taking steps to end the practice after being contacted by Quartz.
 
Megalith said:
A Quartz investigation has revealed that even if you actively turn off location services, haven’t used any apps, and haven’t even inserted a carrier SIM card, phones running Android software gather data about your location and send it back to Google when they’re connected to the internet. Since the beginning of 2017, Android phones have been collecting the addresses of nearby cellular towers and sending that data back to Google.

Quartz observed the data collection and contacted Google, which confirmed the practice. The cell tower addresses have been included in information sent to the system Google uses to manage push notifications and messages on Android phones for the past 11 months, according to a Google spokesperson. They were never used or stored, the spokesperson said, and the company is now taking steps to end the practice after being contacted by Quartz.
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ANYU cellphone can do this by using triangulation from three towers for a good match...if they can get 4 it's nearly a gps level match. Nothing to see here to be honest. Apple does it too i bet.
 
hescominsoon said:
Nothing to see here to be honest. Apple does it too i bet.
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Yes, it's something to see. If the user actively turns off location, that's a clear indication that the user does not want location reported back to whomever. rgardless of method. period. esepcially if there's no sim card. then there's no active service. why the heck should an OS ping a cell tower looking for service when THERE IS NO SERVICE AVAILABLE? Furthermore, what is the use of a setting to indicate choice, if the setting is going to be worked around?

I would usually blame lack of ethics and morals, but knowing these guys, it was probably just incompetence. Not thinking things through to conclusion. "Oh yea whoops I guess if we use the strongest cell signal to guarantee push is received you *can* deduce location. heh"
 
hescominsoon said:
ANYU cellphone can do this by using triangulation from three towers for a good match...if they can get 4 it's nearly a gps level match. Nothing to see here to be honest. Apple does it too i bet.
Click to expand...

Apple was doing it in 2011, got caught, said it was a bug, and stopped. I don't see anything about people catching them doing it again.
 
When I couldn’t use my Fitbit app on a Pixel without allowing location I knew I didn’t want to stay with Android. No Apple isn’t perfect either but at least a simple app that only talks to my watch doesn’t require location on iOS.
 
darckhart said:
Yes, it's something to see. If the user actively turns off location, that's a clear indication that the user does not want location reported back to whomever. rgardless of method. period. esepcially if there's no sim card. then there's no active service. why the heck should an OS ping a cell tower looking for service when THERE IS NO SERVICE AVAILABLE? Furthermore, what is the use of a setting to indicate choice, if the setting is going to be worked around?

I would usually blame lack of ethics and morals, but knowing these guys, it was probably just incompetence. Not thinking things through to conclusion. "Oh yea whoops I guess if we use the strongest cell signal to guarantee push is received you *can* deduce location. heh"
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911 emergency works without service...
 
Don’t worry Fandroids, Google will patch it in a new version of Android... oh wait...
 
darckhart said:
Yes, it's something to see. If the user actively turns off location, that's a clear indication that the user does not want location reported back to whomever. rgardless of method. period. esepcially if there's no sim card. then there's no active service. why the heck should an OS ping a cell tower looking for service when THERE IS NO SERVICE AVAILABLE? Furthermore, what is the use of a setting to indicate choice, if the setting is going to be worked around?

I would usually blame lack of ethics and morals, but knowing these guys, it was probably just incompetence. Not thinking things through to conclusion. "Oh yea whoops I guess if we use the strongest cell signal to guarantee push is received you *can* deduce location. heh"
Click to expand...


There is active service because you are connected to a google account connected to the internet. Also as another user said already, cell phones still work without a sim card. 911 services work on all phones, triangulation works all the time. It's not like when you turn off location services 911 can't find you anymore.
 
Megalith said:
A Quartz investigation has revealed that even if you actively turn off location services, haven’t used any apps, and haven’t even inserted a carrier SIM card, phones running Android software gather data about your location and send it back to Google when they’re connected to the internet. Since the beginning of 2017, Android phones have been collecting the addresses of nearby cellular towers and sending that data back to Google.

Quartz observed the data collection and contacted Google, which confirmed the practice. The cell tower addresses have been included in information sent to the system Google uses to manage push notifications and messages on Android phones for the past 11 months, according to a Google spokesperson. They were never used or stored, the spokesperson said, and the company is now taking steps to end the practice after being contacted by Quartz.
Click to expand...

Another reason to not own Android any more.
 
Oh ffs. Why do you care where I am Google?

I don't use you for my shopping needs i certainly don't need you to tell me when i go home.

What is your purpose?
 
I don't mind if Google knows where I am, I'de buy some Google babies if I could.
 
Google and Apple are the two reasons I do not own a smart phone. One is evil and the other is,...oh wait. :)
 
If anyone thinks they aren't tracked in this day and age.... ROFL BWAHAHAHAHAHA.....

Hey, hey..... I got this bridge to sell.....
 
Gasaraki_ said:
There is active service because you are connected to a google account connected to the internet. Also as another user said already, cell phones still work without a sim card. 911 services work on all phones, triangulation works all the time. It's not like when you turn off location services 911 can't find you anymore.
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You guys are correct. Without sim card, EMS works and if there is no GPS, they get your location by checking the cell tower(s) you're closest to. Now tell me again, if there's no sim card and location GPS is off, why is Android collecting cell tower location info? THAT is the point. It has NO REASON to send that data home.
 
Nolan7689 said:
When I couldn’t use my Fitbit app on a Pixel without allowing location I knew I didn’t want to stay with Android. No Apple isn’t perfect either but at least a simple app that only talks to my watch doesn’t require location on iOS.
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You realise that's an app issue, not the OS, right? The app maker decides what privileges it needs.
 
Yeah I figured this out when my phone began to give me traffic updates at the time I go to work. Going so far as to tell me how long to get to the building I work in. And the only time I turn GPS on is when I get directions to someplace I don't know
 
Damar said:
If anyone thinks they aren't tracked in this day and age.... ROFL BWAHAHAHAHAHA.....

Hey, hey..... I got this bridge to sell.....
Click to expand...

Can I get pics of the bridge? This post is worthless to me without pics.
 
The thing that concerns me is they're now winding it down... In response to quartz asking about it...

What if they hadn't asked about it? :/

When I turn location info off, I want it 100% off.

Shit like this is why I'm not okay with phones that don't let me easily remove the battery...
 
911 999 112 on the 2 android phones i used have actively forced full location service on which makes sense assuming the operator has access to that data (but only for that call, location service is off after call ends)

Fitbit need to update there stupid app to not Require location service to run the app (on iphone they can do the same but chosen not to that) why does it need location any way

this type of information that google was logging could be used to track the phone's history location if a warrant was provided (might not be very precise but could be enough if given to a 3-4 letter agency)
 
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"They were never used or stored, the spokesperson said"

So why waste bandwidth, servers, etc to collect it in the first place? Sounds like a load of BS to me.
 
Nolan7689 said:
When I couldn’t use my Fitbit app on a Pixel without allowing location I knew I didn’t want to stay with Android. No Apple isn’t perfect either but at least a simple app that only talks to my watch doesn’t require location on iOS.
Click to expand...

Were you using a Fitbit that does run mapping or something like that? When you do, it will use a connected phone's GPS for location data. Did you try the same device on iOS and Android?
 
https://www.wired.com/story/better-emergency-alerts-fcc/
Far be it from me to underestimate a giant corporation's capacity for shady B.S., but there may be a less nefarious explanation. The Wired story I linked talks about improving emergency messages sent to peoples' phones. Currently, the 911 center can only send out a warning to the whole county, or nobody. The article says with the wildfires in Sonoma, they didn't send out a warning because 500k people would all panic and clog up the roads, when only a tiny portion were actually in harm's way. Compare this to Uber, who can find your exact location and pick you out of a crowd.
For regular 911, if it looks like a phone, or acts like a phone, it has to be able to contact 911. I'd say they feel the same way about location based alerts; just because you've opted out of sending apps and ads your location (as I personally always have) doesn't mean you want to die in a tornado, flood, or wildfire. Don't let me wrinkle your aluminum foil hat, though.
Tl;dr: Maybe not evil; for 911.
 
Damar said:
If anyone thinks they aren't tracked in this day and age.... ROFL BWAHAHAHAHAHA.....

Hey, hey..... I got this bridge to sell.....
Click to expand...

people are also getting murdered today. The amount of occurrence of something has no relevants for if something should be acceptable or not.
 
BloodyIron said:
The thing that concerns me is they're now winding it down... In response to quartz asking about it...

What if they hadn't asked about it? :/

When I turn location info off, I want it 100% off.

Shit like this is why I'm not okay with phones that don't let me easily remove the battery...
Click to expand...
You think you do, but you don't.
 
SvenBent said:
people are also getting murdered today. The amount of occurrence of something has no relevants for if something should be acceptable or not.
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Murder is also a crime. Tracking you without your consent should also be a crime, but its not....
 
I’m sure all six of you are anxiously awaiting the patch that the carriers will never push. Yay android!
 
SvenBent said:
Exactly why we have these debates. Also i believe you mean its not a crime in the US.
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Even if it was illegal, companies would do it. They do illegal stuff all the time, and oh gee, they got caught and had to pay 10 million dollars in fines..... out of about 500 million/billion dollars that they made while doing the illegal thing so of course there's no incentive to just keep breaking the law while claiming they're on the up and up now. ;)

Oh and also after they grease the right legal spots to make sure they don't get investigated again for quite some time.....

People often think they are getting something for nothing, they aren't. They just don't realize what they are giving up, and companies love that.
 
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class action law suite is in order, I want the money due me for Google using my locations ...
 
I have to say, any sense of privacy is false or, at best, naive.
Be it camera on the highways, arm's, or anywhere else there is no real sense of privacy. Absolutely everything one does is and can be tracked. You want privacy? Move to the sticks and go off grid. If they want to, "they" will still find you.

I don't agree with it, but unless there is a total blackout, there isn't anything one can do about it.
 
time to find google employees in the streets and give them real life beatings since theyre all hidden in their safespace bubble and oblivious to what is right or wrong.
 
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