Google doesn’t want you to find the settings to disable location data on Android
Google wants phone manufacturers to make it hard for users to disable Location Data
A former Google vice president in charge of Google Maps, Jack Menzel, said during a deposition while under oath that the only way Google would not be able to find out a user’s work and home addresses is if this user deliberately misled Google by giving it incorrect locations on purpose. Sections pertaining to the suit had been redacted and last week a judge ordered that new sections of the court papers be unredacted in response to legal challenges made by trade groups Digital Content Next and News Media Alliance. The latter two groups said that revealing this information was in the public’s best interests and that Google was using its “legal resources” to hide its data collection system from the public.
The newly unredacted part of the document states that Google uses a variety of tools to obtain location data including Wi-Fi and even third party apps that have absolutely nothing to do with Google. In some situations, Google forces users to share data in order to use an app or to connect their device to Wi-Fi.
One employee says that Google wouldn’t want these revelations on the front page of the New York Times
One Google employee, noting that Android users should be able to find their location using their Android device without sharing this info with Google, appeared to have an epiphany. “This may be how Apple is eating our lunch,” he said, stating that Apple is “much more likely” to allow iPhone users to run location-based apps without having to share the data with Apple.
