Google is storing user location data from your phones, despite being told not to

Google wants to know where you go so badly that it records your movements even when you explicitly tell it not to. “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 Services,” a Google spokesperson said in a statement to the AP. That popup states that, when active, the setting “saves the things you do on Google sites, apps, and services … and associated information, like location.” Warnings, when you’re about to turn Location History off via Android and iPhone device settings, are more difficult to interpret. With Location History off, Google Maps and other apps store your whereabouts in a section of your account called “My Activity,” not “Location History.” Since 2014, Google has let advertisers track the effectiveness of online ads at driving foot traffic, a feature that Google has said relies on user location histories. Sean O’Brien, a Yale Privacy Lab researcher with whom the AP shared its findings, said it is “disingenuous” for Google to continuously record these locations even when users disable Location History.