Google Knows Your Every Move With Android Smartphones

We have already made you aware how Google uses the Android phones to collect the user’s location information. But, that's not the only thing the search giant is capable of, it most probably knows what you are up to right now if you are holding an Android smartphone. Google uses its location-needed apps to monitor users activities and knows their exact location. However, the product that slips the information is opt-in for the users but is quite hard for the users to understand. The company collects the information about every move its Android users makes.

Google uses its ‘Location History’ product to know the places that the users have visited. The Location History is a Google created product launched in 2009 by the company and it is used to share traffic predictions and restaurant recommendations. Location History also helps the other apps like Google Map, Google Assistant, Google App, and Google photos to get the user's location details. However, Quartz reported that none of the app shares what happens if the Location History is enabled. Moreover, there is no explicit information stating the enabling the Location History will allow the other apps to acquire Location History data.

However, this is just one part of the story, the most important this is how Location History works for Google. For this, Quartz tested three smartphones manufactured by the different company running on the different Android version. Then, created a Wifi- network to provide internet access and Sim cards of all the phones were removed. Now, the team traveled with the phones to various places from shopping, walking restaurants to malls and other places. The analysis expert team recorded every network request made by the devices. According to the analysis done by the team the information that was transmitted to the Google’s servers includes, all types of movements, the barometric pressure, Wifi connectivity, the MAC address, signal strength, and frequency of every nearby wifi access point, the voltage of your battery, the GPS coordinates of your phone and the accuracy of those coordinates and others.

Google states that the Location History purely an opt-in facility for the users, they can enable or disable it at any point in time. The search giant has also said that the product is created to deliver the traffic predictions, location-based photo albums and the recommendation based on the places you have visited and even more. The control of Location History is totally in the hands of the users. However, once it enabled it shares the information with other Google products without users concern.

Whenever you open up the Google photos, Google Maps or even the primary Google Maps all the apps ask to turn on the Location History for improving their service and recommendations.  But, none of the apps discloses that what Google will do with information likes which stores you have visited, restaurants you have eaten or other. This makes Google in the possession of data that could be used by the company to sell the advertiser for targeting the customers with relevant ads.

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Manish Content Strategist

With a mixture of literature, cinema, and photography, Manish is mostly traveling. When he is not, he is probably writing another tech news for you!

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