By now you've probably seen some version of the
AP exclusive about Google and your location history. In a nutshell, Google services continue to track your whereabouts, whether you want them to or not. And to be perfectly clear, this happens on both Android and iOS.
Among smartphone users I can picture a spectrum of reactions, from a dismissive shrug to a tinfoil hat:
"Who cares? I've got nothing to hide."
I can't say that I 100% agree with this; to paraphrase
Ed Snowden, dismissing privacy because you've got nothing to hide is like dismissing free speech because you've got nothing to say.
But it does remind me of a chat I once had with a so-called security expert, who at the time insisted that his clients refrain from using any of Google's products. "Wouldn't that make you more suspicious?" I asked him, and he eventually came to agree with me that security through obscurity is a defensible strategy to protect one's privacy.
"Granting Google access to some of my personal data in order to use their services is a fair exchange."
This is where I currently find myself on this particular issue. Not only do I keep my location history turned on, but I share it with the girlfriend on an ongoing basis. That way both her and Google know if I stop in at Dairy Queen when I'm not supposed to.
That said, if you do opt out of location tracking then it's a reasonable expectation that you shouldn't be tracked.
"Of course Google is spying on you. Don't you know they're funded by the CIA? Wake up, sheeple!"
That's certainly possible, but... I dunno.
What mostly concerns me about surveillance in this part of the world is that it's not at all transparent. Everybody knows that WeChat shares user data with the Chinese government, yet it takes a Snowden to reveal it here. I'm not saying that China is better, only that North America seems to be about as bad.
So that's my two cents. What do you make of this latest revelation about Google and location tracking?
Source:
Associated Press
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