After an AP investigation found that Google is literally always tracking your whereabouts — even when you’ve explicitly asked it not to — the tech giant has updated a description on its website detailing how “Location History” works. The new description explains that, yes, Google continues to track users even after they have turned the setting off.
“You can turn off Location History at the account level at any time. This setting does not affect other location services on your device, like Google Location Services and Find My Device,” reads the updated description. “Some location data may be saved as part of your activity on other services, like Search and Maps.”
Google is tracking user locations even after they've turned the feature off pic.twitter.com/GtUxeWUtMp
— TicToc by Bloomberg (@tictoc) August 18, 2018
After the revelation that just asking Google to turn off location tracking doesn’t actually turn off location tracking, Wired came out with a guide detailing how to really stop the tech giant from tracking your every move.
“To actually turn off location tracking, Google says you have to navigate to a setting buried deep in your Google Account called Web & App Activity, which is set by default to share your information, including not just location but IP address and more,” reads the Wired piece. “Finding that setting isn’t easy. At all.”
When you tell Google to stop tracking your location, it should stop tracking your location. Period. August 16, 2018
People have come out strongly against Google in light of this revelation.
“Right now we live in a time when it’s completely impossible to know how we’re being tracked, and by whom, and what happens to that information,” reads a piece in Engadget. “Aside from slippery company doublespeak, your phone is a tracking device no matter how you slice it: Cell towers triangulate your physical position, and using WiFi clocks your location.”
