Posted on 01/24/2022 3:25:57 PM PST by devane617
The Washington State Attorney General is filing a lawsuit Monday against Google, claiming it secretly tracks consumer locations.
Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s lawsuit is set to file at King County Superior Court and says Google continues to track consumers even after they turn off location tracking settings.
"If you go to the trouble on your phone, and actually disable location tracking, you think, well, they're not going to track you anymore," Ferguson said in an interview with KOMO News. "Well, guess what? Google has a back-end way to still track you. Even when you affirmatively check the box saying I don't want you tracking me."
This data is used for Google to profit from, according to Ferguson who said they want Google to disable this back-end way.
"And by the way, there's a reason why Google makes it hard for you to do this, because they profit off it to the tune of billions of dollars, all that advertising about where you're going, they make billions and billions of dollars off that," Ferguson claimed. "So it's good for their bottom line but bad for consumers' privacy.
"So we're going to court because they won't do it voluntarily. We have to go to a judge to get the judge to order them to stop."
So true! Plus, where you are is by nature public information.
If you don't want to let hidden observers to know where you are, don't carry a device that conneccts to cell tower or wifi.
Otherwise, like any snooping, the technology will be used to the extent possible, and the law won't be able to prevent that.
I view this lawsuit as a stunt by the AG. Assuming it succeeds, all it will give is a false sense of privacy, much like the 4th amendment does.
Here is an apparent update. Looks like Google is backing away a bit, but as you stated, where you are is public as long as you are in public:
There is also quite a bit of info that we think of as private, that is not.
Retailers you buy from and banks who handle your CC or debit can sell information about your buying practices. Whether or not you have a cell phone on your person doesn’t change that ability.
Google will change this, and get the same or similarly valuable info some other way.
“we actually lived through it just fine without that technological umbilical cord.”
We did live through it, but maybe not “just fine” when compared to the safety and convenience cell phones offer. I have a hate-hate relationship with mine. It’s nefarious in so many ways, but I recall many bad travel issues pre-cellular which wouldn’t even have been a thing now.
Also, a couple times a week I travel to a neighboring town alone on TN back roads with switch-backs and drop-offs. Before leaving, I share my location with DH for a few hours in case of emergency. Maybe it’s a placebo, but we both feel more confident.
Does anyone sell cell phone Faraday-type cases for when you truly need/want to be off grid? Sounds like a great business opportunity.
I agree, they can save lives when traveling. But it can always be pulled out of the cage and be used if needed. But leaving a “travel plan” is a wise habit even with cellphones.
“Does anyone sell cell phone Faraday-type cases for when you truly need/want to be off grid? Sounds like a great business opportunity.”
Oh absolutely, it has been a thing for quite awhile now. They have had designer type Faraday cell phone cases available for a long time now. :)
https://duckduckgo.com/?t=lm&q=Faraday+cell+phone+cases&iax=images&ia=images
That’s so cool! Faraday blockers for cells.
(Ping to me to save.)
:)
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