Ride the Lightning

Delete Google Maps and Google Will Still Know Where You Are

September 15, 2016

A recent post in The Register reminds us how far away we are from the days when no one knew where we were. For everyone who thinks that deleting Google Maps will stop Google from tracking you, think again.

Google Play is so insistent on tracking your location that some Android phone users have reported battery drain issues. You can laboriously go through all your apps and turn off the location feature. A very laborious process and not necessarily what you want. But if even one app has the ability to track you, so does Google Play.

Primarily, Google Play wants to lure you into buying more apps by knowing where you are. But who knows what else they may be doing with your location data?

We turn location data off on our phones unless we need it (mostly while driving) but most people won't go to the trouble. Frankly, most people don't care. Since we do care about our privacy, it did surprise us that Google Play (not Google Maps, as many folks thought) is so insistent on tracking you.

Though it is a nuisance, if you care about keeping your location private, turn location data off on your phone unless you need it.

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