Google Maps Ditches Cloud-Based Location History (androidpolice.com) 48
Google Maps will soon give you the option to store your location data on your device instead of in the cloud. Android Police reports: In the coming year, Google is planning to switch things up by defaulting to saving your Timeline directly on your device instead of the cloud. You'll also have the option to wipe out bits or the whole information dossier whenever you want and disable location history completely. When you're jumping ship to a new device and want to keep your data close, you always have the option to back it up in the cloud. Google assures you that it'll lock it up with encryption.
Another significant update is the shorter default amount of time before your location history is auto-deleted. Soon, when you turn on location history, the default auto-delete time shrinks to three months. In the past, it used to hang around for 18 months by default. If you're the sentimental type, you can extend the Timeline's lifespan or turn off the auto-delete option. Google Maps has another nifty trick up its sleeve: soon, you can erase all traces of your trips with just a few taps. Say you've got a favorite hangout spot and you want to keep it to yourself. You can wipe the slate clean right from the app, whether it's searches, directions, visits, or shares. This handy feature is making its debut on Maps for Android and iOS in the next few weeks.
Finally, you will soon be able to click on the blue dot on the map to view your Location History and Timeline at a glance. It allows you to tweak what you share and store on Maps, all without having to dive into the settings. Currently, the blue dot only gives you some neat shortcuts for parking saves and location sharing.
Another significant update is the shorter default amount of time before your location history is auto-deleted. Soon, when you turn on location history, the default auto-delete time shrinks to three months. In the past, it used to hang around for 18 months by default. If you're the sentimental type, you can extend the Timeline's lifespan or turn off the auto-delete option. Google Maps has another nifty trick up its sleeve: soon, you can erase all traces of your trips with just a few taps. Say you've got a favorite hangout spot and you want to keep it to yourself. You can wipe the slate clean right from the app, whether it's searches, directions, visits, or shares. This handy feature is making its debut on Maps for Android and iOS in the next few weeks.
Finally, you will soon be able to click on the blue dot on the map to view your Location History and Timeline at a glance. It allows you to tweak what you share and store on Maps, all without having to dive into the settings. Currently, the blue dot only gives you some neat shortcuts for parking saves and location sharing.
What About All This Data? (Score:2)
I dunno. I ain't paying to store it anymore. Fuck it.
Re: What About All This Data? (Score:5, Interesting)
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Can confirm this is not true, if you disable history on YouTube and then turn it back on, the period where it was disabled is lost.
They can't make you pay for it either, at least not in GDPR countries. They are legally required to give it to you for free. It's a great rule - things like credit reports are free now.
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Why in the world would you want to even KEEP location history data??
I can't think of a personal use case....and I SURE can't think of any good reason to let a company (Google or anyone) keep and track this kind of info?!?!
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Anecdote: I have it enabled and stored forever. And I will try to make sure my location history survives the announced change.
I have had many instances where a precise recollection of my whereabouts was incredibly helpful to me and I would not want to miss it. What are some examples I can think of right away:
Knowing when my last checkup at this particular doctor was. Their system purged all old data and browsing through the paper folders would have taken them forever, and so they could pinpoint the time fra
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To be somewhat pedantic, you're just confirming that it wasn't YouTube (which you in fact haven't done, and I thought that would have been obvious to you) - you're not actually arguing the truthfulness of his wider point (which is good, or you'd have looked rather silly). The way you've phrased your reply though means the opening sentence conveys a nearly-opposite meaning to what you're actually saying.
There are quite a few ways these "New! !" scams go, but the two major ones are:
* The "XYZ History will onl
Why would I turn this crap on? (Score:3)
Seriously.
Re:Why would I turn this crap on? (Score:5, Interesting)
I like the functionality and I used it many times, both to check the places visited at a particular time, or to confirm the date I've been here or there or to confirm this is where I want to go (GMaps has a very nicely integrated feature that just tells you for a particular place you've visited on these dates). I've been doing GPS logs since the days of Windows mobile 2003 and serial GPS pucks but there never was something just as useful and friction free as Google's implementation. Yes, I'm aware about NextCloud Maps and that I can save the data myself and that there are risks with Google (including some that didn't make the news yet and some I don't even imagine). I still want it. Oh, I'm using Gmail and Google Photos too, boo me.
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I do like the GP, but I'm not reliant on those cloud services. Google makes it easy to export all the data, and I do use it in other ways sometimes. If I ever had a problem with Google, it would be easy to move to another system.
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So... you rely on cloud services.
Rely != like. He says he "likes" the functionality. Not that he "relies" on it. There's a very big difference.
There are many things people do (yes you too) that you enjoy / like but are ultimately not critical enough for you to care about.
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As much as anyone could rely in the sticks on a service that requires relatively high bandwidth and where the "offline maps" are a joke (as in both reduced functionality and not possible to download even a large country). However surely I'm far ahead as much as prepping goes compared with most of the (multiple? many?) billions of GMaps users by having the whole world downloaded offline and ready to go in OSMAnd (they can be easily distributed and the app sideloaded offline to mostly any Android) and the who
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Honestly, I do not care if they track where I am going. I mean, I carry a cellphone everywhere I go. It has tracking turned on so the phone works. I would be surprised if my carrier wasn't selling this data (it's legal until the state/country say it is illegal, after all).
If I was that concerned about people knowing my whereabouts, I wouldn't carry the phone everywhere I go and I would use paper maps. I'd also pay cash for everything and likely live off grid in an RV.
Instead, I tend to enjoy the benefits th
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I am not affected at the moment either, but the main problem, as far as I understand, is that it gives too much power in the hands of those who control the collected information. Too much power means they can change
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I get what "could" happen. The best defense against that is real laws crafted by politicians that put citizens over corporations. Haven't seen many of those folks around though.
Technically though, you are right. I should use paper maps. I should pay with cash. I should probably be wearing my face mask. I should never carry a cellphone around. I should probably be using a TOR browser and connecting through a vpn to a foreign country to come back to me eventually to hide my history. I could also live off grid
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As you say, it's not so black and white. We're slowly getting some data laws in place. They'll probably be ignored and then a slap on the wrist issued. Keeping some information private is certainly advisable to prevent fraud but thinking that we have any real say in stopping a government from going 1984 isn't likely.
Government and industry already have more then enough information on where we go, what we buy and when we do those things. A middle ground that provides some safety without being exceptionally r
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Re:Why would I turn this crap on? (Score:4, Interesting)
Maybe you use this data on more than one device and want it to be available on all of them. Plan a trip on your desktop and find it available on your phone.
Re:Why would I turn this crap on? (Score:5, Interesting)
Got a fine once for running a red light. GF said I should pay because it was certainly me. Google Maps history proved I was elsewhere and that she was visiting a relative. That's enough for me!
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Sounds like you should get a different GF instead...
I use it all the time. (Score:2)
I use location history all the time. Usually when I want this data, it is for a purpose I never could have imagined at the time it was collected.
I use it to
- See how long it took me to get from A to B at a certain time of day
- Remember the name of a place I was at on a trip
- Figure out the mileage I racked up on a trip when I forgot to log it
Plethora of other reasons. It is extremely useful.
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I use this functionality all the time. My wife and I share our location history with each other and it comes in handy constantly. I go out hiking a lot and my wife can always keep track of where I am if I don't show up at the time I said I would. Vice versa, if she is running late or I just want to see where she is in order to plan dinner or whatever. It's also great peace-of-mind for emergency situations where we need to know where each other are in space.
I don't really care if Google knows everywhere I ha
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I used my Timeline data in 2018 to discredit erroneous speed radar readings by a state police officer. With the raw data and some fancy math, I showed that I was travelling at an average speed of 62mph at the time his 'calibrated' equipment clocked me at 81mph. I was very thorough in validating the data and the accuracy of my math (day job: research scientist). When presented with this analysis, the prosecutor decided to drop the case.
So there IS a use case that could benefit you.
"Pay attention to this spot" (Score:5, Interesting)
So if you go in there and "wave away" the strip club, does it go and delete all the stuff related to that? Because the copy makes it sound like it does, but a lot of times these sorts of "deletes" will just put some flag somewhere that is like "who don't save anything related to the STRIP CLUB" in some place that any one looking would find.
There was some story a bit ago where some guy told his wife he didn't go to porn sites, but eventually she noticed that all these porn sites were special cased in the logins as "never save logins for this site", or something similar to that. That was funny, of course, but it's just hard to tell if any of these "we'll save all the data and then totes swear we'll deleted it later" things are useful at all, compared to something that just doesn't save data.
Re:"Pay attention to this spot" (Score:4, Informative)
That's what incognito mode is for. Google Maps has it too.
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Actual deletion is an expensive database operation. Much easier to just flag it as 'deleted' and hope somebody write a script to purge it later.
Hint: Nobody ever writes that script.
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If you are ashamed of someone knowing you visit a strip club, then maybe you shouldn't be doing it. Otherwise, who cares. Your ISP is already selling your web browsing information to the advertisers anyway.
Or let me guess, you browser with a vpn through tor, while in the closet with the lights turned out?
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STOP Watching ME!!!
how about if you WANT to keep it (Score:2)
some devices this is useful for and keeping a full and complete history IS useful can we do that ?
(or is this some sad risk aversion from legal in usa that kills a useful feature dont get me wrong the default should be delete after a period but options people)
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Sounds dodgy (Score:4, Insightful)
Sounds to me like they're just making an extra copy on your device, so when you say "delete my location history from my device" they no longer have to delete their copy of your location history
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Exactly my thought.
This is Google. I've yet to see any indication that they delete data after it's been uploaded.
Re: Sounds dodgy (Score:1)
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If you knew anything about corporate friendly legislation, you'd know how stupid THAT sounds. Ever heard the phrase, "cost of doing business"?
Re: Sounds dodgy (Score:2)
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You allege, "There is a difference between occasional noncompliance and flagrant disregard for the law.There is no company that would survive long with the attitude [I] assume".
Thanks for the best laugh I've had today. Do you seriously not know how utterly delusional you are? Read and learn:
"Corporate recidivism has become normalized and calculated as the cost of doing business; the result is a rinse-repeat cycle that dilutes legal standards and undermines the promise of the financial sector and the entir
Re:Sounds dodgy (Score:4, Interesting)
Sounds to me like when the Police get hold of your phone, they'll then have immediate access to your location data and they won't have to subpoena Google for it.
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Finally, a reason that makes sense: Avoiding bureaucracy and paperwork. Google may actually destroy those 'deleted' files because copying and selling them causes more paperwork.
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Sounds to me like when the Police get hold of your phone, they'll then have immediate access to your location data and they won't have to subpoena Google for it.
The app "Google Maps" does not have locking option. If they have access to your phone they have access to your timeline one way or the other.
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It was keeping a local copy before, so that when you looked at your recent history it didn't have to download it.
The moral of this story is don't buy a phone that the police can hack. If you live in a country where you are forced to give them your password, make sure you leave your phone at home when doing crimes.
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I'm uncertain how surprised I am that this actually needs to be said. :-)
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According to an article over on Ars, that's exactly what they're doing. The local copy of your data is a subset of the data they keep on their own servers. All of the settings they provide to "give you control over your data" are just an illusion.
Why would anyone believe Google (Score:3)
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/... [eff.org]
Not if the Intel community [thefederalist.com] wants it. They will ensure they have access, direct or indirect via 3rd parties.
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If the intel community wants information about you, they will get it, with or without Google.
Fortunately, you and I aren't important enough to be targets of the intel community.
Where's the neat trick to.. (Score:2)
Google Timeline and Takeout (Score:1)