Google has access to your location and movement if you use an Android phone with location services ON. But recent report gave me a shock because I always thought that turning location off doesn’t give my location data to Google. Google accesses and tracks your location data even if you turn off location services. Google knows where you have been at a specific time.
It all started at the beginning of 2017. Android phones have been collecting the addresses of nearby cellular towers and sending the data to Google since January 2017. So, it doesn’t need location services to know your location. Whenever a device comes within the range of a new cell tower, the device sends the new data to Google. Even if there is no SIM card on a phone, it still uses WiFi to send the tower address.
It was revealed in an investigation by Quartz. After that, Google confirmed this move and also told a reason for that. Google uses this data to manage push notifications and messages on Android phones. The company also confirmed that Google never stored or used this data.
This is really a serious matter as you have been tracked even if you wish not to be. The cell tower data is usually held by carrier networks. Only law enforcement agencies can have access to it under extreme circumstances. This data can easily reveal location within a quarter-mile radius or less.
Google’s representative also confirmed that this will be stopped by by the end of November and Android phones will no longer send the cell-tower location to Google.
Google says that it didn’t share location data with any third-party apps and doesn’t use the data, we know that it allows advertisers to target consumers using location data. So, there is a reason to worry.
