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A comment on Ex-Facebook insider says covert data harvesting was routine. Parent comment

Re:Ex-Facebook insider says covert data harvesting was routine by l_t on Tuesday March 20, 2018 @10:03AM (#16628603)
On Android, you can open your Google account settings and disable their always-on location tracking "service". Of course, you have to take Google's word for it, and that doesn't stop GPS from working for apps like Maps when you request it.

I usually leave Location services off. I'll enable them for 5-10 seconds, get the directions from Maps, then disable the Location service again. Of course, they can still estimate my location with cell towers (or WiFi, but I usually have that disabled as well), so it's not a perfect solution. Saves a lot of battery life, though.

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Re:Ex-Facebook insider says covert data harvesting was routine by amichal on Tuesday March 20, 2018 @11:07AM (#16629180)
you can can disable your access to it and its background upload to google. If you read the fine print the "anonymized" gps/cell-tower/wifi data is still used periodically by google to refine their maps etc. Same for apple, same for the GPS in your internet connected car.
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