Pausing Location History on your Google account webpage provides a prompt that informs you that 'some location data may be saved as part of your activity on other Google services, like Search and Maps.' This setting, turned on by default, controls various options for apps and services connected to your Google account.Īs AP discovered upon further exploring these options, Google's prompts further explain what each setting means, but only after you toggle each one on or off. To actually stop location services on your iPhone or Android device altogether, Google pointed AP to the 'Web and App Activity' setting. We provide clear descriptions of these tools, and robust controls so people can turn them on or off, and delete their histories at any time.” In a statement to the AP, Google explained, “There are a number of different ways that Google may use location to improve people’s experience, including: Location History, Web and App Activity, and through device-level Location Services. It seems that even with Location History put on pause, a number of Google apps still automatically store your location data without asking. Some examples of location-data logging the AP points to include Android’s automatic weather updates that still track your general location, Google’s search engine saving an exact location for each search query to your Google account, and even Google Maps itself snapshotting your location when you open the application.ĪP began its inquiry into this location-tracking issue after a graduate researcher at UC Berkeley observed a notification (Opens in a new tab) on her Android phone asking her to rate a recent trip to Kohl’s even though she had turned off Location History. With Location History off, the places you go are no longer stored.' However, as the AP investigation discovered (Opens in a new tab), that isn’t exactly true. On a Google support page (Opens in a new tab) for managing your Location History, the company says “You can turn off Location History at any time. When agreeing to this request, you allow Google Maps to record your location history, and display your location history on a timeline so you can view your daily travels. When using a service like Google Maps, Google will ask you to permit access to your iPhone or Android phone's location data.

Google never really left China: a look at the Chinese website Google's been quietly running

Google account tracker