Google’s Use of Cell Tower Location Info Violates Privacy in Europe

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UPDATE It was recently reported that Google violated the capture of user locations from Android phones even when the service was turned off on the device, per a Quartz investigation. According to the report, “Since the beginning of 2017, Android phones have been collecting the addresses of nearby cellular towers – even when location services are disabled – and sending that data back to Google.”

Recently, a group in the U.K. named ‘Google You Owe Us,’ sued Google claiming that the company illegally collected personal data from millions of iPhones by using a “Safari workaround,” bypassing default privacy settings on the Safari browser.

According to Richard Lloyd, a top consumer lawyer who’s representing the group, “You hand over data which is then later sold by the likes of Google at advanced profits – $80 billion last year alone in revenue for Google for their advertising business based on people’s personal data.”  

One challenge is that Google does business in 200 countries and the expectations of the organization versus the personal user don’t always align. According to Peter Swire, a professor of law and ethics at the Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business and senior counsel at Alston and Bird explains, “From a company like Google’s perspective, they operate in 200 countries and they operate one service and if they have different rules and lawsuits in 200 different countries, they can’t offer a global service anymore. And the consumer’s view is, I live in my country and I should have the protection of my country’s laws.”

And what does Google think of the allegations? The company doesn’t believe the case has any merit and will contest it, according to a Bloomberg report.

It’s not just Google, either. Facebook was recently fined by French regulators for displaying targeted advertising and for tracking users illegally, using cookies. In August, Uber had to roll back a feature that allowed it to track the location of its riders, even after they had ended their trips.

December 12, 2017               

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