Google spied on Android users, but says that there won't be any more

news | Dec 15, 2017 | Tech & Security |

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Reporters at Quartz conducted an investigation and found out that Google was collecting data about the location of Android users even if the location setting was disabled. Since the beginning of this year,...

Reporters at Quartz conducted an investigation and found out that Google was collecting data about the location of Android users even if the location setting was disabled.

Since the beginning of this year, Android devices have been sending Google the identity of the communication base stations (Cell ID). Encrypted data packets are transmitted as soon as the user enters the coverage area of another station. It turns out that it is not enough to adjust settings back to factory and remove the SIM card to block the transfer of data. In fact, you do not have any control over this activity of your smartphone: there is not a specific application for tracking Cell ID. There is a built-in Firebase Cloud Messaging service that implements push notifications and messages.

If the user has the mobile data transfer setting enabled then the identifiers that are sent to Google can theoretically be used to determine the location of the device using triangulation.

Google confirmed that they are collecting data using Android but stressed that they were planning to improve the delivery of messages and notifications. A representative of the advertising giant also said that the company did not store or use data and by the end of November plans to stop the transfer of identifiers.

In 2010, Google was convicted of collecting information about Wi-Fi networks and intercepting user data using the cars involved in the Street View project.

Recently it became known that with the help of advertising networks, such as Google, you can track down a person. With targeted ads targeted to a specific mobile advertising identifier (MAID) and a grid of locations on the map, you can track the movements of the mobile device belonging to the victim. This method of surveillance is available not only for companies, but also for ordinary users.