Rare good guy Google?
I’ll believe it when I see it.
Just like that? No catch?
I guess the catch is the fact that they don’t really need it. They have real time location from any Android device anyways (because of that feature that sends the lists of wifi networks around you from time to time), no need to storage the timeline on their servers, it’s only duplicate data. lol
It was kinda cool for some things.
Like seeing where I went on October 14, 2018.
Or how many times I visited the “Steve’s Spaghetti Store”.
I use it to make documentation easier for work. I have to log visit times, travel time and mileage for each patient I visit. So much easier to pull up the info of my phone after work than to remember to track miles and log time getting in and out of my car.
As much as I’m careful about Google keeping my data, I have to recognize that this has helped a friend tremendously. He was separated from his ex, she had left with their daughter, and he was trying to get split custody. She testified he was a deadbeat dad, and she put it in writing that he had never been to pick up their daughter at school, never taken her to her regular weekend club activities, etc.
He reached out to me asking if his location history could help prove she was full of shit. It took me an hour or so to figure out the right way to process the data, but then I was able to give him a detailed list of dates and times he had been to his daughter’s school, poney club, etc. His lawyer attached that to their rebuttal. I like to think it made a significant difference. He did get joint custody in the end.
Also Bluetooth scanning. Google trys to dark pattern you in to re-enabling them both, but maps will eventually use GPS if you cancel and try again.
No, your only option would be to move to something like GrapheneOS if you can. Note that other alternativa ROMs like Calyx will also share some location data with some companies.
I’m not buying it.
Curious on the implementation. For example apps like signal and WhatsApp require you to either move or lose your data when you get a new phone. This will have to be the way Google implements or they are storing it somewhere on their servers.