Google Clarifies Its Location Tracking Policy

The other day a report from Associated Press revealed that even when users explicitly told Google to stop tracking their movements, it continued to do so. This apparently stemmed from some confusion in Google’s settings, where users had to navigate to the “Web and App activity” section if they wanted to disable tracking completely.

Now it seems that Google has decided to clarify its tracking policy to clear up any confusion and misgivings that users might have had. On its help page that describes how Location History works, it now reads, “This setting does not affect other location services on your device.” It also points out that “some location data may be saved as part of your activity on other services, like Search and Maps.”

Basically Google hasn’t done anything to change the way they track users, but rather they are just cleaning up the language they used to help reduce confusion. This means that disabling tracking in Location History will still result in some of your activities being tracked, and that you will need to navigate to “Web and App activity” to disable it completely.

In a statement made to Associated Press, Google said, “We have been updating the explanatory language about Location History to make it more consistent and clear across our platforms and help centers.”

Tyler Lee
Categories: General
Tags: Google, Privacy