How to stop google’s sensorvault from sharing your location with law enforcement
(TMU) — Over the last two decades, cell phone use has become an everyday part of life for the vast majority of people around the planet. Nearly without question, consumers have chosen to carry these increasingly smart devices with them everywhere they go. Despite surveillance revelations from whistleblowers like Edward Snowden, the average smart phone user continues to carry the devices with little to no security or protection from privacy invasions.
Americans make up one of the largest smartphone markets in the world today, yet they rarely question how intelligence agencies or private corporations might be using their smartphone data. A recent report from the New York Times adds to the growing list of reasons why Americans should be asking these questions. According to the Times, law enforcement have been using a secret technique to figure out the location of Android users. The technique involves gathering detailed location data collected by Google from Android phones, iPhones, and iPads that have Google Maps and other Google apps installed.
The location data is stored inside a Google database known as Sensorvault, which contains detailed location records of hundreds of millions of devices from around the world. The records reportedly contain location data going back to 2009. The data is collected whether or not users are making calls or using apps.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) says police are using a single warrant—sometimes known as a “geo-fence” warrant—to access location data from devices that are linked to individuals who have no connection to criminal activity and have not provided any reasonable suspicion of a crime. Jennifer Lynch, EFF’s Surveillance Litigation Director, says these searches are problematic for several reasons.
“First, unlike other methods of investigation used by the police, the police don’t start with an actual suspect or even a target device—they work backward from a location and time to identify a suspect,” Lynch wrote. “This makes it a fishing expedition—the very kind of search that the Fourth Amendment was intended to prevent. Searches like these—where the only information the police have is that a crime has occurred—are much more likely to implicate innocent people who just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Every device owner in the area during the time at issue becomes a suspect—for no other reason than that they own a device that shares location information with Google.”
The problems associated with Sensorvault have also concerned a bipartisan group of lawmakers who recently sent a letter to Google CEO Sundar Pichai. The letter from Democrats and Republicans on the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee gives Google until May 10 to provide information on how this data is used and shared. The letter was signed by Democratic Representatives Frank Pallone and Jan Schakowsky and Republicans Greg Walden and Cathy McMorris Rodgers.
Google has responded to the report from the Times by stating that users opt in to collection of the location data stored in Sensorvault. A Google representative also told the lawmakers that users “can delete their location history data, or turn off the product entirely, at any time.” Unfortunately, this explanation falls flat when one considers that Android devices log location data by default and that it is notoriously difficult to opt out of data collection.
No matter what promises Google makes, readers should remember that back in 2010, the Washington Post published a story focusing on the growth of surveillance by the National Security Agency. That report detailed an NSA technique that “enabled the agency to find cellphones even when they were turned off.” The technique was reportedly first used in Iraq in pursuit of terrorist targets. Additionally, it was reported in 2016 that a technique known as a “roving bug” allowed FBI agents to eavesdrop on conversations that took place near cellphones.
These tools are now undoubtedly being used on Americans. The reality is that these tools—and many, many others that have been revealed—are being used to spy on innocent Americans, not only violent criminals or suspects. The only way to push back against this invasive surveillance is to stop supporting the companies responsible for the techniques and data sharing. Those who value privacy should invest time in learning how to protect data and digital devices. Privacy is quickly becoming a relic of a past era and the only way to stop it is to raise awareness, opt-out of corporations that don’t respect privacy, and protect your data.
This article was chosen for republication based on the interest of our readers. Anti-Media republishes stories from a number of other independent news sources. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not reflect Anti-Media editorial policy.
多年来，警方侦探已经向谷歌认股权证寻求与特定用户帐户相关的位置数据。
但新的权证，通常被称为“地理围栏”请求，而是指定犯罪附近的区域。 Google会在Sensorvault中查找在适当时间在那里的任何设备，并向警方提供该信息。
谷歌首先使用匿名身份证号码标记设备，侦探会查看位置和移动模式，以查看是否有任何与犯罪相关的内容。 一旦他们将该领域缩小到几个设备，Google就会显示名称和电子邮件地址等信息。
谷歌表示，这个数据库不是出于执法目的，但执法部门肯定抓住了它。 谷歌在收集其他位置数据时 ，谷歌告诉纽约时报 ，只有“位置历史记录”功能中的位置数据存储在Sensorvault中，其他位置数据存储在不同的数据库中。
从理论上讲，这个其他数据库也可以通过授权书获取。 另一个位置数据库可能没有Sensorvault数据库那么有用 – 我们还没有看到它被访问过的任何报告。
你应该关心吗？
您是否关心这是个人决定。 纽约时报的调查提供了一些您可能想要关注的有力理由。 当然，你是一个守法的公民 – 但你最终可能会犯罪。 你想让警察调查你，因为你碰巧在错误的时间出错了吗？
而且，实际上，您无需进行太多更改即可将您的位置记录数据从Google的Sensorvault中获取。 您可以继续使用Google地图和其他Google服务 – 禁用Google的位置记录服务后，它们的个性化程度会降低一些。
另一方面，这个位置历史数据确实在您的Google帐户中提供了一些不错的个性化功能 – 当然，如果您是一名遵纪守法的公民，您可能不会在调查中意外地被扫除。 是否要启用或禁用此功能取决于您。
Apple或移动运营商怎么样？
noolwlee /存在Shutterstock
接受“纽约时报”采访的调查人员表示，他们没有向谷歌以外的公司发送地理围栏保证书，苹果表示它没有能力进行这些搜索。 Google不会提供有关Sensorvault的详细信息，但加利福尼亚州圣马特奥县治安官办公室的情报分析师Aaron Edens已经检查了数百部手机的数据，他说大多数Android设备和一些iPhone都有这些数据可用来自谷歌。
如何从Sensorvault中删除您的位置数据
要查看是否已启用位置记录，请前往Google网站上的“ 活动历史记录”页面 ，然后使用您在手机上使用的相同Google帐户登录。 您可以点击“此帐户中的设备”旁边的箭头，查看您拥有的设备是否向Google报告了位置信息。
如果您不在PC上，还可以从Android手机中禁用位置记录 。 在Android上，您可以访问隐藏的设置> Google> Google帐户>数据和个性化>活动控件>位置记录>管理设置屏幕。
要完全禁用位置历史记录，请在此处禁用“位置历史记录”滑块。 这将从您的所有设备“暂停”位置历史记录集合。 已收集的数据仍会保存在您的Google帐户中，您可以随时恢复收集。
要删除您的数据，您必须前往时间轴页面 – 您可以单击“活动历史记录”页面上的“管理活动”链接将其打开。 此界面还会显示您与Google共享的所有历史位置历史记录数据，并让您查看它。 谷歌在2009年推出了位置历史记录功能，因此这里可能会有十年的数据。 Google会永久保留您的位置记录，直到您将其删除为止。
Over the last two decades, cell phone use has become an everyday part of life for the vast majority of people around the planet. Nearly without question, consumers have chosen to carry these increasingly smart devices with them everywhere they go. Despite surveillance revelations from whistleblowers like Edward Snowden, the average smart phone user continues to carry the devices with little to no security or protection from privacy invasions.
Americans make up one of the largest smartphone markets in the world today, yet they rarely question how intelligence agencies or private corporations might be using their smartphone data. A recent report from the New York Times adds to the growing list of reasons why Americans should be asking these questions. According to the Times, law enforcement have been using a secret technique to figure out the location of Android users. The technique involves gathering detailed location data collected by Google from Android phones, iPhones, and iPads that have Google Maps and other Google apps installed.
The location data is stored inside a Google database known as Sensorvault, which contains detailed location records of hundreds of millions of devices from around the world. The records reportedly contain location data going back to 2009. The data is collected whether or not users are making calls or using apps.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) says police are using a single warrant—sometimes known as a “geo-fence” warrant—to access location data from devices that are linked to individuals who have no connection to criminal activity and have not provided any reasonable suspicion of a crime. Jennifer Lynch, EFF’s Surveillance Litigation Director, says these searches are problematic for several reasons.
“First, unlike other methods of investigation used by the police, the police don’t start with an actual suspect or even a target device—they work backward from a location and time to identify a suspect,” Lynch wrote. “This makes it a fishing expedition—the very kind of search that the Fourth Amendment was intended to prevent. Searches like these—where the only information the police have is that a crime has occurred—are much more likely to implicate innocent people who just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Every device owner in the area during the time at issue becomes a suspect—for no other reason than that they own a device that shares location information with Google.”
The problems associated with Sensorvault have also concerned a bipartisan group of lawmakers who recently sent a letter to Google CEO Sundar Pichai. The letter from Democrats and Republicans on the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee gives Google until May 10 to provide information on how this data is used and shared. The letter was signed by Democratic Representatives Frank Pallone and Jan Schakowsky and Republicans Greg Walden and Cathy McMorris Rodgers.
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Google has responded to the report from the Times by stating that users opt in to collection of the location data stored in Sensorvault. A Google representative also told the lawmakers that users “can delete their location history data, or turn off the product entirely, at any time.” Unfortunately, this explanation falls flat when one considers that Android devices log location data by default and that it is notoriously difficult to opt out of data collection.
No matter what promises Google makes, readers should remember that back in 2010, the Washington Post published a story focusing on the growth of surveillance by the National Security Agency. That report detailed an NSA technique that “enabled the agency to find cellphones even when they were turned off.” The technique was reportedly first used in Iraq in pursuit of terrorist targets. Additionally, it was reported in 2016 that a technique known as a “roving bug” allowed FBI agents to eavesdrop on conversations that took place near cellphones.
These tools are now undoubtedly being used on Americans. The reality is that these tools—and many, many others that have been revealed—are being used to spy on innocent Americans, not only violent criminals or suspects. The only way to push back against this invasive surveillance is to stop supporting the companies responsible for the techniques and data sharing. Those who value privacy should invest time in learning how to protect data and digital devices. Privacy is quickly becoming a relic of a past era and the only way to stop it is to raise awareness, opt-out of corporations that don’t respect privacy, and protect your data.
About the Author
Derrick Broze is an investigative journalist and liberty activist. He is the founder of the TheConsciousResistance.com. Follow him on Twitter. Derrick is the author of three books: The Conscious Resistance: Reflections on Anarchy and Spirituality and Finding Freedom in an Age of Confusion, Vol. 1, Finding Freedom in an Age of Confusion, Vol. 2 and Manifesto of the Free Humans. Derrick is available for interviews. Please contact [email protected]
This article (Google Tracks Your Location and Shares it With Police, Even When Your Phone is Off) was originally featured at The Mind Unleashed and is reposted here with permission.
Imagine your local law enforcement accesses all your phone data just because you happened to be close to a crime scene but you’re not even a suspect or a witness. In fact, scratch the ‘imagine’ part because this is a true story. This happens as we speak within the US – all thanks to Google’s ‘Geofence Warrants’.
In a new chapter of ‘Google Invades Your Privacy’, the company recently disclosed the number of geofence warrants it received from law enforcement between 2018-2020.
Let’s uncover the twists and turns of this law enforcements’ practice and how you can evade it.
How Google Geofence Warrants Works
A typical law enforcement investigation involves:
- gathering evidence
- interviewing witnesses
- establishing a list of suspects
With geofence warrants, this investigation goes further, putting on a list of potential suspects anyone who happened to be around or lives near the place where a crime or an unlawful deed occurred.
Through a court order, law enforcement requests Google data from people’s phones.
Some of these warrants were issued amid rallies and protests, like Black Lives Matter protests, on the grounds of establishing social order. This practice mostly happens without people’s knowledge. However, sometimes Google has notified users that police requested their data.
Such was Zachary McCoy’s case, who received an email from Google; he discovered he was part of an investigation regarding a burglary of a nearby home that happened a year before. Ultimately, the police withdrew McCoy’s subpoena, but that was because he was lucky enough to find a lawyer who knew how to handle geofence warrants cases – which aren’t many.
Google’s Official Geofence Warrants Report
As part of the company’s transparency report, Google’s official note on geofence warrants from August 2021 shows:
- the number of geofence warrants the company received from law enforcement agencies rose from 982 in 2018 to 11,554 in 2020
- most geofence warrants come from local and state authorities, with federal law enforcement accounting for just 4% of all geofence warrants
- California is the leading state where police officers request these warrants
Geofence warrants defy the US’s Fourth Amendment Constitutional right, which states people shouldn’t be subject to illegal searches and seizures.
Twitter, Albert Fox Cahn, founder of S.T.O.P. – on geofence warrants
The Many Ways Google Keeps Tabs on You
It started as a search engine. But Google quickly climbed the ladder and is now top-of-the-line when it comes to the world wide web. Google is probably your biggest privacy invader.
Here are just a few means Google tracks you:
- Google places one or more cookies on your device to track your web browsing habits and tracks your search history.
- Google monitors your personal messages and emails to deliver targeted ads.
- Google collects and syncs data about Internet users through the various tools it provides to developers, such as Google Analytics, Google Play Services, Google News, or Google Maps.
Many privacy advocates have also criticized Google for disclosing too much information to governments too quickly.
Google Maps is such a useful tool that you don’t even question; everyone knows the basic rules of how it works, but the exact algorithm is beyond human comprehension.
However, street view pictures sometimes show unnecessary additional details such as vehicle registration plates or a person’s house. Additionally, while capturing Street View Images, Google vehicles also collect information from Wi-Fi networks.
Google stores these treasure troves of users’ data in a database called Sensorvault. The New York Times was the first to reveal the existence of this database in 2019.
Sensorvault collected location data from users’ phones each time they used an Android device with location data switched ‘ON’ while using Google services.
How to Take Google’s Tracking Away From Your Shoulders
Your online and offline behavior can always be a target, even if you’re an innocent citizen minding his/her own business. Google’s geofence warrants seems to be just another version of StingRays, facial recognition tools, or surveillance systems.
What you can do to secure your privacy is to start using a VPN. You mask your real IP address with each VPN connection and switch to a different geographical location, even on a different continent. This way, you protect your digital identity and keep all prying eyes at bay!
You’re still on your own when you’re not using any device. But at least, you’ll make police officers’ and cybercriminals’ lives much harder in trying to figure out who you are and what you’re doing online.
What is a geofence warrant?
A geofence warrant, also known as reverse-location warrant, is a search warrant courts of law issue, allowing law enforcement to search a database. Particularly used by US police, the search targets all active mobile devices within a specific area. Google is the only tech company publicly known to provide law enforcement this kind of information.
What is location data?
Location data refers to any information collected about where a user’s phone or other device is located. Communication or network services collect and track this information by GPS satellite in a particular network (for instance, a mobile communications carrier) or service (such as a mapping application.)
Are there other types of warrants that Google issues?
Google also issues keyword warrants, which are similar to geofence warrants. The police makes requests to Google for data on all devices logged in at a specific area and time. Google hands over IP addresses for users who searched for a specific address or certain keywords.
How to avoid being tracked through Sensorvault?
You can’t avoid it entirely, but you can keep Google tracking to a minimum if you disable location tracking from your Google account. For instance, on Android, go to Settings, tap on Google Account, look for ‘Data and personalization’, then toggle off the ‘Web & App Activity.’
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Do you think geofence warrants invade your privacy or are they a useful and legitimate investigative tool?
Let me know in the comments section below.
Dana is in charge of spreading the word online about CyberGhost VPN. Although her degree is in sociology, which technically has nothing to do with writing, all her previous jobs implied working for websites, taking care of content and writing articles.
Imagine a world where the police could track down criminals soon after they commit a crime by tracking the location of their cell phones. This is a world where law enforcement and tech companies work together to bring wrongdoers to justice. Now imagine a world where innocent people are prosecuted for these crimes because their cell phones were present in the vicinity of these crimes. These people were unaware that their cell phones were constantly tracking their ware bouts and storing that data indefinitely. Believe it or not, we live in both of these worlds.
People who have an android phone or a mobile device that has Google Maps installed on it are most likely sharing their location with Google at all times. This data collection is not easy to opt out of, and many people do not know that they are sharing their location at all [1]. This data is stored in a Google database that employees call “Sensorvault” and it is even collected when people are not using location apps on their phones. Surprisingly, this data is still stored when users turn off their location history and can only be deleted with extensive effort by the user [2]. The Sensorvault “includes detailed location records involving at least hundreds of millions of devices worldwide and dating back nearly a decade [3].”
This treasure trove of data has proven to be useful to law enforcement throughout the United States. Police and federal agents were struggling to find the culprits of a bank robbery in Milwaukee that occured in October 2018. They served Google with a search warrant for information about the locations of the robbers phones, also referred to as a reverse location search. This is not the only time this kind of search warrant has been served, with another occassion being to identify members of a rally that turned into a riot in Manhattan [4].
But how are the devices of only criminals being tracked? They are not, in fact, the only devices being tracked and reported, and this had lead to concern from civil liberty groups [3]. When the police or FBI serves a reverse location search warrant, they are returned with a list of phone owners that were in the vicinity of the crime. In the case of the previously mentioned bank robbery, law enforcement requested all devices that were within 100 feet of the bank during a half hour block of time surrounding the robbery [4]. It is easy to believe that this could result in innocent people being linked to crimes that they did not commit. And this indeed did happen to Jorge Molina, who was detained by police for a week because his phone was in the vicinity of a murder, and his car matched the same make and model as the vehicle involved in the murder. When new evidence made clear that Mr. Molina was not involved, he was released [5]. This was time spent building a case against an innocent individual that could have been spent investigating other suspects further.
The facts explored here are cause for concern; locations of most mobile devices are being tracked without the owner’s knowledge and sometimes when they take measures to stop the recording, like turning off their location history. This data is being used to tie people to crimes that they might not have committed, but were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Steps must be taken to address both the lack of public awareness and the legal scope and use cases of this data.
As the crackdown on the digital giants continues following the Cambridge Analytica scandal , officials are beginning to question Google’s extensive location tracking and data collection. News reports state that, earlier this week, members of the US Congress wrote a letter to the CEO of Google, raising concerns about its enormous database ‘Sensorvault’.
In the letter, the lawmakers have demanded an overview of how the Sensorvault data is used and shared, whether it is collected from any consumers who have requested that their data is not shared, as well as details of any third party involvement.
In the wake of the backlash against Sensorvault, we’re looking at the scale of Google’s location tracking so far and asking whether they will keep getting away with it.
Big Brother in action
All of this comes as a New York Times article reveals how the Sensorvault database has been used by police in the US to place a potential suspect at the scene of a crime. Jorge Molina was told by police that they had data from his phone which tracked him to the site of a shooting in Phoenix.
Sounds exciting, right? A great new resource for solving crimes and keeping people safe? Not so much. The suspect was later found to be innocent and, although he wasn’t charged, the accusation cost him his job and his car was repossessed.
Allegedly, the Sensorvault database holds location information from hundreds of millions of Android users, dating back to at least 2009. What’s more, Google have been known to respond to a single police warrant with location data from hundreds of devices. Many have raised concerns about the use of this data for law enforcement, as it is not necessarily an accurate way of collecting evidence.
Understanding the scale
A study titled “ Google Data Collection ” was carried out by Professor Douglas C. Schmidt in August 2018 and the results reveal the extent of Google’s ability to track our daily movements. The study found that 35% of all data samples sent to Google are related to location information.
The scale of data collection is enormous, particularly from Android phones, with the research showing that a “resting” Android phone will communicate location data to Google 340 times during a 24-hour period.
Not only can Google access your current location, they also keep a history of where you’ve been. Unless you know how and where to delete it, this will remain.
Perhaps most scarily, Professor Schmidt’s research also found that Google is able to connect the “anonymous” data they collect to individual users through their advertising technology. This is used to help advertisers understand consumer behaviour.
Can you turn off location tracking?
The simple response to concerns around Google’s location tracking would be: “just turn it off”. However, while you can easily pause your location history in your settings, this alone does not stop Google from tracking you .
There are actually multiple steps you must take to prevent Google from tracking your location . Firstly, you must delete all of your location history in the “manage activity” section, as well as turning off the toggle for location history. Then, you must go to Web & App activity and turn that off!
While this is relatively easy to discover online, it may not occur to people who believe that they’ve turned off their location history with just one click. That’s why the scale of the location tracking has raised so many concerns – until you realise it’s happening and understand how to stop it, Google has access to every single one of your movements and are able to share this information with third parties.
The benefits of this for Google all relate to their advertising platforms. Since 2014, Google has let advertisers track the effectiveness of online ads at driving foot traffic using consumer location histories. If you understand the daily movements of your audience, it makes it far easier to create and refine targeted adverts which will direct them to your high-street store or business.
Will we continue to trust Google?
It is unlikely that Google will remain free from scrutiny now that the US Congress is demanding more transparency from them. Considering the increasing concerns from the general public over data privacy, the unpoliced power of tech giants such as Facebook, Apple and Google shouldn’t really be able to continue.
However, the main issue is that Google provides us with convenience. We rely on the search engine to discover almost every piece of information we’re after and we willingly enter clues about ourselves on a daily basis. Google Maps is the tool used by most people for navigation and tailored adverts actually make our lives that bit easier when making decisions. Now, Google can even help our police to solve crimes and maybe even keep us safe. Are we willing to give that up to stop Big Brother from watching us?
If you enjoyed this blog post, you can check out our recent article on Google Maps AR and its marketing potential.
Raleigh, N.C. — Despite the convenience of Google’s location-aware devices and services, the technology has increasingly become a tool employed by government agencies to track users – and potential suspects – during criminal investigations.
That’s raising privacy concerns among civil rights advocates, who worry about the implications of fine-grained location information and what it can reveal about people swept up in broad searches.
Raleigh Police Chief Cassandra Deck-Brown, whose detectives have used so-called “geofence” or “reverse” search warrants in eight investigations in the last few years, says her department takes steps to protect the public’s Fourth Amendment privacy rights.
But she also notes that users have a choice.
“I think it’s important, first of all, to know what you’re pressing on your smart devices, because when those requests are asked by those devices, there’s usually an indication that this information and location can be shared,” Deck-Brown said. “The flip side of that is, if you’re in danger or you’ve lost a loved one, you would be appreciative – and most are – that we’re able to use that data as a possible means by which to locate the individual or locate the individuals who have committed the crime.”
Understanding what your device knows about you can be complicated, so here are a few things to remember when considering whether to disable location tracking for your phone or tablet.
There are several types of location tracking
Location information law enforcement agencies have demanded over the past few years is contained within Google’s SensorVault database, which stores device coordinates collected using both WiFi and GPS.
GPS is much more accurate. But it can still vary, as evidenced every time you pull up Google Maps and click the “my location” icon. Around the dot representing your device, you’ll see a wider, faint blue circle. Your true location can be anywhere in that circle, a reflection of the uncertainty.
Data turned over in discovery by prosecutors in one of the Google warrant cases, obtained by WRAL News, shows that the handful of devices picked up by GPS could vary by between 9 and 42 feet in any direction.
For WiFi devices, which are far more numerous in the data, that inaccuracy ranges from 65 to almost 1,000 feet.
But devices also ping Google’s location servers multiple times, depending on your settings and app usage. The more locations captured, the more certain someone can be about the device’s true location.
Phones usage can also be tracked by cell tower, and so-called “cell tower dumps” have become common techniques for law enforcement to determine if a device holder was in the same general area. This method is the most imprecise, since devices ping cell towers that cover wide areas.
In 2017, online news site Quartz revealed that Android devices were capturing the addresses of these cell towers and transmitting them back to Google even when users turned their location settings off.
Google says it has changed its practices, and company officials told WRAL News that such data isn’t captured by SensorVault.
‘Pausing’ Location History doesn’t stop all tracking
Nearly a year after the Quartz story, the Associated Press revealed that several Google apps capture location data even when the “Location History” setting is disabled.
Google changed the wording on its location control settings just days later, and it now specifies that “some location data may continue to be saved in other settings” if Location History is turned off.
This separate location tracking is done via the company’s “Web & App Activity” setting.
Both controls are now on one page under your Google Account information’s “Activity Controls,” where users have the option of turning off both “Location History” and “Web & App Activity.”
You can delete your past history of interaction with Google’s apps – whether it’s search, location or even voice commands – on your MyActivity page. In addition to being able to delete items one by one, you can also delete them by app or by time period.
In June, the tech company also announced a feature to allow users to automatically delete the data from Web & App Activity every three or 18 months. That’s available under your account’s Activity Controls under “Web & App Activity” and “Choose to delete automatically.”
Beyond Google, individual devices also have their own location settings you can turn on and off or limit access to certain services.
You should be notified if your data is accessed
The so-called “geofence” or “reverse” warrants law enforcement agencies have issued to Google over the past few years demanding device location data are different than your typical search warrant.
If a detective wants to search a suspect’s house, for example, the suspect is notified when the officer shows up at his door to serve the warrant.
But search warrants to Google demand data owned by Google, even though it’s data we typically consider ours. As such, law enforcement doesn’t have an obligation to notify people swept up in one of these warrants, whether their information was provided anonymously or not.
Google, per its own policy, does have that obligation. Yet, in many cases, a review of warrants issued in Wake County shows, a judge orders Google as part of the warrant process not to notify users for up to 90 days.
“It’s our policy to notify the user via email before any information is disclosed unless such notification is prohibited by law,” Google says on an FAQ about its data-release practices. “We will provide delayed notice to users after a legal prohibition is lifted, such as when a statutory or court-ordered gag period has expired.”
That notification will likely come from Google in an email saying someone has requested information related to your account. But the company says they might not have complied automatically.
“Just because we receive a request doesn’t necessarily mean that we did – or will – disclose any of the requested information,” the company says in its FAQ. “We have a rigorous process for reviewing these requests against legal requirements and Google’s policies.”
You can download your own data
Google also gives users tools to manage and view their data beyond what they see in the My Google Activity Page.
That page alone may be enough for most users – especially if you use any of the voice apps and want to see every snippet of your voice the company has ever recorded after you say “Hey Google.”
But if you want a better idea of just how many times the tech company tracks you, check out your Location History Timeline. From there, you can see places you’ve visited, look at actual trip routes and set your home and work locations.
This is visible only to you as the account holder.
If you want to share it, or analyze it on your own, Google gives you the option of downloading your data directly from a number of different products, from Location History to Gmail.
The archive is available in a variety of formats, depending on the products you choose to access, and you can even schedule downloads to occur at regular intervals.
Some of the data can be used to import to other services – just in case you’ve grown less inclined to trust the company with extensive data on each of its millions of users.
Over the last two decades, cell phone use has become an everyday part of life for the vast majority of people around the planet. Nearly without question, consumers have chosen to carry these increasingly smart devices with them everywhere they go. Despite surveillance revelations from whistleblowers like Edward Snowden, the average smart phone user continues to carry the devices with little to no security or protection from privacy invasions.
Americans make up one of the largest smartphone markets in the world today, yet they rarely question how intelligence agencies or private corporations might be using their smartphone data. A recent report from the New York Times adds to the growing list of reasons why Americans should be asking these questions. According to the Times, law enforcement have been using a secret technique to figure out the location of Android users. The technique involves gathering detailed location data collected by Google from Android phones, iPhones, and iPads that have Google Maps and other Google apps installed.
The location data is stored inside a Google database known as Sensorvault, which contains detailed location records of hundreds of millions of devices from around the world. The records reportedly contain location data going back to 2009. The data is collected whether or not users are making calls or using apps.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) says police are using a single warrant—sometimes known as a “geo-fence” warrant—to access location data from devices that are linked to individuals who have no connection to criminal activity and have not provided any reasonable suspicion of a crime. Jennifer Lynch, EFF’s Surveillance Litigation Director, says these searches are problematic for several reasons.
“First, unlike other methods of investigation used by the police, the police don’t start with an actual suspect or even a target device—they work backward from a location and time to identify a suspect,” Lynch wrote. “This makes it a fishing expedition—the very kind of search that the Fourth Amendment was intended to prevent. Searches like these—where the only information the police have is that a crime has occurred—are much more likely to implicate innocent people who just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Every device owner in the area during the time at issue becomes a suspect—for no other reason than that they own a device that shares location information with Google.”
The problems associated with Sensorvault have also concerned a bipartisan group of lawmakers who recently sent a letter to Google CEO Sundar Pichai. The letter from Democrats and Republicans on the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee gives Google until May 10 to provide information on how this data is used and shared. The letter was signed by Democratic Representatives Frank Pallone and Jan Schakowsky and Republicans Greg Walden and Cathy McMorris Rodgers.
Google has responded to the report from the Times by stating that users opt in to collection of the location data stored in Sensorvault. A Google representative also told the lawmakers that users “can delete their location history data, or turn off the product entirely, at any time.” Unfortunately, this explanation falls flat when one considers that Android devices log location data by default and that it is notoriously difficult to opt out of data collection.
No matter what promises Google makes, readers should remember that back in 2010, the Washington Post published a story focusing on the growth of surveillance by the National Security Agency. That report detailed an NSA technique that “enabled the agency to find cellphones even when they were turned off.” The technique was reportedly first used in Iraq in pursuit of terrorist targets. Additionally, it was reported in 2016 that a technique known as a “roving bug” allowed FBI agents to eavesdrop on conversations that took place near cellphones.
These tools are now undoubtedly being used on Americans. The reality is that these tools—and many, many others that have been revealed—are being used to spy on innocent Americans, not only violent criminals or suspects. The only way to push back against this invasive surveillance is to stop supporting the companies responsible for the techniques and data sharing. Those who value privacy should invest time in learning how to protect data and digital devices. Privacy is quickly becoming a relic of a past era and the only way to stop it is to raise awareness, opt-out of corporations that don’t respect privacy, and protect your data.
Google Tracks Your Location and Shares It With Police, Even When Your Phone is Off
Derrick Broze
Even if you disable GPS, deactivate phone location tracking, and turn off your phone, it’s still possible for Google and the NSA to monitor your every move.
Over the last two decades, cell phone use has become an everyday part of life for the vast majority of people around the planet. Nearly without question, consumers have chosen to carry these increasingly smart devices with them everywhere they go. Despite surveillance revelations from whistleblowers like Edward Snowden, the average smart phone user continues to carry the devices with little to no security or protection from privacy invasions.
Americans make up one of the largest smartphone markets in the world today, yet they rarely question how intelligence agencies or private corporations might be using their smartphone data. A recent report from the New York Times adds to the growing list of reasons why Americans should be asking these questions. According to the Times, law enforcement have been using a secret technique to figure out the location of Android users. The technique involves gathering detailed location data collected by Google from Android phones, iPhones, and iPads that have Google Maps and other Google apps installed.
The location data is stored inside a Google database known as Sensorvault, which contains detailed location records of hundreds of millions of devices from around the world. The records reportedly contain location data going back to 2009. The data is collected whether or not users are making calls or using apps.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) says police are using a single warrant—sometimes known as a “geo-fence” warrant—to access location data from devices that are linked to individuals who have no connection to criminal activity and have not provided any reasonable suspicion of a crime. Jennifer Lynch, EFF’s Surveillance Litigation Director, says these searches are problematic for several reasons.
“First, unlike other methods of investigation used by the police, the police don’t start with an actual suspect or even a target device—they work backward from a location and time to identify a suspect,” Lynch wrote. “This makes it a fishing expedition—the very kind of search that the Fourth Amendment was intended to prevent. Searches like these—where the only information the police have is that a crime has occurred—are much more likely to implicate innocent people who just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Every device owner in the area during the time at issue becomes a suspect—for no other reason than that they own a device that shares location information with Google.”
The problems associated with Sensorvault have also concerned a bipartisan group of lawmakers who recently sent a letter to Google CEO Sundar Pichai. The letter from Democrats and Republicans on the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee gives Google until May 10 to provide information on how this data is used and shared. The letter was signed by Democratic Representatives Frank Pallone and Jan Schakowsky and Republicans Greg Walden and Cathy McMorris Rodgers.
Google has responded to the report from the Times by stating that users opt in to collection of the location data stored in Sensorvault. A Google representative also told the lawmakers that users “can delete their location history data, or turn off the product entirely, at any time.” Unfortunately, this explanation falls flat when one considers that Android devices log location data by default and that it is notoriously difficult to opt out of data collection.
No matter what promises Google makes, readers should remember that back in 2010, the Washington Post published a story focusing on the growth of surveillance by the National Security Agency. That report detailed an NSA technique that “enabled the agency to find cellphones even when they were turned off.” The technique was reportedly first used in Iraq in pursuit of terrorist targets. Additionally, it was reported in 2016 that a technique known as a “roving bug” allowed FBI agents to eavesdrop on conversations that took place near cellphones.
These tools are now undoubtedly being used on Americans. The reality is that these tools—and many, many others that have been revealed—are being used to spy on innocent Americans, not only violent criminals or suspects. The only way to push back against this invasive surveillance is to stop supporting the companies responsible for the techniques and data sharing. Those who value privacy should invest time in learning how to protect data and digital devices. Privacy is quickly becoming a relic of a past era and the only way to stop it is to raise awareness, opt-out of corporations that don’t respect privacy, and protect your data.
(TLB) published this article from The MIND Unleashed with our thanks for the availability.
Other articles from AUTHOR: DERRICK BROZE
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