(Reuters) — Apps to help contain the spread of the novel coronavirus should not collect user location data, the European Commission said on Thursday, as Apple and Google weighed whether to work with virus apps that use location tracking. The EU executive’s recommendation came as part of a unified European approach for using technology to […]
Tag: location
Google taps vast trove of location data to aid global effort to combat coronavirus
Google is presenting the data as aggregated statistics, and it isn’t publishing the real-time movements of individual users or the places they have visited, Jen Fitzpatrick, a senior vice president, and Karen DeSalvo, Google’s chief health officer, said in a blog post. The technology powering this service is typically used to help people figure out […]
U.S. government and big tech want to use location data to fight coronavirus
The U.S. government is reportedly working with big tech to come up with ways that people’s cell phone data location can be used to combat the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak. Facebook, Google, and other major tech companies are in talks with the government to examine compiling location data that would help follow the spread of the […]
Google strips location sharing from Google Hangouts
Enlarge Google Google is stripping away a key feature from its best and most popular messaging platform. Google Hangouts users are no longer able to share their locations with one another. It’s not clear why Google is suddenly stripping away features from Google Hangouts, but an update to the Hangouts Android app, version 32, removes […]
The FCC will hit phone carriers with a $200 million fine over location sharing
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is going to hit the big four U.S. phone carriers with a fine totaling $ 200 million for selling people’s location data. AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, and T-Mobile will have the chance to dispute their fines, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. The FCC hasn’t officially announced anything […]
How to remove location data from your iPhone photos in iOS 13
When you snap a photo on your iPhone or iPad, iOS automatically uses its GPS smarts to record the exact location of the shot. This is an enormous convenience as it allows you to catalog your many images according to exact location, as well as occasion. It assists in sorting out photo shoots and helps […]
Facebook says millions of users had phone numbers, search history and location data stolen in recent hack
Facebook’s headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif. (Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images) Brian Fung Policy reporter focusing on telecommunications, media, cryptocurrencies and competition October 12 at 2:46 PM An online attack that forced Facebook to log out 90 million users last month directly affected 29 million people on the social network, the company said Friday as it released […]
Google brings its high-accuracy emergency location tracking to the U.S.
In an emergency, every second can mean the difference between life and death, and Google’s latest tech could be a literal lifesafer. In partnership with local carriers, Google has begun rolling out Emergency Location Services to Android devices — a service that will ultimately give first responders more accurate location information. The company first announced […]
Google Confirms It Tracks Locations Even After Users Turn Off Location History
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Google has changed a help page that erroneously described how its “Location History” setting works, clarifying for users that it still tracks their location even if they turn the setting off. The change comes days after an Associated Press investigation revealed that several Google apps and websites store user location even if users have turned […]
Google tracks your location — even when you deny it permission
Google is tracking your location — even when you tell it not to, according to an investigation by the Associated Press. The findings, which were confirmed by computer science researchers at Princeton University, prove that many Google services on both Android and iPhones store location data — regardless of whether privacy settings say otherwise. The AP […]