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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 […]

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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 […]

Mobile

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 […]

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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 […]