Another panic storm fabricated by media outlets trying to make up for a slow news day. Google and Apple both use anonymous statistical data to improve services for the user. Every user is given the opportunity to opt-out of sharing location information by simply un-checking a box…
Amid rising scrutiny of their practices, Google Inc. defended the way it collects location data from Android phones, while Apple Inc. remained silent for a third day.
The companies’ smartphones regularly transmit locations back to Google and Apple servers, respectively, according to data and documents analyzed by The Wall Street Journal.
Research by a security analyst this week found that an Android phone collected location data every few seconds and sent it to Google several times an hour. Apple disclosed in a letter to Congress last year that its phones “intermittently” collect location data, and the company receives it twice a day.
Both companies have said users can prevent the data collection by turning off location-based services, although doing so limits functions such as maps.
On Friday, a Google spokesman said “all location sharing on Android is opt-in by the user.”
However, this definition of “opt-in” doesn’t mean the system is off by default for people who use the typical Android set-up.
Rather, when a user activates an Android phone, a screen appears saying Google’s service provides location to applications and that it will collect anonymous data even when no apps are running.
The box to accept this is checked by default, but the user can uncheck it. For users who bypass this process entirely, location services aren’t turned on.
