Google Reportedly Made Privacy Settings "Nearly Impossible" To Find for Android Users
It can also collect your location data through unaffiliated, third-party apps.
A series of unredacted documents in a lawsuit brought by Arizona’s Attorney General Mark Brnovich against Google has revealed that the tech giant has purposely made privacy settings “nearly impossible” to find for smartphone users.
According to a new report from Insider, the documents show that Google has urged various smartphone makers to hide Android privacy settings and bury them deeper into the system after tests revealed that when made easier to access, the features were widely popular among users.
On top of this, the tech giant also used numerous ways to collect location data from users, including WiFi tracking and third-party apps not affiliated with Google at all, making sure users will have to agree to share their location data before being able to access those apps. This means your location data is still being collected even when you’ve turned off those particular settings on your phone.
Google has since issued a response to The Verge, stating that Brnovich “and our competitors driving this lawsuit have gone out of their way to mischaracterize our services. We have always built privacy features into our products and provided robust controls for location data. We look forward to setting the record straight.”
Elsewhere in the tech industry, Amazon has introduced tiny “zen” booths for employees to de-stress.
