by dgllghr on 5/9/23, 1:14 PM with 142 comments
by crazygringo on 5/9/23, 2:40 PM
In all cases except one, the feature seems to be working as intended:
> "After I sat for 15 minutes in the parking lots of two clinics south of San Francisco, Google deleted each from my location history within 24 hours. It did the same for my colleague’s two visits to clinics in Florida."
And in the one case where the author claims it hasn't been deleted, the screenshot [1] isn't showing Planned Parenthood as part of the timeline at all. It's simply showing it as a map location like other nearby locations not on the path (like "Himalayan Cuisine") -- and even labels it as "Recently viewed", which is why it might be prioritizing showing it when it might not otherwise. Not because it was in the timeline, but because it was recently viewed.
The only other criticism is:
> Often, Google kept my location on its timeline but only labeled it as the name of a neighborhood rather than a specific clinic. One time, it labeled my visit to a Planned Parenthood clinic as the coffee shop next door, and kept the record.
But what is Google supposed to do? It thinks you went to the coffee shop because location data isn't perfect. Sometimes it labels something adjacent and sometimes it doesn't label anything at all.
The feature seems to be working as intended, and if you want more privacy then just turn your timeline history off.
[1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=https://...
by jaimehrubiks on 5/9/23, 1:49 PM
by prepend on 5/9/23, 1:54 PM
It’s not that Google is doing anything purposely malicious, it’s just that it doesn’t differentiate between sitting in the parking lot of Planned Parenthood to get an abortion vs sitting in the parking lot of Planned Parenthood drinking the coffee you got next door at Starbucks.
Or sitting in the parking lot of Planned Parenthood getting ready for your abortion vs getting ready to protest abortions.
This author seems to think google has too much knowledge and doesn’t know that it’s just dumb. It also seems odd that they don’t call out how to fix this by turning off location history, or removing items, or not using google. These are the only ways that I would feel safe that a group wasn’t able to find my abortion info.
That being said, Id rather all this data collection be outlawed and if this confusion leads to the death of selling location data then I’m all for it. I think the harm is greater from google (and others) selling location data to sell sugar and food and other harmful things through ads than the few incidents of law enforcement prosecuting abortions. Of course the harm from the micro offense of showing an ad for McDonald’s when I search for healthy restaurants and break down is very much below prosecuting women from seeking healthcare, it’s much more common. So it would be nice to remove the harm from 1M instances of crappy targeted ads from location as well as each 1 instance of abortion data misused or gay priests outed.
by hospitalJail on 5/9/23, 1:49 PM
The other company uses their marketing to pretend it isn't.
If I need to have a private conversation, we leave phones in the house and go for a walk. I havent had the need to hide my location, but I'd do the same.
by vodou on 5/9/23, 2:04 PM
by mysterydip on 5/9/23, 1:44 PM
by actuator on 5/9/23, 1:44 PM
Location history is opt in and has to be turned on. I like keeping history of where I am visiting but people can keep it off.
by joelfried on 5/9/23, 1:57 PM
by quadrifoliate on 5/9/23, 2:23 PM
So -- do follow the author's recommendations, but also vote out those politicians and parties who are trying to push these laws at the local, state, and national level. That should be a coda to every one of these articles.
by adolph on 5/9/23, 2:43 PM
Location History: Location History is a Google account setting that is off by default, and for those that turn it on, we provide simple controls like auto-delete so users can easily delete parts, or all, of their data at any time. Some of the places people visit — including medical facilities like counseling centers, domestic violence shelters, abortion clinics, fertility centers, addiction treatment facilities, weight loss clinics, cosmetic surgery clinics, and others — can be particularly personal. Today, we’re announcing that if our systems identify that someone has visited one of these places, we will delete these entries from Location History soon after they visit. This change will take effect in the coming weeks.
https://blog.google/technology/safety-security/protecting-pe...
by 2ICofafireteam on 5/9/23, 2:50 PM
by dekhn on 5/9/23, 2:36 PM
by nologic01 on 5/9/23, 2:48 PM
This central role of the mobile is simply incompatible with it being an adtech gadget. Put that in your pipe and smoke it. The geniuses behind regulation and policy making in this space must decide what sort of game they are playing, why are they procrastinating and what the endgame is.
I can think of three options going forward:
* Draconian restrictions on existing mobile phone platforms so that people really don't have to worry about privacy any more (but this may destroy certain business models)
* Funding a true open source mobile (e.g. linux based) as a public good so that people do have a real privacy friendly alternative that provides access to all these services
* Provide separate (non-phone) portable digital devices that support for all critical identity or payment functions that citizens cannot opt out from. I should be able to use a feature phone and such a device to accomplish all non-optional digital functions.
The bottom line is that the digitization of public sector / government / medical / financial services is now in full swing across the globe. The current arrangement is simply not fit for purpose.
by hatsune on 5/9/23, 3:43 PM
by zoklet-enjoyer on 5/9/23, 2:38 PM
by mxxc on 5/9/23, 3:49 PM
