The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) has uncovered a hidden setting in Android phones which allows Google to track your location, even if you have chosen not to share your location.
In a new legal action in the Federal Court, the ACCC alleges that Google has acted deceptively:
by creating the impression that 'You're in control' of your location data by showing a setting in the Location History section of the Privacy Terms that location tracking is turned off - ‘Don’t save my Location History in my Google Account’.
when in fact another setting - the Web & App Activity remains turned on and tracks your location, according to ACCC chair Mr Rod Sims. It is deceptive because the Web & App Activity setting is kept hidden - there is no warning in the Location History section that it even exists and it is hard to find.
Referencing Google's motto of 'Don’t be evil’, the ACCC alleges that Google has 'caused harm to consumers' by depriving them of making an informed choice about location data settings, and by using the data collected for targeted advertising. Targeted advertising is advertising which is directed to consumers according to their known preferences and search engine activity.
So, if you don’t want to receive targeted advertising on your mobile phone, or want to keep your location private, switch the Web & App Activity setting to ‘no’.