Thread by @matthew_d_green

I read the new location tracking complaint against Google filed by three state AGs and DC. It shouldn’t be surprising to anyone who is familiar with Google, but it’s pretty detailed. Thread. 1/

The basic allegation is that Google (mainly via Android) made it extremely difficult to turn off location data collection, and when people *did* try to turn this off, Google still collected and used location data for advertising.

As described in the complaint, there are basically three ways Google can get your location. (1) via GPS, (2) by monitoring nearby WiFi networks, (3) through IP address. Even if you turn GPS off, Google uses some of these. 2/

Once Google has your location information, the question is whether the user can stop them from recording it. As of 2018, Google seemed to make this possible through a Location History account setting. 3/

The Location History setting was described as “let[ting] Google save your location.” Presumably to ordinary non-technical users this language was about as clear as things get. According to the complaint, however, Google saved your location regardless of the setting. 4/

Specifically, Google has another “Web & App Activity” setting that also lets Google save your location. Because why have one setting when you can have many confusing ones? 5/

A brief interlude here to see what Google employees thought of these options. “[F]eels like it is designed to make things possible, but difficult enough that people won’t figure it out” is a solid quote. 6/

The complaint has a long section on “dark patterns” and this reads like a syllabus in a course on Silicon Valley privacy invasion. 7/

All the typical stuff: (1) presenting users with complicated opt-ins once at setup; (2) repeatedly “nudging” people who opt-out; (3) rewording dialog boxes to be less specific and maximize engagement; (4) hinting that apps “need” location history to work. It goes on. 8/

The one area where I felt j needed more detail was around the scanning of Wi-Fi networks. Even if you turn off GPS, companies like Google can determine your location by seeing nearby Wi-Fi. The complaint hints that Google does these even when you disable location. 9/

In fact, from context it feels like a lot of the redacted text in this document is about Wi-Fi geolocation. I hope future amended complaints get into the details. 10/

Final note: how did Google management feel about all of this? Was it all a big misunderstanding caused by good people trying hard not to be evil? Judge for yourself. 11/11 fin.

Here is the complaint so you can read for yourself. It’s only about 20 pages long. cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus…