image credit: andysowards.com
Google Exec Admits to Congress That They're Tracking Us
Even
with 'Location' Turned Off
Paula Bolyard reports at PJ Media (via Blazing Cat Fur) on yesterday's congressional hearing:
A Google executive admitted during
a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday that Google tracks users'
phones — even when their location history is turned off.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) questioned
Google Senior Privacy Counsel Will DeVries about the company's tracking
policies during a hearing examining online consumer privacy. Some of DeVries'
answers will likely disturb consumers who thought there was a way to avoid
being tracked by Google through their phones.
. . .
DeVries explained that it's
"complicated" -- a word that he used several times as he tried to
evade Hawley's questions about why Google tracks its users' locations.
. . .
PJM's
Phil Baker explained in December 2018 how to turn off as many tracking
features as possible on your phone, but ultimately, users need to understand
that Google has the ability to track you anytime you're carrying your phone. As
Congress and Big Tech continue to duke it out over privacy issues — which may
ultimately lead to new laws designed to protect consumers' private data — it's
imperative to understand that your smartphone is a sophisticated geotracking
advice. For now, that is the price you pay for the "free" services
Google provides.
Full article at PJ Media is here. I don’t use a cell phone very often, but I have already
switched from using Google on my desktop computer. And it’s easy for computer
illiterates such as myself. Instead of Google, choose DuckDuckGo or StartPage as
your search engine in your default settings menu.
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