Google Still Track's Your Android Phone’s Location Even With Location Turned Off

Accepting to use any form of mobile or immobile wireless connection and means of communication simply say that you are giving your consent to being spied on. There are technologies that give people the ability to track you even if your phone is turned off. Some will be curious and ask, what do I do when I don’t want Google to continuously track my activities and location? The first instinct will be to disable both mobile data and location services, disable any app that requests permission to access your location. Some will even go further to remove their sim cards just to evade the all-seeing eyes.

But what if I tell you that disabling mobile data, disabling location, or removing your carrier's sim card won't hinder Google from tracking your location? According to the investigation by Quartz, the mountain view California guys have been gathering data about your location endlessly and sending it back to their servers when your device re-connects to the internet. Surprisingly, Google accepted this to be true without any denial.

How Can Google Still Track's Your Android Phone’s Location Even With Location Turned Off?

Allow me to introduce the concept of Location tracking using cellular towers. According to Google, we never incorporated Cell ID into our network sync system, so that data was immediately discarded, and we updated it to no longer request Cell ID,” Google told Quartz. Surprisingly, the devices were caught sending the tower addresses even when they had no SIM cards installed.

Google further explained that cell tower address information was being sent to Google servers since the beginning of 2017 to manage push notifications and messages on Android devices - even with location services disabled. Then, Google in other to improve the accuracy, push and messaging services, started looking into cell towers ID. The catch is that users have no access or control over this kind of tracking.

Does Google Have Plans to Stop This Tracking?

Yes, by the end of November 2017, Google plans to stop this kind of tracking that uses cell towers. But they didn't state how they plan to improve push and messaging services, once this tracking is stopped.

This revelation is indeed troubling for users who wish to avoid being tracked. This may be law enforcement officials, whistleblowers, and not only that, smartphone users could be victimized because of this which isn't surprising, because, hey, it's Google and Android we're talking about here. It's not we are left with any option. And this is exactly why I can't wait to lay my hands on Librem 5 Linux phone.

Also Read:   Here is How Anyone Can Still Read Your WhatsApp Messages Even After Deleting Them

PLACE YOUR MID-POST ADS CODE HERE FOR pc