As reported in an AP Exclusive, Google wants to monetize your data so badly, that for Android devices and iPhone users of Google Maps, Google Chrome, Google Search, and possibly other apps, even when Location Tracking is turned off, Google is still capturing your location information.
To see if Google is tracking your location, visit https://myactivity.google.com.
PREVENT TRACKING
Any Device
- Open a browser and then log in to your Google account.
- Go to https://myactivity.google.com.
- From the sidebar, select Activity Controls
- Disable Web & App Activity.
- Disable Location History.
- Note: Doing this will pretty much disable Google Assistant and Google Home Smart Speaker.
iOS
Set Google Maps to Inactive when not in use:
- Open Settings > Google Maps > Location
- Set to While Using. This will limit the app from accessing your location when it is not active.
Set Search Engine to DuckDuckGo
- Open Settings > Safari > Search Engine.
- Set to DuckDuckGo.
Disable Location Tracking:
- Open Settings > Privacy > Location Services.
- Disable or set to While Using for all services.
Android
- Go to Main Settings icon > Security & Location.
- Scroll down to Privacy.
- Tap Location.
- Turn off for the entire device.
- Select App-Level Permissions to turn off access to various apps.
- When performing web searches, if using Chrome, first go to https://duckduckgo.com to perform the search. Better yet, use a different browser, such as Brave.com
DELETE PAST LOCATION TRACKING
Any Device
- Go to https://myactivity.google.com
- Look for any entry that has a location pin icon next to the word details.
- Click on the location pin to open a window that may include a link to Google Maps displaying your location at that time.
- Click the navigation icon with 3 stacked dots, and then click Delete.
