Google Maps Has Been Tracking Your Every Move, And There’s A Website To Prove It

[realizm]

 
By Elizabeth Flux 15/8/14

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Remember that scene in Minority Report, where Tom Cruise is on the run from the law, but is unable to avoid detection because everywhere he goes there are constant retina scans feeding his location back to a central database? That’s tomorrow. Today, Google is tracking wherever your smartphone goes, and putting a neat red dot on a map to mark the occasion.

You can find that map here. All you need to do is log in with the same account you use on your phone, and the record of everywhere you’ve been for the last day to month will erupt across your screen like chicken pox.
 
We all know that no matter what ‘privacy’ settings you may try and implement, our information is all being collected and stored somewhere. That knowledge sits in the back of our minds, and is easy to drown out by shoving in some headphones and watching Adventure Time on repeat until everything stops being 1984. But it’s a sharp jolt back to reality when you see a two dimensional image marking your daily commute with occasional detours to the cinema or a friend’s house.

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[Orion VII 4 Life]

Is this for Android users only? It's not showing anything for me and I have an iPhone, but I got Google Maps installed and everything.

[realizm]

Did you log in your Gmail account? 

[Union Tpke]

no info for me! 

[realizm]

Cool. It didnt reveal any information about myself either. But I can see how this works if you have a phone giving out a signal that can be tracked.

[Tokkemon]

This isn't exactly a problem. If you give Google permission to track then you'll have this data saved for future use. If people don't like it then they shouldn't have said yes to the "can Google track your location to make Google services better" button!

[ttcsubwayfan]

Doesn't show anything for me either. I use an Android and admittedly I don't know now exactly how these mechanics work, but I'm always logged into my email so that I can check what's new whenever I feel like it. Not sure if that crosses over to the Maps app, but I guess not.

[mfs NJT459]

i found the setting on my Google Maps iPhone app where you can disable it... mine was disabled

[SevenEleven]

This isn't exactly a problem. If you give Google permission to track then you'll have this data saved for future use. If people don't like it then they shouldn't have said yes to the "can Google track your location to make Google services better" button!

THIS. Also, if you want to be able to track your lost phone online, then this needs to be enabled as well.

[CenSin]

This has been known for a while too. I've been periodically deleting my Google Maps history directly from Google's account management for over a year now.

[Quill Depot]

You're given the option to enable it, it seems as if it is default disabled. By the way, the article is wrong, it is 1984 if this is happening (reference to the book).

[Express Bus Operator]

I use that features sometimes just to track my daily mileage and where About's. If you have teens that is sharing a phone acct with you, Its a good idea to put on if your trying to track the routes, but of course they can disable that feature.. But like it stated, It ask "If you would like to track your location"