Thirteen months ago, I shared some data that was alarming me.  (I do hope it scared you as well.)   That our phones- even if we have location services turned off- record all sorts of data and upload it to various folks.   To use against us?   Hmm…

And, now you are about to learn something else.  (I already did, of course- or I couldn’t share it with you!)

That Google has a secret vault.  (OK, it’s not a secret anymore.)  They maintain a database called Sensorvault that records the location records (the detailed location records) of almost a billion devices worldwide.  And that data is often (routinely?) shared with the police.

You see, Sensorvault is part and parcel of location history.  And, it’s not just Android devices- it’s Apple units and our Windows devices, as well, that participate in this tracking phenomenon.

If you use Google maps, traffic alerts, group images- you are clearly “participating” in  this data collection.  Of course, Google would like us to believe that this data is only used to target us with more ads.  (Oh, sure, that’s exactly what I want to receive from a vendor.  More spam.)

But, it’s not just location history.  There’s another service, Web & App Activity, that is harvested by Google.  Even if you, like I, had location services turned off by default.

Officially, Google lets us see what they collect.  OK,  that’s what they want us to think.  Actually, our timeline is only part of the data that Google has harvested.  This data share with us is called takeout.  The raw data includes our location history, as well as some Web & App activity.  (Note:  This data is encoded.  If you select the JSON format, you can see the data in a text editor.)

And, you know the police are aware of this data.  And, currently, are taking advantage of it.  Instead of issuing a warrant for a person or a person’s device, they request “geofence” data.  This is a request (like a warrant is a request as opposed to a demand) to provide all data for all devices that were at a specific location at a specific time.

The geofence warrant nets the cops the data- but at first it  is anonymized.  (Google provides ID numbers for the devices, instead of the names of the owners.)  Bet you ain’t surprised that  the cops come back with more specific requests- and Google provides the Sensorvault data complete with names and eMail addresses the cops desire.

The key point is that now that I told you what Google collects is there is a way to turn this off (or at least diminish Google’s capabilities to suck our personal information up.)

Anyone else besides me doing this right now?

Here’s how…

One way (not the one I used) is to go to the help center for takeout, where there are instructions how we can delete location history, Web & App activity, and, at least for now, how to disable Google from continuing their monitoring practices.

But, here’s how I did it for all my devices…

If you have an Android phone or tablet, seek out ‘Settings’.   Once you are there, choose ‘Google’, ‘Google Account’, ‘Data & personalization’.  Under ‘Web & App Activity’ make sure that your settings are off.

On your Windows or Apple devices, the process is different.  Open a browser and go to “Google.com”.  Make sure you are signed into your account, which has your picture or icon in the upper right hand corner.  Click on the picture and choose ‘Google Account’.  Mosey on down to ‘Personal info & privacy’, and then ‘My Activity’ under this heading.  In the left-hand toolbar, choose ‘Activity Controls’ and the ‘Web & App Activity’.  guess what- make sure this is off, too.  Now, be a good web traveler and ensure your ‘Location History’ is also toggle off.  (Note:  Some of you- like me- will have to do this often- since Google only lets us “pause” and not stop their tracking us.  (I told you we were for sale, right!)

Welcome to my world!