Google – My Location History

[dang]

This looks like a follow-up to https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20050764.

[m0dest]

I used to willingly enable this and enjoyed this page. But it was recently revealed that Google shares bulk location data with law enforcement, offering the list of all devices that were in a certain area. That was the line for me. Disabled.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/04/13/us/google-loc...

> The new orders, sometimes called “geofence” warrants, specify an area and a time period, and Google gathers information from Sensorvault about the devices that were there.

[solotronics]

Do you think if you disable this they will not share with law enforcement? I wonder if it makes a difference.

[wppick]

Unless you are planning criminal activity in the future, this feature could act as an alibi to absolve you of being in the place where a crime was committed. And, false positives aside, I think it's great that law enforcement has the tools to keep society safe and civil. Law enforcement is not always == bad

[KukicAdnan]

Honestly, I find this really useful and love being able to see where I've been, especially since I travel on almost a weekly basis.

It's an invaluable tool for me and I trust Google to safeguard the information. They haven't failed me yet, and if they ever do, it should be easy enough to delete the info.

[danielecook]

I like it as well - but google is almost certainly using this data to target you. I also wish I more control. Is there a way to export to GPX? It would be fun to create a heat map of your daily locations over the course of years.

[frereubu]

Not wishing to be sarky, but surely "if they ever do" fail you it's too late.

[avocado4]

I had a bike stolen once from the bike garage in my apartment, and I used my Google location history to prove to the garage owner that I indeed arrived there on the bike and never left afterwards.

[haecceity]

Also useful if you lost your phone.

[millstone]

Your location history can be kept entirely on your device, or uploaded encrypted. There's no benefit to you for allowing Google to see it.

[nabla9]

Google services may benefit all individuals using them but net negative whole the society as a whole.

The "what it is for me" attitude of consumerism requires something else to balance it out.

[O_H_E]

OwnTracks. Open source, self-hosted option that uses standard protocols. iOS and an Android apps available.

This is turining out to be quite extensive. It also have options for sharing with family (and friends). And triggering custom action when arriving/leaving a location.

OwnTracks: https://owntracks.org/

Docs: https://owntracks.org/booklet/

[periferral]

Like many other comments, I like this and find it useful. Recently I took a Lyft ride late from SFO to home and it was late and I was tired and I didnt concentrate on the route taken by the driver but I was certain we took the 101. Later when I saw the charge, I was surprised to see the ride map showing me taking a roundabout way, heading on 280 and essentially doing a 70mile ride. I complained to Lyft and they refunded the money but I still wanted to know how I got home. Checked back on this and found that it was in fact a regular 101 ride home and I had proof just in case Lyft wanted it.

As others have mentioned, it is nice to look back at the trips I took and also share with others who might be visiting places where I have been in the past.

[futureastronaut]

> it was in fact a regular 101 ride home

Confused... you make it sound like faulty location history led you to erroneously report your Lyft driver. But that doesn't jive with the tone and thrust of your comment.

[gonzoflip]

My location history showed me as being on the strip in Las Vegas for 40 minutes while I was at google's Next conference in SF this year, which i found to be interesting. As far as I can tell my phone must have registered an SSID that caused google to think i was in Vegas. My history no longer shows this, but i did save some screen caps.

https://imgur.com/a/eNBP5t7

[killerdhmo]

This happens sometimes with conferences. I was at one recently where it changed everyone's auto set time zone to Mountain time, because the conference set up came from Utah

[McDev]

I've been wanting to disable this for years now but find it too interesting and sometimes useful to look back on.

I've ditched many Google services due to Google being Google yet I still have this enabled which is somewhat ironic.

One day I'd like to figure out how to implement some sort of private alternative to this without using Google.

[Finkregh]

Try https://owntracks.org/

[frereubu]

Just a quick note - if like me you deleted your location history then disabled it, all you'll see is a prompt to delete your (non-existent) location history, which confused me for a bit.

After disabling all Google history - location, web, search etc - I don't notice much of a difference in the usefulness of Google services, but the one thing that still hangs around is purchase and booking history because my company uses GSuite. When I want to delete that history it tells me to delete that email - I think I should be able to turn that off somehow, but don't know how.

Edit: To do justice to Google, they do seem to be respecting my wishes not to store any of that history, at least in any explicit form.

[derivagral]

From other comments, it seems like that history is sourced directly from your emails; you'd need to delete the (archived?) emails to remove it from the list.

[helloguillecl]

I know it is not really advisable to share this info with third parties in general, but I'd love to have this data under my control, since it is has proven very to my-self.

A few examples on why it has been useful to me:

- When did I go to the dentist last?

- Where did that credit card charge I see in my bank statement originated?

- Where did I go on the day I lost my umbrella?

[taborj]

Another user mentioned OwnTracks, coupled with a broker like Mosquitto. That might fit your needs.

[nostalgk]

Does anyone know if turning this off turns off the restaurant recommendations? I don't really want my location data on here, but I do enjoy some of the convenient notifications that Google gives me like suggested businesses.

[A7med]

I disabled it a long time ago

[nostromo]

Be sure to click on the nodes to get your full history.

This is why I 1) switched back to Apple Maps and 2) never say yes when Google asks for my location in Safari on iOS (it doesn't change the query results anyway)

[taborj]

Similar, though I switched to HERE WeGo on Android (but they have an iOS version as well).

[spidermango]

It's another "I'm scared of google tracking this thing but can't give a reason why" episode. It's bad if law enforcement has your location data because...? Are you a criminal?

[andybak]

> It's bad if law enforcement has your location data because...?

I'm on the lax and forgiving end of the privacy debate but even I find this statement breathtaking.

Would you be as cavalier about giving up other similar protections? i.e. unwarranted search, self-incrimination etc. They can all be attacked with similar "if you've done nothing wrong..." arguments.

[flyGuyOnTheSly]

There have been places in recent history where your sexual preference could have been "criminal". Or your level of intelligence.

[HNLurker2]

I can't go"hunting" anymore

[konart]

No data after march 2015. Good.

[atomical]

It shows me driving over water. That's interesting. I'm not seeing a bridge.

[derekp7]

To conserve battery, you phone only reports current location periodically. The location history then draws a straight line between successive plot points.