Google misled some Android and Pixel phone users in Australia about location data, court rules

An Australian court found that Google continued to collect the Location History of some users who even ticked No or Do not collect on their initial settings misleading some Android and Pixel users.

Google partially misled some Android and Pixel phone users about their location data in Australia, a court ruled on Friday. The complaint dates back to 2019 when consumer rights watchdog Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) noted that Google tracks location data even after the initial account setup process that takes permission for location history. The court found that Google continued to collect the Location History of some users who even ticked No or Do not collect on their settings. The commission noted that Google misrepresented users by stating that the Location History was the only setting that affected users when it came to identifying, storing, or using location data. It spoke about a separate setting called the “Web & App Activity,” which is enabled by default that also collects, stores, and uses personally identifiable location data, if not turned off manually.