Android users file class action lawsuit against Google for location tracking

By on Apr 29, 2011 at 1:31 PM
mobile April 29, 2011

Last week, the public was up in arms after O’Reilly revealed that Apple was recording and storing the location of its iPad and iPhone users. Not long after that, The Wall Street Journal reported that Google was also tracking and storing the locations of Android users. Even though Google has said all location sharing is opt-in and that all location data is anonymized, Bloomberg is reporting that two Oakland County Michigan residents have filed a lawsuit against Google with the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Detroit. The class-action suit asks Google to stop saving smartphone location data, and it also seeks $50 million in damages. The plaintiffs argue that the level at which Google tracks their AT&T HTC Inspire 4G phones would ordinarily require a court-ordered warrant. The case is “Julie Brown v. Google 11-11867, U.S. District, Eastern District of Michigan (Detroit),” but we’re not so sure this will end in the favor of the plaintiffs — after all, they did give Google permission. Read

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  • Anonymous

    They are suing Google for something they agreed to allow? See this is why I’m anti-social.

  • KCRic

    This is funny. Google didn’t design a special OS for the Inspire, it’s the same as any other Android phone. If it’s tracking people differently then they need to be looking at HTC or AT&T – I highly doubt HTC did anything special to the phone either though.

  • mytouch4gfasterthanwackiphone

    Serious IPhone sucks your are such a retard. Regarding the issue Google as soon as you login to your gmail it will say if you want your information to be track you either click yes or leave it as is. This person does not know how to read. I bet they will sign anything with out reading also.

  • Josh

    this lawsuit is just for the lawyers to get richer. Why doesn’t anyone take responsiblity for their own choices.

    • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_GP2WYAHXS6CRUREISWBGPUSUGE Michael

      Because i have big brother to watch over me….

      and when he doesn’t we make him pay.

      ( but on a serious note)

      I’d like to see how far this one goes since one must opt into the tracking system.

  • jwd45244

    I don’t know about anyone else, but I opted in to using Google Location Services

    • jwd45244

      You can turn it off, too.

  • http://profiles.google.com/rcocchiararo Roberto Cocchiararo

    How the hell can a person SUE “whatever” for having an option you have to accept/enable to be tracked ? :/

    • http://ocentertainment.net ocentertainment

      I imagine it’s going to go something along the lines of “Google did not make it clear what users were opting-in to or how their location would be stored”, etc., ad nauseum. It’s a bullshit reason, but it’s just enough to get some greedy sleazebags into court.

      Frankly, I doubt that it could possibly hold up when it’s very clearly something you have to enable and the warning sounds scary enough that it raises reasonable people’s eyebrows. I’ve had a couple friends who, when setting up their phones, asked me “Wait, what is this Google wants?” It’s not something that can easily be glanced over. But of course, for some folks, that’s not enough of an answer until a federal judge says it is.

  • 1T2dirtnap

    It’s comical watching you all try to defend Google but when Apple does something similar you want them to burn at the stake! Fact is both Google, Apple and whomever else do track devices running their OS. Whether via wi-fi or tower triangulation. It helps them to provide a better experience for the user.

    • http://www.facebook.com/brandon.im Brandon Im

      No, I honestly, don’t give a crap either way. These people should have to prove that this led to something negative in their lives.

    • http://ocentertainment.net ocentertainment

      Apple’s location data was stored unencrypted on not just the phone, but any computer that the phone was ever synced to via iTunes. It was stored for a lot longer than was necessary. Apple never asked. The option to disable the tracking did not work properly and tracking continued even after the device was instructed to disable it.

      None of these things were true of Android’s location data. It was stored on the phone, but it was not left unencrypted. Every Android phone runs the same startup tutorial and the tutorial always asks for permission to store location data. It’s optional from the start. Opting-out of location tracking will disable such tracking as well as any features associated with it.

      It’s true there’s a lot of hypocrisy in the iPhone/Android fanboy community. This is not one of those situations. For once, in regards to privacy and data, Google did right and Apple fucked up.

      • 1T2dirtnap

        And there lies the problem. The information being stored is useless, it’s only value is to Apple and the location based applications using the information. You, me or anyone else looking at the file wouldn’t know what to do with the information. Google didn’t say much about what is being stored, Apple was much more thorough about what they were storing, wi-fi hotspots and tower locations. Were they 100% honest, we may never know but it appears to me that everyone want’s to believe Google and doubt Apple. The issue gets even worst when people like you and the media refers to this as a privacy issue. Privacy only relates to personal information. From what I’ve gathered from both parties is no personal information is getting stored. If people are really that concern then they should return their phones. Any phone can be tracked in the manner which smart phones get tracked.

      • http://ocentertainment.net ocentertainment

        ……………………

        You are plain out of your mind.

        I voluntarily keep a private log of my location using Google Latitude. When I have GPS disabled (which is most of the time), it keeps essentially the most of the same information that the iPhone stored: cellular tower data. It’s not specific, but it sure as fuck could tell you where I’ve been with some clever inference. It could tell you when I’m at home and when I’m at work. The cell towers light up near my office between the hours of 9am to 5pm. It can tell I go hiking on most Sundays on a nearby mountain. If my bank were located away from anything else I typically pass by, you’d be able to tell that every two weeks I go to this area. You could infer my pay schedule from this. Granted, some of this you wouldn’t be able to figure out unless you had a massive amount of data, but that’s just it. The iPhone did track a massive amount of data. Since the advent of iOS 4, it’s been tracking.

        Is it a likely scenario? Probably not. Does that make it impossible? Not at all! Being an issue to a minority of people does not make something a non-issue. I’ve been friends with plenty of folks who have crazy exes or abusive spouses that have a vested interest in not being found. And sure, you can say that cell tower data isn’t specific, so it’s not a big deal, but a.) reducing the range to a couple mile radius is enough for a clever man, and 2.) WiFi data is pretty damn specific.

        You can say it probably isn’t an issue for most people, and you’d be right (though that’s really not your call to make). That doesn’t change the fact that Apple fucked up by, at the very least, failing to encrypt this data, failing to delete it after a certain timeframe, and failing to properly implement the disable feature. If nothing else, instructing the device not to track location data should result in the device not tracking location data.

        This is a problem.

      • 1T2dirtnap

        Oh man here we go let the hysteria begin. I’m not sure why people find it necessary to make shit up. With GPS OFF Google Latitudes does an absolute terrible job at showing your present location or locations. In fact devices such as the Fascinate, Galaxy S, have a hard time doing it with GPS on. Not sure if 2.2 addressed the problem. The facts are unless you have only one Bank or one office building and nothing around it within a 5-10 mile radius. It’s next to impossible for anyone with access to that information to know exactly where you are, where you went or even where you could be. You have admitted this yourself.

        My own test. With GPS off latitudes will show that I’m about 1/4 of a mile away from my house. At work it shows I’m 1/2 a mile away. There are hundreds of places I could have gone. Your crazy ex would need to have some amazing tech skills and be a highly skilled detective. Unless your crazy ex already knows your daily activities and followed you to those locations he or she wouldn’t know from looking at the file where you’re located or daily patterns.

        Which leads me to the next scenario. Access to the file. I don’t know about you but I have a pass code lock and the ability to wipe my phone when I feel it is lost. There are a number of things one could do to prevent this. Don’t lose your phone is one. But if you do make sure you have the ability to wipe it, it’s free. Though I still feel the info is useless unless your the CIA trying to track a suspected terror cell. This information is for anyone looking to steal your identity. They’ll have a better chance looking on the Internet or hacking into the local DMV.

      • 1T2dirtnap

        Also on the PC side you can chose to encrypt the files.

  • http://twitter.com/tn678 Tony

    This doesn’t even matter. The Supreme Court just ruled this week that we have NO RIGHT to file class-action lawsuits. 5-4 was the vote. Now guess who voted which way.

  • marK

    Perhaps this will finally settle the issue of whether there is a meeting of minds in the contract foisted upon unsophisticated (in regards to legal documents) and unaware end users.

    Hint – there is no meeting of the minds.

  • 0pusX

    So you CAN opt out of these services on Android, but wouldnt that make Google maps and other location based apps (search, etc) useless?

    • 1T2dirtnap

      No useless but lacking of the full user experience as intended by Google.

  • http://twitter.com/Vision77 Vision77

    Look folks don’t act like you didn’t know the intentions of Google before they made android available…..Its about gathering data to market ads….It just so happens that your location aids them with the marketing of ads…….Do I agree with it? At times NO….How can you get out of googles location tracking? Don’t opt in when you set up your android device….I say root your device and install the Location Cache Map app (free in market) and select to empty and block the cache files google uses to track you…..go into settings/location and security/uncheck use wireless networks/uncheck use gps satellites…..I’m all for keeping big corporations in check but this lawsuit is pointless….

  • http://twitter.com/mnguyea David Nguyen

    I swear that the phones are becoming smarter than the people who uses them. Especially when even a 2 year old can use it. Seriously, you don’t think you’re smartphone…ie blackberry, Apple, Android don’t track you then you need to get a freaking feature phone. How do you think the phone knows the weather where you are at or that little dot when you open the map, or when you open Foursquare or your constant signal on the phone…?

    The big difference is that Google is more transparent and even allows you to opt out of it unlike that i*hone. Yeah, sucks to be you. Whatever. You are tracked everywhere you go. When you use the credit card, the trains, the cameras, that starbucks card you just used to buy coffee with. If you don’t want this then move to Nebraska and plant your own food, modern technology and use Morse code.

  • http://twitter.com/mnguyea David Nguyen

    I swear that the phones are becoming smarter than the people who uses them. Especially when even a 2 year old can use it. Seriously, you don’t think you’re smartphone…ie blackberry, Apple, Android don’t track you then you need to get a freaking feature phone. How do you think the phone knows the weather where you are at or that little dot when you open the map, or when you open Foursquare or your constant signal on the phone…?

    The big difference is that Google is more transparent and even allows you to opt out of it unlike that i*hone. Yeah, sucks to be you. Whatever. You are tracked everywhere you go. When you use the credit card, the trains, the cameras, that starbucks card you just used to buy coffee with. If you don’t want this then move to Nebraska and plant your own food, modern technology and use Morse code.

  • Ralph

    if you dont have an iPhone well you dont have an iPhone. if u have an android u have a laggy buggy dull unpolished os that has tons of shitty apps and os updates that make apps crash not to mention that android gaming sucks

    • Anonymous

      That would’ve been a helpful comment if BGR’s theme for today was: “Write comments that consist of the most random, totally unrelated, nonsensical tripe you can fit into two (run-on) sentences.”

      • TUPAPI

        LOL! thanks for the laugh!

      • Anonymous

        I live to serve.

  • http://rmbo47.myopenid.com/ rmbo47

    Who Cares?

    This outrage over tracking is just stupid. Bunch of whiny bitches and quick buck artists.

  • Anonymous

    The lawsuit against Apple won’t go anywhere, and neither will this one. People are just greedy and trying to get a quick pay day while the press is paying attention.

  • Anonymous

    This shit pisses me off to no end. $50 million in damages? For what? I’m pretty much getting to the point where an asteroid needs to just take this fucking planet out. I live here in the US and this country is so full of itself it’s embarrassing. People that file worthless class action lawsuits to make money need to jump off a building. And their stupid lawyer needs to follow right behind them. They throw $50 million around like it’s $500. Take, take and take. That’s all it’s about these days. The president doesn’t run the country anymore, too much bullshit going on there. Let’s just hang it up now.

  • jack27

    LOL android and iphone track you BLACKBERRYS DON’T!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    RIM BLACKBERRY FOR LIFE

    AND I GET BBM

  • Anonymous

    I love how people think this tracking your location thing is something new. MORONS. cell providers have been doing this forever now and google has been doing this forever with both there phones and search. This is nothing new people. Dam people are so dumb.

    • Steve Hillshire

      It’s something new when it’s stored on your phone for anyone to see that gets a hold of your phone. It’s also something new when “there’s an app for that” which shows everywhere you’ve been since purchasing the phone if someone gets a hold of your phone. Cell companies require an order to release that information. It *is* something new MORON. Damn you are so dumb. Somebody needs to buy you a cup of frickin iCoffee so you can wake up.

  • Anonymous

    Ya stop this from happening and see what happens when you call 911 on your cell and you pass out and they can’t find you cause you turned your location off.

  • http://twitter.com/FrankJL9 Frank lopez

    hahaha so google gives you all the shit they can for free. AND A group of douchebags sue over tracking? lol

    wow. Is like you feeding and taking care of a step child for years and when he is all grown up he bangs your wife.

  • Anonymous

    Just need to get this straight.. someone is suing Google because they opened the door, invited Google in and now feel their privacy is invaded?

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