Last evening I saw my father was making the next plan for the trip and the first thing he did, opened google map and tried to gauge the distance to the destination from our home and what’s nearby locations, landmarks, traffics, transport mediums, restaurants, etc. I know for sure when my family will reach there that they will mostly rely only on google maps.

And who am I saying? While thinking and writing on this piece I felt hungry and ordered some fried chicken through Zomato ( in your case any food delivery app ) and tracking the delivery person on google Maps extension ( consensual tracking pun intended ).

And..and. Remember waiting for a cab and it’s showing your ride is 5 mins away!

And whatnot else? For Google maps( Market leader as say) We will never be lost in any place with an active internet connection where Humans have reached till this date….I mean if  Google Earth - satellite imagery can reach that will still do. Now Google offline is there to help with remote places.

It’s no wonder Google Maps solved and changed the way we travel, think about mapping, and many more. Yes, they have solved many pain points. But for that did we and should we give consent to track us 24/7? 

Google Map Knows Your search History :

The "Web & App Activity" settings on Google detail how the business collects data, such as user location, to provide a "more personalized" experience. For the 18 months, any site you look at in the app gets saved and included into Google's search engine algorithm, whether it's an adult site, a biryani recipe, or your local weed supplier.

Google thinks you're probably creeped out by this. That's why the company employs so-called "dark patterns," which are user interfaces designed to entice us into making decisions we might not otherwise make, such as by emphasizing a choice with different typefaces or brighter colors.

For the experiment Vice Media, they created a fresh Google account to explore how tough it would be for a new user to avoid the black patterns. They were shown a pop-up after pressing the "Create Account" button that said the account was "configured up to include customization elements" in little grey letters, with a much larger blue button that said, "Confirm." Vice accepted the above-mentioned "Web & App Activity" settings by clicking "Confirm." The less visible "More options" button opened a new page with extensive and complicated explanations as an alternative. To opt-out, consumers still have to deactivate the "Web & App Activity" settings manually. Now to think my father or a normal user would go to this extent to opt-out is quite a stretch.

If you do not share your search history, Google Maps restricts its features.

You'll notice a circle in the top right corner of your Google Maps app if you're linked in with your Google account. You can simply log out if you don't want to do so. The log out button is, of course, somewhat buried, but it can be accessed as follows: Log out of Google Maps by clicking the circle > Settings > scrolling down > Log out of Google Maps

If you're not signed in to your Google account, Google Maps will not allow you to bookmark frequently visited locations. If you don't log in, you'll see the "Tired of typing?" button when you click the search box, urging you to check in and encouraging you to collect more data.

Google Map can rat you out if you are not a good friend 

Google Maps, like good friends, wants to know your habits and encourages users to offer a quick public evaluation. "What did you think of the fried chicken wings? Assist others in understanding what to expect "After you've picked up your dinner, the app suggests. This appears to be a humorous, informal question, and it is based on the wonderful feelings we experience when we help others. However, all of this information is stored on your Google profile, making it easy for someone to find out if you're just passing by or if you reside nearby. 

And suppose you are trying to make a distance with your friend, google Maps ( path is Profile icon> Your profile > Edit profile > Profile and privacy settings > Scroll down > Restricted profile ). Now you are feeling at peace, right?

Google may rat you out and share your information with law enforcement agencies. Google's legal team assesses each case separately, according to its FAQ page on the subject. The corporation issues a transparency report every six months, but nothing has been released for 2020. Google received 81,785 requests impacting 175,715 accounts globally between July and December 2019, and disclosed information in the majority of cases, with 74 percent in May of 2019.  

If you turn on "Location History," your phone "saves where you go with your devices, even when you aren't using a specific Google service," as this page explains. This feature is essential in the event that you misplace your phone, but it also transforms it into a true tracking device.

Google is Great 

"At the core of what Google does is providing useful, meaningful experiences," the big tech claims on its website, adding that knowing your location is critical for this. They claim to use this information for a variety of purposes, including "security" and "language settings" — as well as, of course, ad sales. Advertisers can also use Google to see how well their advertisements reached their target (you!) and how often people visited their physical stores "in an anonymized and aggregated manner." But only if you choose to participate (or you forget to opt-out)

Evil Attorneys are in a war against Great Google 

The Attorney General's Office of the District of Columbia, as well as the Attorneys General's Offices of Texas, Washington, and Indiana, are suing Google for misrepresenting customers and breaching their privacy.

AG Racine Leads Bipartisan Coalition is suing Google Over Deceptive Location Tracking Practises That Invade Users' Privacy.

His claim is that Google Is relying on “dark patterns” to undermine users’ informed choices: To gain access to user location data, Google manipulates its users through deceptive design choices that alter user decision-making in ways that harm the user and benefit Google. 

AG Ferguson files a lawsuit against Google for secretly tracking consumers’ location.

He alleges that even when customers switch off "Whereabouts History" in their account settings, Google collects data on their location. Google profits from this dishonesty. The ability of Google's billion-dollar advertising company to tailor adverts to people based on information about their whereabouts is crucial.

When users enable the "Location History" setting, Google saves information about their location in order to "offer you tailored maps, suggestions based on locations you've visited, and more," according to Google's account settings.

Even when location access is off on Android devices, Google follows them. Android users, who must negotiate a confusing network of settings on both their device and their Google account, have it even more difficult to control location tracking. This was not made clear to users by Google.

AG Pax­ton Sues Google for Deceptive Track­ing Users’ Loca­tion With­out Consent.

In his most recent Geolocation case, Attorney General Paxton claims that Google misled Texas consumers by continuing to track their location even when they tried to stop it. Google exploits the illegitimate data it collects to tailor adverts to consumers, resulting in massive earnings from improperly gathered personal data.

According to the latest Google lawsuit, the corporation misled Texas customers by continuing to track their personal location even after the user thought he or she had disabled it. The falsely obtained data is then used by Google to push adverts to consumers, resulting in massive profits for the Big Tech giant.

Attorney General Todd Rokita sues Google over deceptive practices in harvesting Hoosiers’ location data.

Although Google offers a wide range of products and services, targeted advertising and advertising analytics account for the majority of its earnings. Google collects personal data from customers in order to market them attorney General Rokita's lawsuit aims to ensure that Hoosiers are no longer forced to give up their privacy. He also wants Google to pay back all revenues and benefits it received as a result of its illegal conduct. Finally, he wants civil fines imposed on Google for violating the Indiana Deceptive Consumer Sales Act. terms based on their expected interests, which is a valuable part of the company's business.

Not the conclusion :

Google said that the attorney general's charges were unfounded, and it has made numerous improvements to its privacy policy to help consumers protect their location data.

A representative for Google stated, "The attorneys general are launching a case based on incorrect claims and outdated assumptions about our settings." "We've always included privacy features in our products and given users a lot of control over their location data." We will adamantly defend ourselves and correct the record."

But there is smoke there’s some fire! And We have to watch out keenly if really House of Google is on fire or not? Google and other big techs are dodging the bullets for quite some time. Maybe it is time to stand up as accountable. And India needs to be more proactive against the red-eye surveillance of tech companies.

After all, in the digital world, they are for us, not the other way around!