The rig recorded every relevant network request 2 made by the Google Pixel 2, Samsung Galaxy S8 and Moto Z Droid, we were carrying. We walked around urban areas shopping centers and into stores, restaurants, and bars. 1 None of the devices had SIM cards inserted.
#GOOGLE FI FIND MY PHONE PORTABLE#
To accomplish this, we created a portable internet-connected wifi network that could eavesdrop and forward all of the transmissions the devices connected to it broadcast and received. Quartz was able to capture Bluetooth data transmissions on three phones from different manufacturers, running various recent versions of Android. If Location is turned off entirely, and then re-enabled, the phone resets to the High accuracy mode, making the setting hard to rely on. But even when a phone is in Device-only mode, beacon information is sent to Google when Bluetooth is off (though not when scanning is also disabled).
#GOOGLE FI FIND MY PHONE ANDROID#
When Location History is activated, Android phones try to send a plethora of nuanced information back to Google (we reported on that here), including nearby Bluetooth devices.Ī third option on Android called “Device only” location allows a user to utilize only GPS to determine location, rather than “High accuracy,” which uses GPS, wifi, Bluetooth, and cellular signals. Google’s Bluetooth tracking is a confluence of three features: Location History, which activates Google’s location-tracking Bluetooth and Bluetooth scanning, an option buried deep in the Android settings menu. Alphabet-owned Google does the tracking in part so advertisers can target “more useful” digital ads to users, but Quartz discovered that the company taps into an array of signals that can yield an individual’s whereabouts even when the user thinks they’ve disabled such tracking. Such devices, known as beacons, are often used in stores, museums, and other public places to help phones ascertain their locations within buildings. It does this by sending Google, among other things, the unique identifier codes of Bluetooth broadcasting devices it encounters. When it comes to tracking the precise location of an Android user’s phone, Google appears to use every means available-including Bluetooth-based location information transmitted to the company when the user might think they have Bluetooth turned off entirely.Ī Quartz investigation found that a user can turn Bluetooth off on their smartphone running Google’s Android software, and the phone will continue to use Bluetooth to collect location-related data and transmit that data to Google.
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