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posted by Fnord666 on Tuesday September 01 2020, @09:42AM   Printer-friendly
from the I'm-so-confused dept.

Unredacted suit shows Google's own engineers confused by privacy settings:

In 2018, the Associated Press reported that Maps and some other Google services (on both iPhone and Android) were storing users' location data even when users had explicitly turned Location History off.

"There are a number of different ways that Google may use location to improve people's experience, including: Location History, Web and App Activity, and through device-level Location Services," a Google spokesperson told the AP at the time. "We provide clear descriptions of these tools, and robust controls so people can turn them on or off, and delete their histories at any time."

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich's office launched its own investigation following the AP report, and in May 2020 the state sued Google, alleging that the company violated the Arizona Consumer Fraud Act.

The initial lawsuit was heavily redacted, as the Arizona Mirror reports. But following an August 3 petition from trade groups Digital Content Next and the News Media Alliance, the judge has ordered several documents related to the case to be unsealed, and a new, less-redacted version of the suit is now available.

The new version of the suit (PDF) includes a number of employee emails and chat logs where Google employees agreed with the AP story, and these employees highlighted their own frustrations with the settings. Among the highlights:

  • "The current UI feels like it is designed to make things possible, yet difficult enough that people won't figure it out."
  • "Some people (including even Googlers) don't know that there is a global switch and a per-device switch."
  • "Indeed we aren't very good at explaining this to users. Add me to the list of Googlers who didn't understand how this worked and was surprised when I read the article ... we shipped a UI that confuses users."
  • "I agree with the article. Location off should mean location off, not except for this case or that case."

"Speaking as a user, WTF?" another employee said, in additional documentation obtained by the Arizona Mirror. "More specifically I **thought** I had location tracking turned off on my phone. So our messaging around this is enough to confuse a privacy focused (Google software engineer). That's not good."

Also at news.com.au


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  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 01 2020, @12:20PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 01 2020, @12:20PM (#1044878)

    Does IRS know how to fill out a tax form?

    Nancy Pelosi says we have to pass legislation in order to find out what's in it.

    We have to load software and trust its not malicious, with no recourse if it is.

    Under the law our Congress is passing, it's ripe for gaming to legally mandated ignorant people.

    Mandated by law passed by those very Congressmen. Both Democrats and Republicans. Both of which made Podium Promises that they would fight for us.

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  • (Score: 0, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 01 2020, @01:10PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 01 2020, @01:10PM (#1044888)

    "Both of which made Podium Promises that they would fight for us."

    I couldn't help but laugh when I read this.

    Politicians only care about themselves.