I created a google takeout and in that zip file I found some files containing a ton of data about me. It has logged every single page I visited while using the google search engine and chrome browser. It even logged every single time I opened an app on my old android phone. It even has VOICE RECORDINGS of me and a log of every time I used google assistant. This is just some of the data and I’m very sure there is even more data they have.

  • om1k@sopuli.xyz
    0·
    9 months ago

    don’t forget if you have location enabled in your phone it tracks every single place you’ve been to

    • WarmSoda@lemm.ee
      0·
      9 months ago

      And it can be very wrong about those locations, too. For better or worse, idk. My old phone showed me going to completely different cities on the other side of my state when I went to the corner store.

    • Possibly linux@lemmy.zipEnglish
      0·
      9 months ago

      It does that even if you turn it off. The setting just controls location access by third party apps.

      Lineage os and F-droid is the better solution. It has the advantage of being bloat free as well

      • Churbleyimyam@lemm.ee
        0·
        9 months ago

        You can also use GPS location without any google services running, it just takes a bit longer to find your position when you first connect. OsmAnd or Organic maps from f-droid, which are actually superior apps to google maps in a lot of ways, particularly OsmAnd.

        • Scary le Poo@beehaw.org
          0·
          9 months ago

          These apps cannot find addresses in the US. Just a heads up so anyone that sees this doesn’t pull their hair out trying to figure it out. No, it isn’t you, it’s the app.

          • KISSmyOS@feddit.de
            0·
            9 months ago

            It’s not the app, it’s the lack of volunteers mapping addresses in the US.
            Don’t pull your hair out, install StreetComplete and take a walk around your neighborhood.

            And if you find that fun, editing Openstreetmap in the browser isn’t all that hard, either.
            If you add addresses you are missing, you can increase the apps utility for yourself directly. Pretty fun seeing the stuff you entered appear in the map. And it doesn’t require any coding skills.

            Something you can’t do with missing info in Google Maps.

            • N4CHEM@lemmy.ml
              0·
              9 months ago

              THIS! OsmAnd and Organic Maps are not worse apps because you cannot find some addresses. The data comes from OpenStreetMap, and if it’s missing there it won’t be available in these apps. That’s not a bug, that’s a feature. How? OpenStreetMap data is open and free for everyone to use and edit, it’s like the Wikipedia of maps. No, you don’t have Google mapping everything for you, you should probably chip in and help add addresses if you want a map that doesn’t depend on a huge corporation, a map where you can correct mistakes, and a map that’s free for anyone to use in their apps or websites. Otherwise we depend on what Google wants to map, how they want to map it, and the app that they offer us to access that data.