More Privacy Education Needed on Location Tracking; End-to-End Encryption

It seems apparent from a couple of recent news stories that companies need to be doing more to educate consumers and ensure that their privacy settings match people’s reasonable expectations. The Location History feature by Google is the latest privacy setting to draw media attention after the Associated Press found that turning off the setting didn’t eliminate geolocation tracking. Separately, a survey of 125 consumers found that the majority thought SMS text messages were as secure as end-to-end encryption.

Google’s Location Tracking

An Associated Press report, confirmed by computer science researchers at Princeton University, declared that pausing Location History does not completely shutdown the tracking of a Google user. Instead, Google will continue to store location data when its Maps app is opened, stores location data on certain internet searches and automatic weather updates provide an approximate location to the company. According to the AP report, it happens on both Android and IOS devices.

According to the Associated Press, “Lawmakers are vowing to step up their oversight of the data collection practices of giant technology companies ….” U.S. Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) told AP that user expectations that the apps would not track them after location history was turned off were “perfectly reasonable” and the contrary result “frustratingly common” for tech users. Senator Warner’s office was responsible for the recent draft policy paper with proposals to regulate technology companies. Representative Frank Pallone (D-NJ) called for Congress to conduct public hearings and take action to protect consumers.

For those that are interested, CNET has reported that Web & App Activity also needs to be turned off in addition to Location History in order to disable location tracking.

End-to-End Encryption

The current model of privacy protections in the United States relies on a combination of accurate disclosure (transparency) by businesses and user choice. However, a recent study of the public understanding of communication tools using end-to-end encryption found that confusion about technology may create misunderstandings that lead to poor privacy choices.

Of the 125 survey respondents, one-half thought that SMS messages and landline phone calls would me more secure than, or as secure as, end-to-end encrypted communications. The researchers councluded that “misunderstandings may lead users to unknowingly select insecure communicaitons tools in situations where they most require privacy.”

One might expect this sort of confusion if the audience was not familiar with E2E encryption. However, 90% of the respondents from the survey currently use, or used in the past, such an encryption tool.

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More Blog Posts on IoT and Geolocation:

Consumers Say Privacy is a Big Problem for IoT Devices
Report Urges Transparency and Consent Management for IoT Privacy
Privacy Causes Pentagon to Ban Staff Geolocation Usage
Privacy Research Highlights Difficulties with Anonymization of Location Data