Google now sets a time limit on the data used by police to track suspects, the CEO said at Wednesday’s hearing with the tech giants.
The data is used for a so-called “geofence order,” which connects to a massive Google database that tracks where it goes anonymously. It’s an integral part of a trend for tech companies to track where you’re going, what you eat, and what you buy, among a host of other tracking information.
Although it was originally designed by Google as a harmless way to provide “Location History” to any user who chooses to see where they have been, police are now reportedly using it to track down criminal suspects.
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The order may compel Google “to disclose the records of any device in a certain area for a specified period of time. After that, for certain accounts, the government may obtain additional location data and subscriber information,” according to the Lawfare Institute. , who published a blog on the subject in cooperation with Brookings.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai speaks via video conference during the House Judicial Subcommittee Hearing on Competition, Business Law and Administrative Law on Online Platforms and Market Power in the Rayburn House office building on July 29, 2020 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.
(Photo by Mandel Ngan-Pool / Getty Images)
Congressman Kelly Armstrong, RN.D., addressed this issue during Wednesday’s hearing in a question addressed to Google CEO Sundar Pichai.
“There are news reports that the police have made increasing use of what are called geofence orders and [these] allow authorities to compel tech companies to reveal location records of any device in a certain area at any given time, “Armstrong said.
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He continued. “Court filings suggest that Google received a 1,500 percent increase in geo-fence requests from 2017 to 2018 and a 500 percent increase from 2018 to 2019.”
Armstrong went on to say that the Fourth Amendment requires probable cause and specificity. But the geofence orders do not require either one, he said, adding that he believes location information should be considered part of the Communications and Electronics Act, which was enacted by Congress to expand existing restrictions on wiretapping of the government to include electronic data transmissions.
“Do you agree?” he asked Pichai, referring to the measure.
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“That is why we issue transparency reports, because we believe it is an important area for Congress to have oversight,” Pichai said.
“We recently made a change whereby we automatically remove location activity after a certain period of time by default for our users,” he said.
In a blog post on June 24, Pichai said that Google will automatically delete Location History after 18 months by default. He also said that automatic removal of Web and app Activity will default to 18 months for new accounts.
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However, for those who already had Location History and App and Web Activity turned on, the settings won’t change, according to Google, though they’ll be reminded about automatic deletion controls via notifications and emails, according to the company. .
