Maybe a bit contrarian but unless law enforcement is abusing this I think it's good for Google to share this info. I want to live in a society where criminals are caught.
Like the crime of wanting to save your own life? [1]
Edit: forgot to add how abortion is related to location data: after the "Christian" Talibans made abortion illegal, location data became subpeonable to see if someone visited an abortion clinic, if you tracked your periods on an app, this data too, because if you stopped having periods and a few months later it resumed, is that enough proof for a criminal conviction?
Funny to think how the tech companies are slowly realizing, maybe even their 50 domestic markets have regimes that are not liberal democracies, and can abuse laws...
For a more elaborate answer, watch this video: [2], TL;DW your democracy might not last and despots could take over and actually abuse the data they have on you. MAGA 2024, anyone? I mean the whole red states/Taliban-esque "we own women's body" laws is already plenty of steps in that direction...
> after the "Christian" Talibans made abortion illegal, location data became subpeonable to see if someone visited an abortion clinic
Above and beyond that, thinking ahead to people traveling for healthcare, Missouri and a few other states are or already have enacted a crime of "conspiracy to commit abortion", which means as little as booking flights or hotel.
In the US and most of the west, governments derive their power from the governed, which means their ability to investigate crime is at the consent of the governed as well. It is due to the law not catching up to technology that google has been allowed to share that information.
If cops need information to catch criminals they should get warrants. No company can refuse such a request so long as a magistrate reviews it as being a lawful pursuit of justice.
"...is due to the law not catching up to technology..."
Tragically, it's not only in this area that governments are woefully behind. Smart operators and Big Tech are so far ahead in the IT/communications game that dismantling many of the most egregious aspects of it will be nigh on impossible. Users are now addicted to so-called free services etc. to such an extent that weening them off them just isn't practical.
Even if governments were now 100% committed to fixing the problems—which they aren't by a long shot—then it'd still take many decades to fix.
That's not contrarian, this is an extremely common ignorant view similar to "nothing to hide" (of course they are abusing it and not catching themselves)
Like the crime of wanting to save your own life? [1]
Edit: forgot to add how abortion is related to location data: after the "Christian" Talibans made abortion illegal, location data became subpeonable to see if someone visited an abortion clinic, if you tracked your periods on an app, this data too, because if you stopped having periods and a few months later it resumed, is that enough proof for a criminal conviction?
Funny to think how the tech companies are slowly realizing, maybe even their 50 domestic markets have regimes that are not liberal democracies, and can abuse laws...
For a more elaborate answer, watch this video: [2], TL;DW your democracy might not last and despots could take over and actually abuse the data they have on you. MAGA 2024, anyone? I mean the whole red states/Taliban-esque "we own women's body" laws is already plenty of steps in that direction...
[1] https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/texas-woman-sought-c...
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9_PjdU3Mpo