Google Maps Alami Changes By Stopping Location Data Collection For Privacy

Google map illustration (Photo: Doc. Unsplash)

JAKARTA - Google Maps has undergone several changes to improve user privacy. Google wants to stop collecting location data from the timeline feature.

Quoted from Business Insider, the company decided that location data from the timeline controlled by location history settings and user travel route records will be stored directly on the user's device, not on Google. This means that Google no longer has access to user location history data.

In addition, a request for user location data from Google, for example through a "geofence" order requesting data about every user near a certain place at a certain time, is also no longer implemented.

Citing Antara, so far, Google has been under greater pressure to stop the user's location data collection feature, especially since Roe v. Wade's rules were canceled. Reflecting on a number of cases related to the regulation, location data along with search history on the internet and even the history of sending messages so far can be used as criminal evidence for individuals who have abortions in countries that prohibit abortion.

In May as many as 42 Democratic Party members from the DPR and the US Senate signed a letter addressed to Google CEO Sundar Pichai and urged the company to stop collecting and storing user location information.

"The current Google practice of collecting and storing extensive records of mobile phone location data will allow it to make it a tool for right-wing extremists who want to crack down on people seeking reproductive health services," the letter wrote.

Earlier in July, Google announced it would delete data on the location of users visiting abortion clinics, drug care centers, domestic violence shelters, weight loss clinics, and other health-related locations.

The company said that if the system identifies that the user has visited one of the sensitive locations, the system will remove the entry from the user's location history "soon after they visit". Now, the control is back in the hands of each user.

Google told Business Insider that the update is part of a larger company's efforts to increase user privacy and give individuals greater control over their data, referring to other features such as automatic deletion and Incognto Mode.