谷歌承认其追踪我们即使关闭定位服务 [美国媒体]

Google admits it tracks us even with location services turned off

谷歌承认其追踪我们即使关闭定位服务

【日期】2017年11月21日



Google admits it grabs data on individuals' locations from Android phones with just an internet connection. But Google pledged to stop collecting the information by the end of November. (Timothy A. Clary/ AFP/Getty Images)

谷歌终于承认它仅通过互联网连接就可以获取到安卓手机用户的个人位置信息，但谷歌承诺11月底前停止收集这些信息。(Timothy A. Clary/ 法新社/Getty 图片社)

Think Google can’t see where you are with its location services turned off?

你认为只要把位置服务功能关掉，谷歌就看不到你的位置信息？

Google tracks us even if we turn off location services, use no apps, and don’t install a SIM card.

其实，即使我们关掉手机定位、不使用任何APP应用，甚至不使用SIM卡，谷歌照样能追踪到我们的位置。

The internet giant now admits it grabs data from Android phones with just an internet connection.

互联网巨头谷歌现在承认通过连接互联网从安卓手机里获取数据信息。

Quartz, a media outlet, explains:

Quartz，一家媒体解释道：

Since the beginning of 2017, Android phones have been collecting the addresses of nearby cellular towers — even when location services are disabled — and sending that data back to Google. The result is that Google, the unit of Alphabet behind Android, has access to data about individuals’ locations and their movements that go far beyond a reasonable consumer expectation of privacy.

自2017年初以来，Android手机就一直在收集附近蜂窝基站的地址——即使是在定位服务被禁用关闭的情况下——并将数据发送给谷歌。其结果是，谷歌作为Android背后的Alphabet下面的子公司，能够访问个人的位置和他们的运动轨迹，这远远超出了消费者对隐私的合理期望。

A spokesperson for Google reportedly said it used cell tower data to send push notifications and messages, but did not store the information. Google pledged to stop collecting the information by the end of November after Quartz called them on it.

据报道，谷歌发言人称他们使用手机信号塔发送推送通知和消息，但没有存储信息。直到Quartz通知他们这件事，他们才决定11月底停止收集信息。

“Android phones will no longer send cell-tower location data to Google, at least as part of this particular service, which consumers cannot disable,” the spokesperson reportedly said.

“安卓手机不再发送手机信号塔的位置给谷歌，至少作为这项特别服务的一部分，消费者不能禁用”，谷歌发言人这样说。

Is the information is collected under any other services?

这些信息被收集起来供其他人使用吗？

“It is really a mystery as to why this is not optional,” Matthew Hickey, a security expert and researcher at Hacker House, a security firm based in London, said. “It seems quite intrusive for Google to be collecting such information that is only relevant to carrier networks when there are no SIM card or enabled services.”

“关于会不会这样选择，这还真说不准，”Matthew Hickey，一位伦敦的信息安全公司——Hacker House的安全专家和研究员，他说：“在没有SIM卡或者启用的服务的情况下，谷歌收集这些本来只与网络运营商有关的信息，看起来的确突兀和反感。”

In its privacy policy, Google says it uses “various technologies to determine location, including IP address, GPS, and other sensors that may, for example, provide Google with information on nearby devices, Wi-Fi access points and cell towers.”

Google在其隐私政策中表示，它“使用各种技术来确定位置，包括IP地址、GPS和其他传感器，比如，可能会把附近有关设备、Wi-Fi接入点和手机信号塔的信息提供给谷歌”。

The information is a hot commodity for advertisers. Companies can use phone data to track when someone enters a certain store. In turn, the data is used to send targeted advertising information.

信息对于广告商而言是个抢手资源，当某个人进入某家商店，公司可以使用手机数据追踪到这些。反过来，这些数据可以被用来发送有针对性的广告信息给特定的消费群体。

A 2014 Federal Trade Commission report on data brokers showed that consumer information is sold to other parties or used to create profiles on consumers. The data provides a way to categorize and label people (sometimes in unflattering terms) such as: financial newsletter subscriber, allergy sufferer, “financially challenged,” Twitter user with more than 250 friends, and “working-class moms.”

一份2014年的联邦贸易委员会报告显示，消费者信息被卖给其他各方或者创建消费者个人信息档，这些信息提供一种方法对消费者进行分类或者标签（有时用不友好的措辞），例如：“金融信息用户”、“过敏患者”、“资金周转不灵人群”、“拥有250好友的推特使用者”或者“工薪阶层妈妈”等标签。