According to a recent study, Google begins gathering your data without your knowledge even before your phone is fully charged.
Possibly the most significant invention of this century is the smartphone. Unquestionably, mobile phones are beneficial because they have altered how we engage with others as well as with technology.
Nonetheless, a lot of users are worried about significant matters like protecting their privacy, and their mistrust is understandable. According to a Trinity College Dublin study, Google starts gathering user information as soon as an Android phone is powered on. Even if the user does not open an app or provide consent, the researchers claim that cookies and advertising IDs are used to collect this data, potentially in violation of European privacy laws.
A recent study conducted by Trinity College Dublin revealed that Android phones begin sending data to Google as soon as they are turned on, even before the operating system is fully loaded or the user opens and uses apps, Forbes reported. This information collection occurs through pre-installed apps such as the Google Play Store and Google Play Services and does not require prior consent, according to the study's authors.
Researchers say this data includes cookies, advertising IDs, and even persistent elements like the Android ID, which allow users to be tracked over time. What's even more alarming is that, according to the study, there's no way to prevent this other than changing the operating system.
Even a factory reset doesn't remove these automatic traces. This discovery stands in stark contrast to the measures implemented by Google in its Chrome browser, which recently enhanced user control over cookies with new privacy features. However, on Android, according to the researchers, a lack of transparency remains the norm.
Furthermore, the report questions the compatibility of this practice with European legislation, specifically the ePrivacy Directive and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Although the authors clarify that they are not legal experts, they believe that storing data without consent could constitute a violation that could result in millions of dollars in penalties. Google's response was brief: it claimed that privacy is a priority and that it complies with all applicable laws, but it did not dispute the technical findings of the study.
This study adds to previous research by the same team, which has already warned about the scale of data Google collects from Android, even when users opt out of tracking. For experts, this is a "wake-up call" for regulators: data collection without transparency or real user control is still pervasive on the mobile phones we use every day.