Documents from a lawsuit filed by the state of Arizona against Google reveal that the company intentionally made location settings on Android difficult to activate. According to the process documents, released this Monday (31/5) by Business Insider, Google collected users' location data even after they disabled the feature and pressured manufacturers — including LG — to hide privacy settings, as such settings were said to have become popular among users.

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich filed a lawsuit against Google in May 2021, accusing the company of illegally collecting users’ location data without their consent. Last week, a judge ordered that new sections of the documents not be redacted in response to a request from groups Digital Content Next and the News Media Alliance, which wanted to expose the company’s practices.

According to Insider, the documents provide several details about how Google obscures its data collection techniques to confuse not only users, but its own employees. Jen Chai, a senior product manager for location services, said she didn’t know how the privacy settings interact with each other. An anonymous employee reportedly said, “So there’s no way to just give your location to a third-party app without first telling Google? That doesn’t seem like something we want on the front page of the New York Times.” Another anonymous employee reportedly added, “*I* need to have *my* location on *my* phone without sharing that information with Google. That must be how Google works.” Apple eat our lunch”, alluded to the fact that the competitor, theoretically, allows a greater level of privacy to users.

During testimony, Jack Menzel, the former vice president in charge of overseeing Google Maps, admitted that the only way Google can’t find out where a user lives and works is if the user intentionally throws the service off track by setting the locations to random settings. Menzel left the company this month.

Privacy in check

Given the frequent access by users, Google has also pressured smartphone brands to keep privacy settings hidden. According to the documentation, when Google tested versions of Android that would make privacy settings less difficult to find, the scenario was considered a “problem” because users would have the option to take greater control over the service.

In its defense, company spokesman José Castañeda said via email to The Verge “Brnovich and our competitors who are leading this lawsuit have gone to great lengths to misrepresent our services. We have always built privacy features into our products and have robust controls for data and location. We look forward to setting the record straight.”

The revelations about Google's data collection policy come as the company tries to improve its image with the announcement of Android 12. The new operating system, says Google, is more secure, and offers greater transparency over the data used by each application.

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