Show threadCory DoctorowDec 16, 2023

It's nice to see Google guarding its customers' backs every now and again, even from its depraved enshittified depths. Google also just announced that it will move GMaps' location data storage to your device. That means that it will no longer be able to use Maps data to answer #GeofenceWarrants (AKA #ReverseWarrants), where the cops demand the identities of everyone in a location - say, all the participants in a #BlackLivesMatter demonstration:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/12/end-geofence-warrants

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Is This the End of Geofence Warrants?

Google announced this week that it will be making several important changes to the way it handles users’ “Location History” data. These changes would appear to make it much more difficult—if not impossible—for Google to provide mass location data in response to a geofence warrant, a change we’ve been asking Google to implement for years.

Electronic Frontier Foundation