This could start an interesting precedent of "protected locations" and hopefully lead to the abolishment of location history tracking that isn't managed by the user.
The fact that they STILL don't see how this constant surveillance could backfire any day is beyond me!<p>What if a country like the UAE or Hungary start asking for location data matching LGBTQ events or locations? How about political/media headquarters location data?<p>At what point will they realize that surveillance data is radioactive, and manually patching categories will leave people at risk?
Title is inaccurate. They are not auto-deleting searches, but location history. Also, it isn't "health clinics", but a set of places that they are not being completely open about (but which does include <i>some</i> health clinics).
Related:<p><i>Google will delete location history data for abortion clinic visits</i> - <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31956944" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31956944</a> - July 2022 (28 comments)<p><i>Google will remove user location history for abortion clinic visits</i> - <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31954401" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31954401</a> - July 2022 (158 comments)<p><i>Google will start auto-deleting abortion clinic visits from location history</i> - <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31953171" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31953171</a> - July 2022 (6 comments)<p><i>Google urged to stop collecting phone location data before Roe vs. Wade reversal</i> - <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31509772" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31509772</a> - May 2022 (8 comments)<p><i>Democrats urge Google to limit geo tracking to protect people seeking abortions</i> - <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31507351" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31507351</a> - May 2022 (6 comments)<p><i>Lawmakers ask Google to stop collecting data before reversal of abortion rights</i> - <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31501871" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31501871</a> - May 2022 (12 comments)
> <i>we notify people when we comply with government demands, unless we’re prohibited from doing so</i><p>The interesting part here is about which cases intrinsically mandate a prohibition.
I wonder how hard it would be to have my personal residence classified as one of these protected places. Incorporate some kind of business or non-profit, make sure it shows up the right way in Google Maps, then enjoy freedom from Google surveillance.
It's nice to virtue signal for the-current-thing and all but what about Google's storage of user data for ad networks?<p>In comparison, how is Google defending China's citizens from undue "judicial process"?
>> Today, we’re announcing that if our systems identify that someone has visited one of these places, we will delete these entries from Location History soon after they visit. This change will take effect in the coming weeks.<p>Wonderfully vague. Should be obvious to anyone that deleting merely the track within the parking lot isn't enough. Needs to be unwound far enough to give no clues. Which might be all the way back to home, both outbound and return.
As long as they keep blocking 99% of searches coming from TOR, any announcements about how much they protect privacy are a farce at best, deception at worst. They do their very best to leave us no place to hide, then carve out a few exceptions of their choosing for what they deem should be permitted activities.
On one hand, the deletion net is wide enough that it isn't just about abortion. On the other, the timing is suspect (visits to domestic violence shelters weren't sensitive last week?!), and it leaves out sensitive, legally similar (legality varies by jurisdiction) locations like brothels.
what about cell phone data? The cell providers don't seem to intend to follow, and that data is extremely telling.<p>The abortion clinics would need their own GPS spoofers and Stingrays, so the data at all levels - Google's, cell providers', etc. - would clearly be showing location other the the clinic.
I wonder if they'll do this for gun shops too...<p>Recent related article: <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31910724" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31910724</a>
If location history is an important piece of evidence used by law enforcement, then this is tantamount to selective enforcement of law by the mercy of gargantuan corporations. Another step in the direction of anarcho-tyranny.