One of the main offenders in the location tracking scandal recently hitting the mobile world has had a little visit from the law today. Google’s South Korean HQ has been raided after it was found that data collected from Android users’ handsets was acquired illegally, presenting a serious privacy breach.
The raid was sparked by Google’s AdMob sector, which handles mobile advertising and has been reportedly collecting location data and recording information without consent. Google claim collected data would be used to create location-relevant advertising which in fairness this could actually be a good thing, but not informing the users or gaining relevant consent just makes the whole operation look terribly shady.
A Google spokesperson has confirmed the events and claims the company are co-operating with police in the investigations.
However, this is yet another stain on the Google name which relates to users’ personal information and legit acquisition of data. Already tracking our mobiles, scanning our emails to gather information and detailed address finding through its Google Maps Street View – it’s becoming a more and more disturbing time to be a user of Google gadgets and services.
Apple has also been under scrutiny recently for obtaining personal data through suspect methods. You can get up to date with the ongoing story HERE.
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