Android can also track users with SIM card removed with location services turned off

byDheri Fikriyanto

While some people utilize location information on smartphones, such as using Google Maps for navigation, playing position information games such as Pokemon GO and Ingress, because they do not want to know their own location information, There should be some people turning off. However, instead of turning off the function, even if you unplug the SIM card, the fact that the nearest base station information was being sent to Google is called a news site ·QuartzIt was uncovered. Google acknowledges this fact.

Google collects Android users' locations even when location services are disabled - Quartz
https://qz.com/1131515/google-collects-android-users-locations-even-when-location-services-are-disabled/


According to Quartz, what is being sent to Google is "information that can identify a specific base station." Although encrypted, the unique ID is assigned to each terminal, so if the information is leaked to third parties by hacking and it is linked with the unique ID, it is possible to know which one it is in .

From at least the beginning of 2017, it is believed that this type of information was being transmitted on all Android terminals, and it is not necessary to turn on / off the location information service, in fact, the terminal is placed in the Wi - Fi network If it exists, information was sent even on the terminal from which the SIM card was pulled out.

Google who received the inquiry from Quartz acknowledged the fact of sending information and said that "I will stop sending the base station information that the user can not invalidate by the end of November."

According to Google, the information was transmitted as additional information for improving the speed of message delivery and performance improvement, and the system related to this message delivery / control is completely different from the service providing location information of the application It seems to be stuff.