For example, the map display radius for GPS is often only a few meters, while locations based on cell sites routinely have radiuses of over 1000 meters. In other words, GPS location is generally the most accurate of the major location information sources, and Cell Sites are the least accurate.
Among GPS chips in phones, Bluetooth beacons, Wi-Fi hotspots, and Cell Sites, GPS provides the smallest sphere whereas Cell Sites are generally the largest. Generally, the location information source has the biggest impact on the Maps Display Radius. Google determines the line of travel based on the proximity to the sources of location data. In this example, according to Google, the blue line indicates the path of travel the orange dots represent the source of the location data and the grey sphere next to the blue arrow is the estimated range of the location source. It is useful to see how Google determines the approximate location of a device by looking at the Location History of a Google account. This becomes relevant because the government claims it is the same procedure used in producing location data to law enforcement. For this purpose, if a user is within several blocks of a location, the location-based advertisement succeeds. This makes sense considering the goal of Sensorvault is to provide location-based advertisements.
īut Google is not always sure the user is actually in the small blue circle the area indicated by a larger sphere, outlined in white in this example, represents Google’s guess as to where the user may actually be. According to Google, its “goal is that there will be an estimated 68% chance that the user is actually within” spherical representation. This service, called Sensorvault, was designed by Google to sell location-based advertisements.Īlthough Google does not know a device’s precise location, it often has an idea where the device is located, which is represented by one or more spheres, or what Google calls the Maps Display Radius.įor example, in this picture, the dark blue circle in the middle is Google’s best guess about the actual location of a device. Google cannot determine the exact location of a device, and as such, location records contain an “uncertainty value” which is expressed in meters. Apple) and an individual user’s privacy settings. How Google tracks this data depends on the type of device (Android v. Since Google has previously connected the physical location of many such hotspots with the unique identifier, Google assumes that if you are in range of a Wi-Fi hotspot, you should be sent advertisements for businesses in that area.
When a device detects an available Wi-Fi network, for instance, it records and sends the unique serial number to Google. For Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, Google already knows the location of hotspots and Bluetooth beacons. Google can determine the approximate location of a device based on GPS chips in the device, as well as the device’s proximity to Wi-Fi hotspots, Bluetooth beacons, and cell sites. For iOS users, location information is only collected when a user is using a Google product, such as Google Maps.
For Android devices, Google is constantly tracking devices whenever the permission settings on the device are set to allow for the use of Google Location Accuracy. Location data is tracked by Google from users, including from consumers who use Android telephones and those who use Google’s vast array of available apps on other devices, including Apple iPhones. Google began collecting location data in order to provide location-based advertisements to its users. To date, there has not been an opportunity for defense attorneys to seek discovery from Google or to question a qualified representative from Google about their methods of collecting location data. Note this guidance is based on publicly available information, including recent court opinions.
The purpose of this post is threefold: first, to provide a primer on how Google collects location data second, to explain the three-step warrant process used by law enforcement to obtain these records and third, to give an example of how the data is collected and used by law enforcement. This blog post will try to give you some answers to these questions. But what does that actually mean? What exact data are they “tracking,” how are they doing it, and for those of us who are representing clients in federal court, how is law enforcement getting that data from Google and using it in their prosecutions?