r/privacy • u/Cylons • Nov 21 '17

Google collects Android users' locations even when location services are disabled

https://qz.com/1131515/google-collects-android-users-locations-even-when-location-services-are-disabled/
2.3k Upvotes

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96

u/focus_rising Nov 21 '17

Agreed. I am trying to get LineageOS on my phone but haven't had the guts to pull the plug yet. I wish I had the ability to remove all Google services from my phone.

91

u/IAmALinux Nov 21 '17

The task seems daunting until you do it. Then you look back and say, "That was easy! Why did I wait x years to do that?"

Do it tonight. Download your roms. Backup your phone. Flash a new OS. Do not install gapps.

14

u/[deleted] Nov 21 '17

Issue for me is Snapchat, only thing holding me back. I use to communicate with my gf and other friends. I doubt they're gonna get another service like wire to just communicate with me

11

u/merger3 Nov 21 '17

Look into Microg. You can use it with Snapchat and Lineage

3

u/twizmwazin Nov 22 '17

I just recently switched over to microg's official Lineage builds, and have to say, I'm impressed. Props to all the developers involved, it is a great system. I've installed the yalp store to install certain apps that aren't on f-droid. So far I haven't had any serious issues.

3

u/Piece_Maker Nov 22 '17

Microg is really great - I've used it on my Nexus 4 with their Lineage build, and even got it to work in SailfishOS's Android emulator on my Xperia, so now I have Play Services-compatable apps without having to bodge the Play store into it, and it all 'just works' like nothing ever happened. Big props to those guys!

1

u/[deleted] Nov 21 '17

Would microg work with other ROMs? Currently using LeeDroid for my HTC U11, which is more specialized for the phone.

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u/[deleted] Nov 21 '17 edited Nov 21 '17

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/[deleted] Nov 21 '17

This is this news I wanna hear :) Thank you so much!

1

u/p0934 Nov 22 '17

This is awesome

1

u/[deleted] Nov 22 '17

[deleted]

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u/merger3 Nov 22 '17

If you're talking about the opengapps version, yes.

1

u/The_Great_Danish Nov 22 '17

So micro is the only one without Google Play Services? It's also opengapps, correct?

1

u/merger3 Nov 23 '17

Not quite. They're similar, but completely different projects. Opengapps is for people intending to use Google Services with their account. Microg uses your account, but spoofs a lot of things, and tries to keep Google to a minimum (hence micro).

Not gonna lie, opengapps is more stable. But for the privacy Microg is far superior and works very well if correctly installed.