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I absolutely agree with you. What I’m arguing against is baseless FUD without any specifics, any sources, any details, and making extraodinary claims without extraordinary evidence. I didn’t mean that the type of tracking is ridiculous, what I’m saying is ridiculous is the claim that Google is collecting the logs of EVERY touch on EVERY Android device. Does that claim even needs to be disproven?

Is that happening on Chinese Android phones without any Google services? Is that happening on AOSP phones without Google services? Is that happening on GrapheneOS, on other custom ROMs? Is that happening on my washing machine that for some reason runs Android? Is that baked into the system? From which Android version? In a particular system app? Where can I see these logs of all touches for myself?

It is patently obvious it cannot be happening on EVERY Android device. And I’d welcome evidence that it’s happening on even a SINGLE one. But I don’t see it. Because it’s made up hyperbole that’s poisoning the discussion of real tracking.

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stebator@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I mentioned “Google Account Settings.” It is buried deep within submenus, so it is harder for regular users to find. However, you can find it by navigating through your Google account settings. Look for “Manage your data & privacy” > “History settings” > “Web & App Activity.”

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- dev_null@lemmy.ml ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Yeah, good stuff to tell people about!
  
  But “Google is tracking your every touch on any Android device” is very different from “Google saves a history of your Google searches, and some major actions in some Google apps”.
  
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  - stebator@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Have you checked what’s in it? Every action and touch is logged with all the details. Many people didn’t even guess that such actions could be logged. It’s like super spyware activity; it’s very creepy. “Google is tracking your every touch on any Android device” - is exactly what it does.
    
    I first noticed this issue around 2015, and I have been trying to disable it on every Android device since then. However, it re-enables itself from time to time. I have a few Google accounts, and it must be disabled on each one.
    
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    dev_null@lemmy.ml ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    What I’m seeing, is that:
    
    it doesn’t log all your touches, but some actions in some apps
    
    not on any Android device, but some device categories like smartphones
    
    only on those with Google services (no China devices for example)
    
    only with a Google account logged in
    
    only when that account has that feature turned on
    
    That’s already very far for every Android device, let alone every touch.
    
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