Google ends geofencing guarantees

Google has announced that it is ending the practice of storing users’ location data on its servers, instead allowing them to store it on their own devices. The move marks the end of a long-standing surveillance practice used by law enforcement agencies, which were using the immense amounts of location data stored by Google to identify potential criminals.

Geofencing guarantees and Google’s collection of location data

The use of so-called “geofencing safeguards” has increased in recent years due to the spread of smartphone devices and companies such as Google, which collect and store huge amounts of user location data that can be accessed through law enforcement requests.

Geofencing guarantees allow law enforcement agencies to request information from Google about users’ devices that were in a specific geographic area at a specific time. However, critics argue that these guarantees are unconstitutional and overly broad, as they often include information from completely innocent people who were nearby at the time of a crime.

The controversy over geofencing guarantees

The issue of geofencing safeguards is a matter of debate among the courts, with conflicting views on their legality. This could lead to a legal challenge to the U.S. Supreme Court. Although Google did not explicitly mention geofencing guarantees in its statement, it said that storing location data on users’ devices will give them “greater control” over their data. In practice, this forces law enforcement to obtain a search warrant to access a specific device rather than requesting the data from Google.

Google and the collection of location data

Google is not the only company subject to geofencing safeguards, but it is certainly the one that collects the most sensitive location data. In fact, it was the first to be involved in this surveillance practice. Google relies on user location data to fuel its advertising business, which accounted for about 80 percent of its annual revenues of about $220 billion in 2022.

However, this surveillance technique may be much more widespread than previously thought. Law enforcement agencies have also extended requests for location data to other companies, such as Microsoft and Yahoo. It is not known how much of this location data is being requested from these companies.

The rise in requests for geofencing assurances.

In recent years, the number of legal cases involving requests for geofencing assurances has increased significantly. For example, the Minneapolis police used a geofencing guarantee to identify people who participated in protests following the killing of George Floyd by law enforcement officers. The overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022 has raised concerns about whether law enforcement in states where access to abortion is restricted or abortion is illegal can use geofencing safeguards to identify those seeking medical assistance for abortion.

Faced with these concerns, lawmakers have urged Google to stop collecting location data to prevent it from being used to identify people seeking abortions. Although the companies involved have not disclosed how many geofencing warrants they receive, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo supported a bill in New York state that would have banned the use of such warrants throughout the state.

The number of geofencing warranties Google receives.

Google has not provided precise information on the number of geofencing warranties it has received in recent years. However, in its most recent 2022 transparency report, Google revealed that it received 982 geofencing warranties in 2018, 8,396 in 2019, and 11,554 in 2020. This means that about a quarter of all legal requests Google received were geofencing warrants. It is unclear how many of these warrants were challenged by Google.

Google ends geofencing warrants: a step in the right direction?

The news that Google intends to move users’ location data to their devices has been met with caution and appreciation. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, which challenged the constitutionality of geofencing guarantees in court, commented that “for now, at least, we will consider this move a victory.” However, the EFF also pointed out that there are other ways through which Google can still provide sensitive personal data to law enforcement. Requests for “reverse keyword warrants” allow law enforcement to identify Google accounts that have searched on a specific keyword, such as prior to the commission of a crime. Google has not yet announced whether it will close this loophole that allows law enforcement to obtain information about users’ searches.

Despite the fact that geofencing guarantees will not disappear immediately, this move by Google could help significantly reduce this surveillance flaw. However, Google still maintains huge amounts of historical location data that law enforcement can access until Google decides to remove it. Similarly, technology companies retain huge amounts of user location data and may be subject to similar legal demands.

Apple and geofencing guarantees

According to Apple ‘s latest 2022 transparency report, the company received 13 geofencing warranties requesting its customers’ location data, but did not provide any data in response. Apple said it “has no data to provide in response to requests for geofencing warranties” because the data resides on users’ devices, which Apple claims it cannot access.