So who, exactly, is watching, and why — and where is all that information going?
Google Maps is possibly the most popular location-based app in the world, with over one billion users active each month, most of whom are most likely enabling location tracking. Large tech companies like Google and Facebook are more likely to keep the invasive data they collect to themselves for their own internal use, repurposing it to improve their products, for marketing and other analyses.
But many other location data companies aren’t household names. Smaller players mostly operate behind the scenes on many of your favorite apps, using software designed to quietly collect location data from your phone’s sensors after you consent (more about that in a minute). Many have labyrinthian privacy policies vaguely explaining their permissions but they use technical and nuanced language that may be confusing to average smartphone users.