I've been getting emails for months saying that Location History is
changing, and if I don't implement the on-phone timeline by Dec 1, I'll
lose my prior history.

(Meanwhile I'm getting emails once a month from Google Maps timeline,
but they have ths same warning.)

The subject line of emails from Google Location History is "Keep your
Timeline? Decide by December 1, 2024"
I clicke on Review & Choose settings.
Takes me to
https://timeline.google.com/maps/timeline?ved=0EPG3DAgAKAA&pb=!1m2!1m1!1s2024-11-17&gid=115737224350442335253&pli=1&rapt=AEjHL4Nz-ZEOoA4dHoGSNj5oE75uEBDdD9bI7iVMzxCKIH-G6aK6Q0uWu4j5CksSE1hSUfBdPv19G2eMAlg1xpjhCCm2dMFRFeH9Ro67XF6kF5xprVDEuXI
If you'd like to keep your saved visits, you need to update your
settings by Dec 1, 2024. To see your options, go to Timeline in the
Google Maps app on your preferred smartphone.
After you do this, you'll only be able to use Timeline in the app.
If you're not ready to switch to the app
You can still use Timeline on your web browser until Dec 1, 2024.
If you take no action by Dec 1, 2024, some or all of your data will be
deleted. Timeline will remain on for your account, and your devices will
continue saving new visits.
Choice of Close or Learn More. Close does nothing, Learn More takes
me to
https://support.google.com/maps/answer/14169818?visit_id=638674069297503220-2980282013&p=maps_odlh&rd=1
which is just like the link in the next paragraph except for the ID=
number

Where is the place where I actually change a setting?

I go there and after a couple steps, including Learn More, I get to
https://support.google.com/maps/answer/14169818?visit_id=638674069279347994-4062303430&p=maps_odlh&rd=1
Update Google Maps to use Timeline on your device

and it says
" Important: These changes are gradually rolling out to all users of the
Google Maps app. You'll get a notification when an update is available
for your account."
But we only have 2 weeks left!!

Also says "How to keep your existing Timeline data

Important: Make sure you have Google Maps app version 11.106 or up,
Android 6.0 or up, [I have both. ]

To keep your existing Timeline data, you must update your settings:

You’ll receive a push notification, email message, or in-app
notification about Timeline.
Follow the on-screen instructions.
Tap Done."

I get emails every month, following the instructions just leads me
around in circles.

Location History is now called Timeline, and you now have new choices
for your data.

To continue using Timeline, you must have an up-to-date version of
the Google Maps app. Otherwise, you may lose data and access to your
Timeline on Google Maps..

I tried another way:

I go to the settings of google maps on the phone and there is no entry
for Timeline, only for Location History,

Meanwhile I'm getting emails once amonth from Google Maps timeline, but
they have ths same warning.

micky wrote:

> Location History is now called Timeline, and you now have new choices
> for your data.
>
> To continue using Timeline, you must have an up-to-date version of
> the Google Maps app. Otherwise, you may lose data and access to your
> Timeline on Google Maps..

Agree they're handling this badly ... send out warning we're going to
delete your data, then make it clear as mud how not to do that.

On 2024-11-17 03:39, micky wrote:
> I've been getting emails for months saying that Location History is
> changing, and if I don't implement the on-phone timeline by Dec 1, I'll
> lose my prior history.
>
> (Meanwhile I'm getting emails once a month from Google Maps timeline,
> but they have ths same warning.)
>
> The subject line of emails from Google Location History is "Keep your
> Timeline? Decide by December 1, 2024"

I got one such message on the past March, in one account only (the one
used on the phone). But mine had "Decide by September 15, 2024"

«If you take no action, your visits and routes will be deleted, and your
Timeline settings will be turned off after September 15, 2024.»

I have timeline working, so I must have done what they said, but I have
forgotten. I probably used the app.

....

> I tried another way:
>
> I go to the settings of google maps on the phone and there is no entry
> for Timeline, only for Location History,

Mine is in Spanish, so I can't say.

Yet the email was in English.

--
Cheers, Carlos.

Andy Burns wrote on Sun, 17 Nov 2024 09:57:40 +0000 :

> Agree they're handling this badly ... send out warning we're going to
> delete your data, then make it clear as mud how not to do that.

Just a helpful datapoint... I have plenty of Google accounts and to my
knowledge, Google hasn't bothered to send me a single one of those mails.

I guess that's a case of no news is good news... :)

In comp.mobile.android, on Sun, 17 Nov 2024 14:21:06 +0100, "Carlos
E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> wrote:

>On 2024-11-17 03:39, micky wrote:
>> I've been getting emails for months saying that Location History is
>> changing, and if I don't implement the on-phone timeline by Dec 1, I'll
>> lose my prior history.
>>
>> (Meanwhile I'm getting emails once a month from Google Maps timeline,
>> but they have ths same warning.)
>>
>> The subject line of emails from Google Location History is "Keep your
>> Timeline? Decide by December 1, 2024"
>
>
>I got one such message on the past March, in one account only (the one
>used on the phone). But mine had "Decide by September 15, 2024"
>
>«If you take no action, your visits and routes will be deleted, and your
>Timeline settings will be turned off after September 15, 2024.»
>
>I have timeline working, so I must have done what they said, but I have
>forgotten. I probably used the app.

I too might have done what they wanted and forgotten. It's not like I
really need that stuff. I know where I've been. But it could come in
handy.
>...
>
>> I tried another way:
>>
>> I go to the settings of google maps on the phone and there is no entry
>> for Timeline, only for Location History,
>
>Mine is in Spanish, so I can't say.
>
>Yet the email was in English.

LOL Well thanks to all 3 of you. I thought I was acting newbie-like,
but they've managed to confuse all of you too. I think I'll stay
indoors all of Dec 1, to be safe.

Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> wrote:
> micky wrote:
>
> > Location History is now called Timeline, and you now have new choices
> > for your data.
> >
> > To continue using Timeline, you must have an up-to-date version of
> > the Google Maps app. Otherwise, you may lose data and access to your
> > Timeline on Google Maps..
>
> Agree they're handling this badly ... send out warning we're going to
> delete your data, then make it clear as mud how not to do that.

FWIW, I (in The Netherlands) haven't received any such emails and
still get my 'Frank, here's your new Timeline update' emails (with
subject "Frank, your <month> update", etc.. Where "etc." means the
popups on you phone to explore your timeline, visited places, etc..

BTW, I'm confused about the wording of:

> > To continue using Timeline, you must have an up-to-date version of
> > the Google Maps app. Otherwise, you may lose data and access to your
> > Timeline on Google Maps..

"your Timeline on Google Maps"!? My Timeline isn't 'on' Google Maps.

I can access Timeline *from* the Google Maps app by going to 'Manage
your Google Account', but that doesn't make it *on* Google Maps, it's
part of my Google services, which I *can* - but do not have to - access
from my Google *Account*, which I *can* - but do not have to - access
from the Google Maps app.

Same with the Timeline website, that's
<https://timeline.google.com/maps/timeline>
*not*
<https://www.google.com/maps>

So maybe the fuss is only if you use "your Timeline on Google Maps",
whatever that may mean.

Andrews <andrews@nospam.net> wrote:
> Andy Burns wrote on Sun, 17 Nov 2024 09:57:40 +0000 :
>
> > Agree they're handling this badly ... send out warning we're going to
> > delete your data, then make it clear as mud how not to do that.
>
> Just a helpful datapoint... I have plenty of Google accounts and to my
> knowledge, Google hasn't bothered to send me a single one of those mails.
>
> I guess that's a case of no news is good news... :)

Given your stance on your personal privacy, I strongly doubt that you
have enabled Location History on any of those accounts.

Am 17.11.24 um 15:23 schrieb Andrews:
> Andy Burns wrote on Sun, 17 Nov 2024 09:57:40 +0000 :
>
>> Agree they're handling this badly ... send out warning we're going to
>> delete your data, then make it clear as mud how not to do that.
>
> Just a helpful datapoint... I have plenty of Google accounts and to my
> knowledge, Google hasn't bothered to send me a single one of those mails.
>
> I guess that's a case of no news is good news... :)

No, no, Arlen!
They do not send out messages to sociopaths who are not able to
understand them.

--
"Gutta cavat lapidem." (Ovid)

In comp.mobile.android, on 17 Nov 2024 18:49:11 GMT, Frank Slootweg
<this@ddress.is.invalid> wrote:

>Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> wrote:
>> micky wrote:
>>
>> > Location History is now called Timeline, and you now have new choices
>> > for your data.
>> >
>> > To continue using Timeline, you must have an up-to-date version of
>> > the Google Maps app. Otherwise, you may lose data and access to your
>> > Timeline on Google Maps..
>>
>> Agree they're handling this badly ... send out warning we're going to
>> delete your data, then make it clear as mud how not to do that.
>
> FWIW, I (in The Netherlands) haven't received any such emails and

In their defense, they say they're rolling it out gradually. my problem
is it's coming to me on Dec. 1 and I don't know if I've done what they
want or not.

I don't have a Timeline option on my phone, under Maps settings, but
their instructions say to wait for an email or notifiction (or some 3rd
thing), do what it ssys, tap Done, and I'll be done. but I've gotten no
email or notification or that 3rd thing. Well I do get Timeline emails
with, as a I said, every month the same warning. I tried again and it
took me to a webpage that said "If you'd like to keep your saved visits,
you need to update your settings by Dec 1, 2024. To see your options, go
to Timeline in the Google Maps app on your preferred smartphone. "

So I went again to the settings and this time for the first time after
severa other times, I found Your Timeline. I hope the word Your didn't
cause me not to see the second word. But that's the kind of stupid
thing I might have done. Now it asks me if I want to keep until I
delete or autodelete after 3, 18, or 36 months. Does it actually make an
entry if you go almost every day to the same 3 places? My current
download size is less than MB, and when I looked a couple days ago, it
had my trip last January. Then I tapped Save and Continue and I got an
error 500, but 10 minutes later, it worked.

Aha, it has a slash through many days of the month, days I presume I
didn't turn my phone on, but back in January, when I was in Guatemala
for 3 weeks, it has slashes through the first two weeks and the week
before that when I was in Florida. The first two weeks of the 3 would
have been a lot more intersting, but I wasn't in Guatemala City most of
those days. But I did have cellular service almost everywhere else in
the country, and in one case, I went back to some place an hour from
Guat. City and in the last week it recorded that, but not the first time
I was there. I don't think I even went into Settings on the day or
week the timeline started working.

Looking prior to January, I have nothuing going back years. I think it
said something about 2024, so I guess it only started (for me?) not on
Jan 1, but on Jan 21st, and had nothing to do with Guatemala.

>still get my 'Frank, here's your new Timeline update' emails (with
>subject "Frank, your <month> update", etc.. Where "etc." means the
>popups on you phone to explore your timeline, visited places, etc..
>
> BTW, I'm confused about the wording of:
>
>> > To continue using Timeline, you must have an up-to-date version of
>> > the Google Maps app. Otherwise, you may lose data and access to your
>> > Timeline on Google Maps..
>
> "your Timeline on Google Maps"!? My Timeline isn't 'on' Google Maps.

I think that's the point. They are moving the data storage from their
servers to your phone. If you do "something", they will copy the data
from their server to your phone. If you don't do it, you won't be able
to see it on their sarvers, using the web, like you can now, and it
won't have been copied either. So it will be gone.

> I can access Timeline *from* the Google Maps app by going to 'Manage
>your Google Account', but that doesn't make it *on* Google Maps, it's
>part of my Google services, which I *can* - but do not have to - access
>from my Google *Account*, which I *can* - but do not have to - access
>from the Google Maps app.
>
> Same with the Timeline website, that's
><https://timeline.google.com/maps/timeline>

Maybe the timeline website won't exist anymore. Of course they could
have said that to make things a bit more clear.

>*not*
><https://www.google.com/maps>
>
> So maybe the fuss is only if you use "your Timeline on Google Maps",
>whatever that may mean.

Frank Slootweg <this@ddress.is.invalid> wrote:
> Andrews <andrews@nospam.net> wrote:
>> Andy Burns wrote on Sun, 17 Nov 2024 09:57:40 +0000 :
>>
>>> Agree they're handling this badly ... send out warning we're going to
>>> delete your data, then make it clear as mud how not to do that.
>>
>> Just a helpful datapoint... I have plenty of Google accounts and to my
>> knowledge, Google hasn't bothered to send me a single one of those mails.
>>
>> I guess that's a case of no news is good news... :)
>
> Given your stance on your personal privacy, I strongly doubt that you
> have enabled Location History on any of those accounts.

He's also proudly stated he uses throwaway email addresses so I doubt very
much he'd receive those messages anyway.

Chris wrote on Mon, 18 Nov 2024 18:23:46 -0000 (UTC) :

>> Given your stance on your personal privacy, I strongly doubt that you
>> have enabled Location History on any of those accounts.
>
> He's also proudly stated he uses throwaway email addresses so I doubt very
> much he'd receive those messages anyway.

WTF?

Frank is correct that when I set up a Google account (or any account for
that matter) I set it up for privacy.

Which means, Frank is almost certainly correct that Google never saved any
of my location requests - at least not in my official Google account.

As for throwaway email addresses - those are not Google addresses.

The reason is it's a bitch to create a Google email address nowadays,
especially on VPN. Even an Apple iCloud address is now a bitch to create.
*Piece of shit iOS has absolutely zero privacy for God's sake*
<https://www.novabbs.com/computers/article-flat.php?id=17771&group=misc.phone.mobile.iphone#17771>

Apple is the only common consumer OS maker who FORCES you to
contact them personally, proving who you are, to create an account!
<https://i.postimg.cc/VvtMXcL2/noprivacy01.jpg>
<https://i.postimg.cc/HLjrQC63/noprivacy02.jpg>
<https://i.postimg.cc/P57XnvMz/noprivacy03.jpg>
<https://i.postimg.cc/TPSp0HSx/noprivacy04.jpg>
<https://i.postimg.cc/1XWx0bCc/noprivacy05.jpg>
<https://i.postimg.cc/6Q7Q8fQm/noprivacy06.jpg>
<https://i.postimg.cc/bYRqNBTv/noprivacy07.jpg>

No other operating system maker requires your phone identity
just so that you can load apps onto the device. Just Apple.

Given the hurdles for Apple & Google email addresses nowadays,
they're no good for the use-em-once and then throw-em-away purpose.

a. For a throwaway address, you can't have 2FV for example.
b. And you have to use a VPN at all times for another example.
c, And you never want it to verify anything whatsoever. Ever!

I'm sure Frank understood all of this already, prima facie.
But Chris needs to better understand email privacy before commenting anew.

Andy Burns wrote:

> micky wrote:
>
>> Location History is now called Timeline, and you now have new choices
>> for your data.
>>
>>      To continue using Timeline, you must have an up-to-date version of
>> the Google Maps app. Otherwise, you may lose data and access to your
>> Timeline on Google Maps..
>
> Agree they're handling this badly ...

And just this minute, I've had a notification that i have until 18th May
2025 to decide what to do with my timeline.

In comp.mobile.android, on Tue, 19 Nov 2024 22:07:56 +0000, Andy Burns
<usenet@andyburns.uk> wrote:

>Andy Burns wrote:
>
>> micky wrote:
>>
>>> Location History is now called Timeline, and you now have new choices
>>> for your data.
>>>
>>>      To continue using Timeline, you must have an up-to-date version of
>>> the Google Maps app. Otherwise, you may lose data and access to your
>>> Timeline on Google Maps..
>>
>> Agree they're handling this badly ...
>
>And just this minute, I've had a notification that i have until 18th May
>2025 to decide what to do with my timeline.

LOL. Good. That should give you time to consider all the
ramifications.

Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> wrote:
> Andy Burns wrote:
>
> > micky wrote:
> >
> >> Location History is now called Timeline, and you now have new choices
> >> for your data.
> >>
> >>      To continue using Timeline, you must have an up-to-date version of
> >> the Google Maps app. Otherwise, you may lose data and access to your
> >> Timeline on Google Maps..
> >
> > Agree they're handling this badly ...
>
> And just this minute, I've had a notification that i have until 18th May
> 2025 to decide what to do with my timeline.

Yeah, same here (in The Netherlands and the same date).

The description, explanation, justification and references are not
very clear. But I understand the bottom line is that you must follow the
procedures to put your Timeline data on your device (probably your
smartphone), because otherwise you will lose all your Timeline data and
hence any use of your Timeline.

The clearest part is (in red):

"If you take no action, your visits and routes will be
deleted, and your Timeline settings will be turned
off after 18 May 2025. Until 18 May 2025 - if you
haven't finished choosing your settings - your
devices will keep saving Timeline data, and Google
will continue using your data based on how Location
History works today. Learn about how Location
History is used."

Also clear:

"After you do this, youll only be able to use Timeline in
the app."

(where "the app" is the Google Maps app)

So no more Timeline in a browser, i.e. also not on a computer.

I wonder how large the amount of data is, which will be kept on your
device. They apparently assume that everyone has ample internal storage
for this. (My Timeline goes back many years.) And there's the issue of
backing up the Timeline data which is now on your device.

And I still don't see an explanation *why* they are doing/changing
this. Only that each of your devices will keep its own Timeline, but I
think that's more a disadvantage than a feature.

micky wrote:

> Andy Burns wrote:
>>> I've had a notification that i have until 18th May
>> 2025 to decide what to do with my timeline.
>
> LOL. Good. That should give you time to consider all the
> ramifications.

I told it I wanted to keep my data, no auto deletion, on my pixel phone

it said that would consume 2MB of storage on the phone, which is less
than I was expecting, because a zipped google-takeout of all my maps
history from may 2011 to october 2024 is 48MB

If I try to use the old timeline page from a web-browser on my pc, it
reminds me I can no longer do that, and sends a command to my phone for
it to launch timeline instead.

Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> wrote:
> micky wrote:
>
> > Andy Burns wrote:
> >>> I've had a notification that i have until 18th May
> >> 2025 to decide what to do with my timeline.
> >
> > LOL. Good. That should give you time to consider all the
> > ramifications.
>
> I told it I wanted to keep my data, no auto deletion, on my pixel phone
>
> it said that would consume 2MB of storage on the phone, which is less
> than I was expecting, because a zipped google-takeout of all my maps
> history from may 2011 to october 2024 is 48MB

Thanks for the feedback. 2MB seems quite reasonable to store on one's
phone.

To be sure, you mean *location* history, not "maps history", don't
you!?

I say that, because I have Location History turned on, but hardly ever
use the Google Maps app. So my *location* is tracked/kept /most of the
time, but my use of the Google Maps *app* is minimal.

> If I try to use the old timeline page from a web-browser on my pc, it
> reminds me I can no longer do that, and sends a command to my phone for
> it to launch timeline instead.

Frank Slootweg wrote:

> Andy Burns wrote:
>
>> it said that would consume 2MB of storage on the phone, which is less
>> than I was expecting, because a zipped google-takeout of all my maps
>> history from may 2011 to october 2024 is 48MB
>
> Thanks for the feedback. 2MB seems quite reasonable to store on one's
> phone.
>
> To be sure, you mean *location* history, not "maps history", don't
> you!?

yes, I've just been checking on the phone, it does have my data back to
2011, scrolling back one month at a time, then within a month one day at
a time is more laborious than it was on a PC, but the timeline is all
there on the phone.

Frank Slootweg <this@ddress.is.invalid> writes:

> And I still don't see an explanation *why* they are doing/changing
> this. Only that each of your devices will keep its own Timeline, but I
> think that's more a disadvantage than a feature.

Maybe there's no or too little market for the location data? It's the
only reason I can think of, considering it's Google. So maybe there're
now so many apps snarfing up location data, Google can't find buyers? At
least at the prices they want? Or everyone who wants that data already
built it into their app so no market?

Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> wrote:
> Frank Slootweg wrote:
>
> > Andy Burns wrote:
> >
> >> it said that would consume 2MB of storage on the phone, which is less
> >> than I was expecting, because a zipped google-takeout of all my maps
> >> history from may 2011 to october 2024 is 48MB
> >
> > Thanks for the feedback. 2MB seems quite reasonable to store on one's
> > phone.
> >
> > To be sure, you mean *location* history, not "maps history", don't
> > you!?
>
>
> yes, I've just been checking on the phone, it does have my data back to
> 2011, scrolling back one month at a time, then within a month one day at
> a time is more laborious than it was on a PC, but the timeline is all
> there on the phone.

Thanks a lot. That's reassuring.

Anssi Saari <anssi.saari@usenet.mail.kapsi.fi> wrote:
> Frank Slootweg <this@ddress.is.invalid> writes:
>
> > And I still don't see an explanation *why* they are doing/changing
> > this. Only that each of your devices will keep its own Timeline, but I
> > think that's more a disadvantage than a feature.
>
> Maybe there's no or too little market for the location data? It's the
> only reason I can think of, considering it's Google. So maybe there're
> now so many apps snarfing up location data, Google can't find buyers? At
> least at the prices they want? Or everyone who wants that data already
> built it into their app so no market?

As Andy has found out. The size of the data is rather small (his is
2MB for some 13 years), so even if Google doesn't want (to use) it, why
not just store it in your account or Google Drive on their servers, like
they do with many other data? 2MB versus a (default) 15GB Google Drive?
Peanuts.

Anssi Saari wrote:

> Frank Slootweg writes:
>
>> And I still don't see an explanation *why* they are doing/changing
>> this. Only that each of your devices will keep its own Timeline, but I
>> think that's more a disadvantage than a feature.
>
> Maybe there's no or too little market for the location data?

I think their T&C say the timeline data is for the user's eyes only?

As part of the change from cloud to device storage, the do ask for
permission to make the data available to advertisers, of course I said no.

> It's the
> only reason I can think of, considering it's Google. So maybe there're
> now so many apps snarfing up location data, Google can't find buyers? At
> least at the prices they want? Or everyone who wants that data already
> built it into their app so no market?

In comp.mobile.android, on Wed, 20 Nov 2024 11:08:41 +0000, Andy Burns
<usenet@andyburns.uk> wrote:

>micky wrote:
>
>> Andy Burns wrote:
>>>> I've had a notification that i have until 18th May
>>> 2025 to decide what to do with my timeline.
>>
>> LOL. Good. That should give you time to consider all the
>> ramifications.
>
>I told it I wanted to keep my data, no auto deletion, on my pixel phone
>
>it said that would consume 2MB of storage on the phone, which is less
>than I was expecting, because a zipped google-takeout of all my maps
>history from may 2011 to october 2024 is 48MB

Alas, mine only go back to the laast week of January this year. I wonder
why. I went a lot of interesting places since 2011, but the google
people will never know.
>
>If I try to use the old timeline page from a web-browser on my pc, it
>reminds me I can no longer do that, and sends a command to my phone for
>it to launch timeline instead.

Hey, it says the same thing to me. When I go to
<https://timeline.google.com/maps/timeline> that Frank told us about,
which I had never been to before, it says "Timeline is no longer
available on web browsers. To view or change your Timeline settings, go
to Activity controls."

It has a link right there to Actuvity controls,
https://myactivity.google.com/activitycontrols with 3 choices:
Include Chrome history and activity from sites, apps, and devices that
use Google services
Include voice and audio activity. Learn more
Include Visual Search History

I never touched these but only the first one is turned on.

Does Visual Seach History mean a record of my using Street View, or
what?

"Learn more" about voice and audio starts "When you speak to Google
services, Google uses its audio recognition technologies to process your
audio and respond to you. For example, if you touch the mic icon to
search by voice, Google’s audio recognition technologies translate what
you say into words and phrases that Search looks up in an index to give
you the most relevant results..."
"....How audio recordings are used
Google uses audio saved by this setting to develop and improve its audio
recognition technologies and the Google services that use them, like
Google Assistant..."
"....When this voice and audio activity setting is on
When this voice and audio activity setting is on for your Web & App
Activity, Google will save audio recordings when you interact with
Google Search, Assistant, and Maps, in your Google Account on Google
servers with your Web & App Activity....."

Andy Burns wrote on Wed, 20 Nov 2024 14:26:37 +0000 :

>>> And I still don't see an explanation *why* they are doing/changing
>>> this. Only that each of your devices will keep its own Timeline, but I
>>> think that's more a disadvantage than a feature.
>>
>> Maybe there's no or too little market for the location data?
>
> I think their T&C say the timeline data is for the user's eyes only?
>
> As part of the change from cloud to device storage, the do ask for
> permission to make the data available to advertisers, of course I said no.

Always being especially curious of the delta between what a company "says"
it does versus what that company "actually" does, naturally I used Google
to ask Google why Google was doing it... where Google's AI told me:

"Google is moving Timeline data to your device primarily for
privacy reasons, allowing users to have more control over their
location history by storing it locally on their phone instead
of on Google's servers, which means law enforcement agencies
would need a warrant to access that data directly from the
user's device rather than from Google's database; this change
comes in response to concerns about user data collection
and tracking practices."

The problem with asking anything of any company with clever marketing (just
ask Apple why they removed the headphone jack & charger in the box) is that
it's NEVER "for you". It's "for them". But the question remains of why.

Outside of Google, this seems to have reliably stated reasons...

*Google Maps Timeline Data to be Stored Locally on Your Device for Privacy*
<https://thehackernews.com/2024/06/google-maps-timeline-data-to-be-stored.html>

Snippets... effective December 1st, 2024... Users are also being asked to
turn on backups to save an encrypted copy of the Timeline data on Google's
servers to facilitate transfer when switching devices... The development is
part of a series of changes the company has enacted in response to
allegations that it misled consumers and illegally tracked their movements
despite turning off Location History from the account settings by taking
advantage of the non-obvious Web & App Activity setting... It does not stop
Google's collection of other location markers... Google has since settled
with several states in the U.S. over this practice, with the company also
opting to pay $62 million to numerous non-profits in April 2024. A similar
lawsuit filed in the state of Texas is pending...."

So it seems privacy laws made them do it.

Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> writes:

> Anssi Saari wrote:
>
>> Frank Slootweg writes:
>>
>>> And I still don't see an explanation *why* they are doing/changing
>>> this. Only that each of your devices will keep its own Timeline, but I
>>> think that's more a disadvantage than a feature.
>> Maybe there's no or too little market for the location data?
>
> I think their T&C say the timeline data is for the user's eyes only?

Timeline is fairly and the location data would also from the older Web &
App Activity and Location History. What did the T&C say for those older
things? Especially Web & App Activity which, as I recall, caused a bit
of a brouhaha Google just created it and turned it on, including for
people who had turned Location History off.

It's my assumption and I thought it's a common assumption that Google
sucks up any and all data they can and sell it to whoever pays.

Frank Slootweg <this@ddress.is.invalid> writes:

> As Andy has found out. The size of the data is rather small (his is
> 2MB for some 13 years), so even if Google doesn't want (to use) it, why
> not just store it in your account or Google Drive on their servers, like
> they do with many other data? 2MB versus a (default) 15GB Google Drive?
> Peanuts.

Maybe it's a stab at some kind of a privacy whitewash? "Look here, we're
no longer grabbing your location data! It's just on your device now!"