Revealed by a report by Quartz, Google’s Android system, which handles messaging services to ensure delivery of push notifications, began requesting the unique addresses of mobile phone masts (called Cell ID) at the beginning of 2017.

The information was captured by the phone and routinely sent to Google by any modern Android device, even when location services were turned off and the sim card was removed. As a result Google could in theory track the location of the Android device and therefore the user, despite a reasonable expectation of privacy.

A Google spokesperson said: “In January of this year, we began looking into using Cell ID codes as an additional signal to further improve the speed and performance of message delivery.

“However, we never incorporated Cell ID into our network sync system, so that data was immediately discarded, and we updated it to no longer request Cell ID.”

Google requested the Cell ID alongside what is called the mobile country code and mobile network code, which identify the country and mobile phone operator that the smartphone is using. That data is used to ensure the phone stays properly connected to Google’s Firebase Cloud Messaging system, which handles the delivery of messages and notifications to the smartphone.

A persistent connection is required for the system to work, but instead of staying constantly connected, the phone pings Google’s servers at set intervals. The more pings, the greater the battery drain, so the data collected about the country and mobile networks is used to work out the minimum number of pings required to stay connected without draining the battery – so-called heartbeat analysis.

The benefit of having the address of the mobile phone mast to ensure message service reliability is not clear, but through a process of triangulation – the same used to assist when a user is actively using location services – the position of the user can be revealed down to a roughly 400m radius at a minimum, and often much more accurately in urban areas.

Google said that the data was never stored and that Cell ID requests would stop by the end of November, after an update to the messaging system.

Location tracking via smartphones is a common practice used by all the major players, either locally on the device or remotely on a server and is used to provide many of the services expected of a modern phone.

Beyond mapping services, location data is used for delivering the weather, localised news results, shopping services, augmented reality features and even things as mundane as the ability to pair two different wireless devices simply by colocation.

But in most cases it is possible to prevent the location tracking systems from recording data, should services be disabled and privacy features enabled. That was not the case with the Cell ID collection, whether or not the data was stored by Google.

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Source: Guardian UK

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Mr Rubin left Google in 2014 to create Playground, a technology investment company. Essential is one of the companies it funds – and the Essential Phone is its first product.

The device runs the Android operating system and has gone on sale in the US for $699 (£540).

However, it will be difficult to break into the huge market dominance of established brands.

Samsung currently has the largest share of the smartphone market, with 21% of global sales, according to analyst firm Gartner. Apple enjoys 14%.

Aside from Chinese giants offering subsidised devices, smaller firms have found it difficult to command even single-digit market share – and the Essential Phone’s pricing will set it an even greater challenge.

But Mr Rubin told an audience in California that he believed there was space in the Android market for another big player besides Samsung, and that Essential was aiming to be a major consumer brand with several products.

As well as Phone, Essential will “soon” sell Home a standalone assistant similar to Amazon’s Alexa and Google’s Home.

Combined lenses
The Essential Phone is made from titanium and has a screen that stretches across most of the device, with minimal bezel.

On the reverse, two magnetic dots are designed to make it simple to snap-on accessories, such as a 360-degree camera add-on the company is also offering.

There are two built-in rear cameras – the combined lenses make it possible to take better photographs in low light, Essential said. The front-facing (selfie) camera is in line with competitors, offering an eight megapixel sensor.

Mr Rubin promised that the titanium design made the Phone strong enough to not need a case. There are no logos on the device – something which aids the clean look of the phone, but will make it even tougher to build brand recognition among smartphone buyers who do not follow technology news.

The Phone’s specifications will not shake up the smartphone market in any meaningful way. However, Mr Rubin’s reputation as the man who designed the most-used mobile operating system today will mean Essential will be a company to watch.

Compelling alternative
In particular, its plan to launch a home assistant along with its own operating system, Ambient OS, could offer compelling alternative to Google’s or Amazon’s home assistant systems – at a time when the market is in its infancy (compared to smartphones where, most analysts agree, the market has reached its peak).

In a blog post published on 2 May, the company’s software systems architect Manual Roman said: “Ambient OS runs in your home and leverages your home network as much as possible. For example, it can interact with many home automation devices directly without having to go to the cloud.

“Furthermore, it keeps user data locally whenever possible giving users more control over their privacy.”
Investors in the idea include iPhone-manufacturer Foxconn, and Chinese tech giant Tencent.

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Source: BBC

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The concession follows an out-of-court deal with the country’s competition watchdog.

In addition, Google has promised to develop a tool to make it easy for users to change their device’s default search engine.

Shares in Google’s local Russian rival, Yandex, rose more than 7% on the news.

It brings to an end a long-running battle between the US firm and Russia’s competition regulator, the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS).

Google had argued the regulator had no case because manufacturers could develop their own versions of Android or pre-install other apps of their choice.

But the FAS had argued that, despite its denials, Google was indeed “prohibiting” rival software to its own YouTube, Maps and Photos apps to be pre-installed alongside its own dominant version of Android.

The agency became involved after Yandex filed a complaint in February 2015.

Despite the nature of the settlement, Google will still have to pay a 438m rouble ($7.8; £6.2m) fine imposed after it failed to appeal the case last August.

“We are happy to have reached a commercial agreement with Yandex and a settlement with Russia’s competition regulator, the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS), resolving the competition case over the distribution of Google apps on Android,” a spokeswoman for Google told the BBC.

Yandex’s chief executive Arkady Volozh declared the settlement “an important day for Russian consumers”.

“I am thankful to the Federal Antimonopoly Service for applying the law in a manner that effectively and efficiently restores competition to the market for the benefit of Russian users, as competition always breeds innovation,” he added.

The EU continues to pursue similar claims against Google, saying the firm is “requiring and incentivising” Android hardware manufacturers to exclusively use its services.

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Source: BBC

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