LAWSUIT: Google is hoodwinking users into thinking their location data is safe.

The lawsuit quotes 2014 as the beginning of Google’s lies, though it’s careful to note that the practice could go back further than this date. The choice of 2014 is based on settings introduced that year that ostensibly gave users more control over which data Google kept on them.

But those switches only provide the illusion of data control, these lawsuits allege. Google continues collecting location data — and plenty of other data — even if you technically opt out. This is a pretty well-documented problem, actually; the Associated Press worked with computer scientists a few years ago to confirm Google had kept tracking users even after they’d adjusted their settings.

The lawsuits also push back against the many tricks Google uses to sway users into electing themselves back into the Location History program. Google uses measures like pushy notifications to pressure users into opting in “inadvertently or out of frustration,” the lawsuit says.

Google doesn’t make money selling you devices; they make money selling your data to third parties. So they’ll collect whatever data they can in whatever way they can.

Previously: Hotel Googlefornia. “Behind the scenes, Hill’s specialty VPN blocked her devices from trying to ping Google’s servers more than 15,000 times — in just the first few hours. After a week, it had stopped more than 100,000 attempts to share data with Google. And to repeat, this is after Hill had stopped using any of Google’s apps or services. The company has its tendrils all throughout the internet.”