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ChromeOS update lets you control which apps can see your location
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ChromeOS is slated to receive some new privacy tools in a future update, and chief among them is the ability to control your Chromebook’s location privacy setting. According to a post on the Google Cloud blog, the feature is an expansion of the privacy controls that the company added last year. They’re referring to the microphone and camera toggles from last April. Google didn’t really provide a whole lot of details in their post, but 9To5Google helped with a recent deep dive.

The site states you can determine which apps and system services on your laptop have “access [to] your geolocation”, giving you almost total anonymity. It’s not perfect. The publication explains that the tool “specifically disables Google Location Services,” however it is still possible for an app or website to have an idea of where you currently are by looking at the IP address. 

ChromeOS new privacy tools

(Image credit: Google)

Geolocation controls do exist on ChromeOS, but are limited to the Chrome browser itself. On-device software is still free to collect your information unless you go into an app and manually disable the respective tool. This update will make the process easier to do. No more micromanaging.

Controls for camera, microphone, and location privacy

Alongside the privacy upgrade, ChromeOS will also introduce more granular camera, microphone, and geolocation controls. For certain apps like Instagram, you can decide how you want it to interact with your hardware. Access to a Chromebook’s microphone can be outright denied, allowed for free interaction, or something in between. For example, Instagram can connect to a webcam, but only when you, the user, are actively using the social network. Otherwise, the connection is blocked.

The Google Cloud blog does mention other features coming down the pipeline, but they pertain more towards enterprise customers; not everyday users. It talks about local data recovery as well as an expansion of Google’s data loss prevention policy.

A company representative told us the geolocation patch will roll out to all Chromebooks within the first half of 2024 – so hopefully before the end of June. 

To find the new tools, you’ll need to first launch the Settings menu, then go to the Security and Privacy tab. They’ll be under the Privacy controls. Or as an alternative, you can go to a specific app in Settings and expand the Permissions tab. The controls can also be found there.

If you're in the market for a new laptop, check out TechRadar's list of the best Chromebook for 2024.

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This scary AI breakthrough means you can run but not hide – how AI can guess your location from a single image
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There’s no question that artificial intelligence (AI) is in the process of upending society, with ChatGPT and its rivals already changing the way we live our lives. But a new AI project has just emerged that can pinpoint the location of where almost any photo was taken – and it has the potential to become a privacy nightmare.

The project, dubbed Predicting Image Geolocations (or PIGEON for short) was created by three students at Stanford University and was designed to help find where images from Google Street View were taken. But when fed personal photos it had never seen before, it was even able to accurately find their locations, usually with a high degree of accuracy.

Jay Stanley of the American Civil Liberties Union says that has serious privacy implications, including government surveillance, corporate tracking and stalking, according to NPR. For instance, a government could use PIGEON to find dissidents or see whether you have visited places it disapproves of. Or a stalker could employ it to work out where a potential victim lives. In the wrong hands, this kind of tech could wreak havoc.

Motivated by those concerns, the student creators have decided against releasing the tech to the wider world. But as Stanley points out, that might not be the end of the matter: “The fact that this was done as a student project makes you wonder what could be done by, for example, Google.”

A double-edged sword

Google Maps

(Image credit: Google)

Before we start getting the pitchforks ready, it’s worth remembering that this technology might also have a range of positive uses, if deployed responsibly. For instance, it could be used to identify places in need of roadworks or other maintenance. Or it could help you plan a holiday: where in the world could you go to see landscapes like those in your photos? There are other uses, too, from education to monitoring biodiversity.

Like many recent advances in AI, it’s a double-edged sword. Generative AI can be used to help a programmer debug code to great effect, but could also be used by a hacker to refine their malware. It could help you drum up ideas for a novel, but might assist someone who wants to cheat on their college coursework.

But anything that helps identify a person’s location in this way could be extremely problematic in terms of personal privacy – and have big ramifications for social media. As Stanley argued, it’s long been possible to remove geolocation data from photos before you upload them. Now, that might not matter anymore.

What’s clear is that some sort of regulation is desperately needed to prevent wider abuses, while the companies making AI tech must work to prevent damage caused by their products. Until that happens, it’s likely we’ll continue to see concerns raised over AI and its abilities.

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Google Contacts on your Android can now show your friends’ real-time location
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Google has quietly added a new module to its Contacts app on Android allowing users to see the location of friends and family in real-time.

It’s worth mentioning this function has been in the works for some time now – since late May when it was leaked by industry insider Nail Sadykov on X (the platform formerly known as Twitter). It took a little while, but now you can get this feature by installing Google Contacts version 4.22.37.586680692.

According to Android Police who initially discovered this, the location-sharing banner will be powered by Google Maps, sitting between the contact options and the Contact Info section. Tapping it instantly “opens their location in [Maps]” where you can then get directions to them. Conversely, if a friend is heading towards you, you can set up notification alerts letting you know when they’ve arrived at your location.

You need to meet a couple of requirements to make this update work. First, you must have the other person’s Gmail address saved onto your copy of the app. Second, they must be actively sharing their location on Google Maps. If those two criteria are met, the banner will appear on the contact card. 

Setting up Location Sharing

Setting up the feature is easy. If you tap the profile picture on Google Maps, you will see the Location Sharing option in the menu. Select it, then hit the Share Location button on the following screen. After that, decide which of your contacts you want to share your real-time data with. Often, people will elect to temporarily show their location by picking out a time limit, but we recommend selecting “Until you turn this off” if you want people to find you. 

Google Maps' Location Sharing

(Image credit: Future)

Keep an eye out for the patch when it arrives as it may be rolling out in waves. We updated Google Contacts on our Android device, however, we didn’t see any changes. It could still be making its way to all users or we were just unlucky. 

Be sure to check out TechRadar's roundup of the 10 best Androids app of 2023 – according to Google.

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