What you're agreeing to

Google Maps is governed by Google's Terms of Service, which give Google a broad license to content you contribute including reviews and photos. Google can remove your contributions or restrict your access at any time.

Privacy in plain English

Google Maps tracks your precise location continuously when enabled and stores your location history in Google's Timeline feature. This location data is one of the most valuable datasets in Google's advertising ecosystem.

Terms of Service: Breakdown

Concerning Clauses

• - Content you contribute to Google Maps, including reviews and photos, is licensed to Google permanently and globally.
• Google can change the functionality of Google Maps at any time without notice.
• Disputes with Google are subject to binding arbitration in the US.

Data Sharing

• - Your location history feeds Google's advertising profile and influences ads you see across Search, YouTube, and the web.
• Businesses pay Google to reach customers based on their verified physical location visits recorded through Maps.

Known Incidents

• - 2022: Google settled for $391 million with 40 US states for secretly tracking user location even after users disabled Location History.
• 2023: Google agreed to delete location data collected since 2014 under a separate federal settlement.

Privacy Policy: Breakdown

Privacy Issues

• - Google Maps stores a complete timeline of everywhere you have been with timestamps, accessible to Google indefinitely.
• Location data is used to infer home address, work address, places of worship, medical facilities visited, and political affiliations.

Who Gets Your Data

• - Your location history is linked to your Google account and shared across Google Search, YouTube, Gmail, and third-party advertising partners. - Google's Location History data has been subpoenaed by law enforcement through geofence warrants to identify suspects based on their presence near crime scenes.

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