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Google is ending a service that allowed it to share Android data with mobile operators around the world to help them better understand the network coverage provided, confirmed the company. Reuters reports that the Mobile Network Insights service, launched by Google in 2017 but which remained virtually unnoticed until now, was intended to help operators plan or upgrade their wireless networks by telling them what to do. Signal strength and connection speed in their coverage areas. However, the company has now decided to discontinue this free service offer, apparently because of fears that it could attract the attention of users and regulators.
It should be noted that Google has made the decision to close the service rather than risk causing a scandal for the company. Google is currently facing its first GDPR survey from regulators, as European data privacy legislation enters its second year, and new regulations are enforced in the United States. The data practices of large technology companies are put under the microscope and Google seems to examine its own behavior internally before the regulators.
Location data, in particular, has been a thorny topic in the last two years after the discovery that US networks shared real-time location data with third parties. Google has also been hit by its own scandal over location data. It appeared that the company was still tracking users even when they disabled the Location History feature.
Google had attempted to design its Mobile Network Insights service by ensuring the privacy of users. Users had to choose to share history with Google, as well as usage and diagnostic data with Google. These data were aggregated before being transmitted to the operators, which means that they could not link the data to individual users. These concessions do not seem to have been enough to convince Google to continue providing the service.
according to Reuters, there were other reasons for Google to close the service beyond data privacy. To begin with, the company would have had problems maintaining data quality, and some feared that operators would take too much time to upgrade their networks with the data they were provided with. Google has not explicitly confirmed to Retuers why this ended the service, but a spokesman stressed the need to change the "product priorities" in the company.
With this service, operators would have been provided with a coverage map to view real-world data on devices accessing their networks, including signal strength and speed, as well as detailed information on competitors' networks (unnamed). ). The impressive number of Android devices in the world makes it an extremely valuable source of information, although an expert cited by Reuters note that carriers also have other tools offering similar information.
Google is not the only company to share coverage data with operators. The Facebook service "Actionable Insights", launched at the same time last year, shares similar connectivity data with a hundred different carriers in 50 countries around the world, according to a report released earlier this year L & # 39; interception. However, it seems that Facebook's data sharing goes even further than Google's, since it also includes demographics and personal interests.
When contacted for comment, a Facebook spokesman said Reuters this "[Facebook has] publicly announced this program and designed it carefully to protect the privacy of individuals. But if Google has a clear idea of regulators' attitudes toward such services, the Facebook program may soon be under scrutiny.
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