Nikita Das

Google Maps gets an Incognito Mode, but it can’t hide your location from everyone The highly anticipated feature of Google Maps, the ability to use it in Incognito mode has finally arrived. So if you think Google isn’t listening to your needs, think again. Just two weeks after completing its rounds of beta testing, this new option will be available on Android handsets within the next few weeks. Although there’s no specific date for a release on iOS. To activate this feature – 1. Tap your profile picture. 2. Select the option. 3. If you don’t see the option yet, wait a few days or update your app. The highlights of this new feature on activation are – Your location history won’t be stored on your device, your profile, or to gain information to ‘personalize your Maps experience’. No extraction of information means there will be no requests to rate the cafe you’re having brunch at. If you’re sharing location updates with someone and activate this option, it’ll pause the updates about the device. It will also stop app related notifications. However, there are several limits to the feature. It doesn’t offer a protective blanket across all your activities. Turning it on gets you the message, ‘Turning on Incognito Mode in Maps does not affect how your activity is used or saved by internet providers, other apps, voice search, and other Google services.’ What this means – Many other apps are simultaneously using your location and can use your data to ‘personalize your experience’. Maps is simply minimizing the record of your Maps browsing in your own Google account, instead of anonymizing your web traffic to the outside world. Just like Chrome’s incognito mode does not do anything to keep websites, employers, and internet providers from seeing your web traffic. The company told The Register that it wouldn’t be allowed to turn location data from a device to Law Enforcement if the Incognito mode is activated. So, while not completely in the green on covering your tracks, you can still identify the apps that have access to your location. To monitor the apps using your location data- 1. Open the Setting menu. 2. Select Apps. 3. Go to App Permissions > Location. You can approve or deny access to your location to any app, though it might not work properly if it primarily requires location data. Marlo McGriff, a Google Maps product management officer, gave a statement on WIRED, “We want to give people more choice and control when it comes to how they manage their data on Google Maps, and we know that there are certain times when you may not want your activity tied to you.” And it is quite a polished way of giving people a choice on sharing their private data, with all the concern around everyone’s data being collected by corporate giants. This is quite a progressive initiative to restore credibility towards personalizing user experience through data collection. Think of Google’s incognito mode, but instead of sophisticated privacy, it’s a pause button on a TV remote. You just use it occasionally when you’re going to the bathroom or get a drink from the fridge. If you wish to be completely anonymous, consider getting a VPN or use Tor. References: https://www.techradar.com/news/google-maps-gets-an-incognito-mode-but-it-cant-hide-your-location-from-everyone https://www.wired.com/story/google-maps-incognito-mode/