Police in Raleigh are requesting Google location data to identify suspects

n Raleigh, NC, (via WRAL) it’s been discovered that local police have issued search warrants for Google to surrender data on Google Accounts that are near crime scenes within a given window of time.

It should seem obvious to users of Google Maps that Google keeps record of your location over time. Less obvious is that even with GPS disabled, Google still has a decent idea where you are, using other factors like cell towers and WiFi networks. This is true whether you use an Android phone or the Google app on an iPhone, including innocuous ones like Inbox by Gmail.

n crimes that seemed otherwise impossible to solve, Raleigh police began in March 2017 to send requests for anonymized account data of anyone within range of the crime being committed. This anonymized information is simply account numbers and locations over time, and contains nothing personally identifiable.