Credit: Guest Post / Android Authority
TL;DR
- A legal complaint has been filed against Google after it gave a student’s data to the government without notifying the user.
- Google’s own policy notes that, with a few exceptions, it will notify users before handing over data.
- This news also comes as Google-free Android forks like GrapheneOS gain steam, along with alternatives to Google apps.
US authorities routinely send requests for user data to tech companies. Google is no exception, but the company’s own policy states that it will generally notify people when authorities have requested their user data. However, a new legal complaint might motivate you to deGoogle your digital life.
A legal complaint by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) alleges that Google may have broken its own rules and given a user’s data to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) without notifying the user first. The user, Amandla Thomas-Johnson, is a foreign PhD student who apparently attended a pro-Palestine protest at Cornell University.
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