Google gives police location records, makes man a suspect for taking a bike ride.

Via NBC News, we have the story of Zachary McCoy. McCoy got an email from Google that local police had requested info about his Google account – and he had no idea why.

It turns out that McCoy was caught up in a “geofence warrant,” where police send Google or other companies a warrant for information about anyone who was in a particular area at a certain time. One of his bike rides had put him in the vicinity of a burglary in 2019.

Google, Apple and Facebook in particular know a lot about our whereabouts on a regular basis. If you have an Android phone, your location is probably sent directly to Google very frequently unless you’ve proactively changed your settings. Every time you use a Maps app, of course, the provider knows where you were, where you are, and where you’re going.

One aspect in this situation that doesn’t often get enough attention is data sharing. McCoy was using an app called RunKeeper to track his bike rides. That app “relied on his phone’s location services, which fed his movements to Google.” In essence, going for a bike ride and being in the wrong place at the wrong time made him a target for police.

Thankfully for McCoy, the situation ended up relatively well. He was cleared as a person of interest, but had to hire a lawyer – costing several thousands of dollars – to handle the situation.