Google facing scrutiny from regulators over data collection

Last week amid all the Black Friday deals, a report surfaced that Google still collects your location data even if the service is turned off, you haven’t used any apps or even inserted the SIM card. Now a new report says that South Korean regulators have summoned Google to answer questions about this report and data collection.

The head of the Korean Communications Commission says they’re “carrying out an inquiry into the claims that Google collected users’ Cell ID data without consent even when their smartphone’s location service was inactive.” Another report suggests that UK data protection officials are also investigating the matter.

The original report from Quartz says that Google can collect addresses of nearby cellular towers from any Android phone, no matter if the location services have been enabled or not.