“In light of recently turning 20 years old, Google reigns as one of today’s tech giants. The company has two main ways of collecting user data: active and passive. Active tracking is usually consciously understood by the user, such as signing into a range of accounts (YouTube, Google Search, Gmail, etc.). Passive data collection, however, can possibly occur without the user’s knowledge, which comes in the form of publisher tools, applications, and advertiser tools. A study, conducted by Professor of Computer Science at Vanderbilt University Douglas C. Schmidt and his team, provides a comprehensive overview of Google’s collection methods and exactly what information it accumulates. Highlighting just a few findings, the Android OS platform helps Google gather user details (name, birthdate, zip code, and sometimes credit card information), location coordinates, and phone activity. [h/t Marcus Zillman]

In experiments with a dormant Android phone running Chrome actively in the background, the device communicated with Google a whopping 340 times within a 24-hour period. Breaking that figure down even further, it equates to 14 data communications every hour. The full report is available online, and you can watch a quick summary in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkwmAR_G2X0