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Google: Location data 'extremely valuable' to Android's future

May 2, 2011 — 8:56am ET | By Jason Ankeny

"I cannot stress enough how important Google's Wi-Fi location database is to our Android and mobile-product strategy," wrote Google product manager Steve Lee in response to an email question from co-founder Larry Page, now the firm's CEO. According to Lee, data collected via Android devices is so crucial because in early 2010 Google stopped collecting Wi-Fi data from vehicles used to capture images of streets for Google Maps' Street View feature. The vehicles also scanned the immediate area to build out Google's location database--Google admitted that in doing so, it inadvertently collected personal data from unsecured wireless networks.

Lee offered the explanation in response to Page asking why Android smartphone maker Motorola opted to forgo Google location services in favor of partnering with location positioning, context and intelligence solutions provider Skyhook Wireless. Motorola later decided to use Google's location services--in September 2010, Skyhook Wireless sued Google for patent infringement and interfering in its business relationship with Motorola, alleging Google "wielded its control over the Android operating system, as well as other Google mobile applications such as Google Maps, to force device manufacturers to use its technology rather than that of Skyhook, to terminate contractual obligations with Skyhook, and to otherwise force device manufacturers to sacrifice superior end user experience with Skyhook by threatening directly or indirectly to deny timely and equal access to evolving versions of the Android operating system and other Google mobile applications."

In an email sent Sunday to The Wall Street Journal, Skyhook CEO Ted Morgan said the Lee/Page email exchanges "show how important owning the location system is to Google and how concerned they were about losing major device makers." A Google spokesperson declined to comment on the emails--in a written statement last week, the company said that "all location sharing on Android is opt-in by the user" and that "we provide users with notice and control over the collection, sharing and use of location in order to provide a better mobile experience on Android devices. Any location data that is sent back to Google location servers is anonymized and is not tied or traceable to a specific user."

With consumer concern over mobile phone privacy mounting, both Google and archrival Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) have agreed to testify at a May 10 Senate hearing on the topic. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) said last week in a statement that both Google and Apple have accepted invitations to testify from the Senate Judiciary Committee's privacy subcommittee, which is headed by Sen. Al Franken (D-MN). Leahy said it is essential to have "complete and accurate information about the privacy implications of these new technologies."

The furor over privacy is now starting to result in lawsuits: Two Android phone users are suing Google over claims that their phones secretly recorded and stored location data. In complaints filed in federal court in Detroit, plaintiffs said that their HTC Inspire 4G phones, which use Google's Android operating system, track their whereabouts similar to a court-ordered tracking device. The plaintiffs seek to represent other Android phone users in a class action lawsuit.

For more:
- read this Wall Street Journal article