When you use an online map to arrive on time, what happens to the location data behind that convenient route? Geolocation is information about where a person or device is, or where it has been. Navigation is the visible service; collecting and selling access to location data can be another part of the business. section 2.2.1
A location record need not stay with the company that first collected it. Service providers may sell data to other location-data providers, which can combine and share it further. Copies may be stored in other countries and used by multiple companies. That makes it difficult to know where your data has gone or what someone will do with it. section 2.2.1 section 2.2
What a visit can reveal
Analysts using data from five US location providers counted visits to roughly a thousand places. They could predict how many people would visit and how long they would stay, despite knowing little about the places themselves. On an ordinary family trip, location data can also sit alongside messages, photos, hotel check-ins, purchases, and scanned event tickets. A stadium visit may place someone in a particular section, not just at the venue. section 2.2.1 section 8.2.2
The practical question is bigger than whether a map works well: who gains access to the data you contribute, and who benefits from its value? Location data can be combined with browsing and transaction data to understand behavior. Recognizing that connection helps you make more informed choices about services and ask what happens to your data after you use them. section 2.7 section 2.2.1
