One would expect Google to have learned by now all the lessons on why they should take their customers privacy very seriously (remember their street view car fleet sniffing WiFi data?). But it seems it isn't so. Their new Google Maps App for iOS might be an excellent app, but a german privacy watchdog says it's illegal in Europe.
The key point is that the App is sending location data to Google without the user express consent - the App does it by default, without asking. Even though it's anonimized data, it would certainly be a lot better for Google to simply ask, the first time the App was executed, if the user wanted to share that data or not.
More so, it really looks like Google tried to "hide" this option as much as possible, being the least visible and acessible option in the entire app! Just take a look:
Yep, it takes 5 screens to get there: going to personal account info->settings->about, terms & privacy->terms & privacy->data collection!
Though in my case I don't mind sharing my location data with google to "improve their services" (heck, I've been using Google Latitude since the very first moment I had a smartphone and data plan), I think Google should have know better. This kind of stunt will only serve to make people more suspicious of their intentions - and forget the "don't be evil" motto that once stood solid as a rock... but has since began to crack and be chipped away.
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