Google Gives Feds 1,500 Private Phone Locations in 'Geofencing' Request

The term has become increasingly associated with law enforcement and digital privacy specifically, whether or not tech firms have the right to share a users mobile location with law enforcement officials.

A recent New York Times investigation found thatGoogle can still gain access to the information on Apple devices, including the iPhone, and hand it over to law enforcement, despite Apples claims to high standards of privacy.

But once law enforcement has selected the devices believed to be linked to the crime, Google hands over the names of the users.

Forbessaid it obtained another search warrant showing Google is trying to fight back against overly broad government requests.

Federal officers reportedly demanded information on devices in the vicinity of a bank robbery in Allenton, Wisconsin, in April.

Google responded that the area the government wanted it to search too wide, and as a result, investigators narrowed the search area from a 400-meter radius, to 50 meters, according to the report.

Richard Salgado, Googles director of law enforcement and information security, told Forbes that the company has processes to look through government requests and ensure customer privacy was protected.