I recently upgraded to Android 12 and recieved this message on first boot:
https://imgur.com/a/JE2qc2k
It just blows my mind that Google collects your phone call location data when you make a Wi-Fi call. Thoughts on this?
Well of course they do.
News flash, WIFI is itself a location indicator. The AP (access point) has a unique ID which the phone knows. This is easily tied to the AP’s IP address and so its approximate location. Of course, the cloud host collects whatever the phone knows. Furthermore, if anyone, ever, passes that AP with their phone’s GPS turned on, the cloud now knows the physical location (within a dozen meters) of the AP, continually refined as more phones report in.
This has all been commercialized by Skyhook but it’s easy to home grow also.
If you don’t want to be found, keep your phone off or in a Faraday bag. That’s not perfect though because of other channels. Best leave the phone at home if your life depends on it.
Doesn’t surprise me unfortunately. Google is no longer primarily a search engine. They are data miners above all else. They go out of their way to track EVERYONE
They track not only the wireless you are connected to but all wireless signals in your vicinity.
When they ask :
“Can we use your network to improve gps accuracy? You really should. No really. Do it.”
…this is actually what you are agreeing to. Every one of their apps triggers telemetry so … even aside from if google voice is doing it … the phone is likely doing it already.
Is this not due to the requirement to have a location in case of 911 calls? I know it’s still shady as hell
It’s an E911 requirement, and it looks like it might be carrier based on implementation.
I have T-Mobile.
On T-Mobile’s website for activating WiFi calling you need to provide an address. WiFi calling will be disabled while traveling internationally if you turn airplane mode off since they can then communicate with towers and determine you aren’t in the US. GPS spoofing is baked into android so they don’t use GPS for location.
This might shock you, but your carrier receives your location during a normal call too.
In WiFi calling your Google is standing in for your carrier on the first hop. So yes. They do.
If you have anything Google on your phone it it collecting information all the time. That’s what they do. It’s their business model. How can anyone be surprised by it?
It’s in their business model to collect more data. If you’re concerned about privacy, I would use Signal to make calls with friends and family.
Probably has something to do with e911
check your Google.com/dashboard to see what Google admits they have collected about you.
It’s a good idea to get rid of Google’s PlayServices and switch to an OS that doesn’t use them (obligatory link to /r/CalyxOS). Next to getting less tracked, your battery and RAM will thank you. r/microG and OSes that implement it might also be interesting (eFoundation, LineageOS for microG or GrapheneOS [which encapsulates Google’s PlayServices instead).
You should also have in mind that Google might already have your location by being your location provider (and DNS and CaptivePortal etc.).
Your service provider needs it for you to be reachable for calls.
what a surprise. google… how can you do that!
It’s almost sad/ironic that Richard Stallman advised users to use the Chinese android because it doesn’t have Google services 
To be fair this might not be Google’s fault.
Is your phone branded from the carrier? Is it carrier-locked?
This could be required by the carrier not Google.
Thoughts on this?
What did you expect? Google is not just a search engine now, they’re are a data mining operation, so is Meta(Facebook), Amazon, Microsoft and etc. If the product is free, then you are the product.
Can you circumvent this using a VPN?
Do they keep it? It’s a requirement for 911 calls, and they probably just did it for every call for some reason.
Yeah, if you own an android device Google likely can know anything it feels like. That’s the world we live in. Only way around it is to not participate or create your own smartphone OS and get it to catch on