How did Google Maps know who I am?

[farmerabc]

I have made a point of not installing any Google apps on my iPhone, out of privacy concerns. However, for reasons I won't go into, I needed Google Maps, so I installed it. Once I opened it, it was already signed in with my work Google account.

This surprised me. I did not think that Google would receive any information from the app that would let them know who I was. Can anybody who understands how this stuff works in iOS enlighten me?

 

[VolceOntra]

If you’ve installed it or other services before, they could have added things to your keychain, core data, or iCloud account to help streamline the process of signing in.

 

[farmerabc]

I have installed it on an older iPhone a few years ago, so I thought your explanation made sense. However, in Settings I can see a list of apps that are accessing my iCloud and Google Maps is not one of them.

 

[Samdh90]

Google can be sneaky like that. If you ever signed into that google account on the device with any other google services, it will auto sign you in on Maps, or any future google apps automatically. I have seen the same thing with Youtube in the past.

 

[iStorm]

I know you said you made a point of not installing any Google apps on your phone, but also saw you're using a work Google account. Are you sure you don't have something like Google Authenticator installed? Or some other Google app needed for work?

As alluded to in the previous post, apps made by the same developer can share information between them. Sign into one of them and you could be signed into all of them. This is how it works for the Microsoft apps I use for work.

 

[farmerabc]

apps made by the same developer can share information between them.

This I did not know. I thought that since "Ask App Not to Track" was added to iOS, apps could not share data with each other unless you explicitly granted them permission.

However, I still don't think it explains it, because I do not have any other Google apps (I don't use Authenticator for my work account) and never have had (on this particular phone) until now.

 

[AbSoluTc]

Have you signed into your work Google account on that device before, ever? We're talking through a browser?

 

[Morac]

This I did not know. I thought that since "Ask App Not to Track" was added to iOS, apps could not share data with each other unless you explicitly granted them permission.

“Ask App Not to Track” only applies to apps sharing tracking days with third parties. It doesn’t prevent apps owned by the same company from sharing data with each other.

 

[NoBoMac]

Will ditto others: once you've signed into a Google app (or as pointed out, Microsoft; and probably a slew of other vendors), they save your credentials in their private sandbox on the device. Google, Microsoft, etc add this functionality for user convenience sake.

Sharing access to keychain items among a collection of apps | Apple Developer Documentation

Enable apps to share keychain items with each other by adding the apps to an access group.

developer.apple.com

App Groups Entitlement | Apple Developer Documentation

A list of identifiers specifying the groups your app belongs to.

developer.apple.com

For Google apps, you can remove this information. In Google Maps, go to your avatar/initial on the screen, tap drop down arrow next to your ID, "Manage accounts on this device", "Remove" the account. The other Google apps work the same (Gmail is similar, just don't need to hit a drop down arrow on the app, ditto Calendar, and Drive).

 

[now i see it]

Apps can (and do) install hidden cache files (typically log in info) that are not accessible to the user and are not visible and do not get deleted when app is deleted.
You can delete a Google app, but download another one and all your log in data is still there.

Not only that -but those hidden cache files get backed up too, so if you set up a new device from an old backup from an older device that had a Google app - the new device will carry over the Google log in info.

That’s the thing about Google — you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave……..

 

[farmerabc]

Apps can (and do) install hidden cache files (typically log in info) that are not accessible to the user and are not visible and do not get deleted when app is deleted.

I think this must be the explanation. I installed Google apps on previous phones, and this must have come over with a backup.

I'm not sure I like this. I would prefer more transparency about which apps are storing data and which apps they are sharing it with.

Anyway, I'm satisfied with the answer. Thanks to everybody who responded!

 

[mebehere]

It’s very hard to escape the cold, creepy hand of Google. You’re not alone.