Google Responds to Claims it Secretly Installed COVID-19 Tracking Apps on Users’ Phones

A growing number of Android phone users over the past weekend reported that COVID-19 notifications systems were automatically installed on their phones with warning on their consent. With the constant lies of Big Tech, the media, and the government, who could blame them.

Google has responded to the claims.

Google, in a statement to several news outlets, did not confirm or deny whether the “automatically distributed” system was installed without users’ consent, while noting that “COVID-19 Exposure Notifications are enabled only if a user proactively turns it on.”

“We have been working with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health to allow users to activate the Exposure Notifications System directly from their Android phone settings,” the tech giant said in a statement. “This functionality is built into the device settings and is automatically distributed by the Google Play Store, so users don’t have to download a separate app. COVID-19 Exposure Notifications are enabled only if a user proactively turns it on. Users decide whether to enable this functionality and whether to share information through the system to help warn others of possible exposure.”

It came after numerous users in Massachusetts claimed on Reddit, Hacker News, and in Google’s app reviews that the service was installed without them knowing.

In a 1-star review, one user wrote on Google Play that they “absolutely did not install this on my phone” and said it was “silently installed without any notification.”

Exposure Notifications “doesn’t have an app icon … you have to go through settings and view all apps,” according to the user. “This is a huge privacy and security overstep by [Gov. Charlie Baker] & Google.”