According to Google, this feature aims to help users have more control over personal data when accessing the internet. In many cases, websites do not need to know the user's current location exactly to operate effectively.
For example, services such as local weather viewing, reading regional news, or searching for content by region only need relative location. Meanwhile, tasks such as calling a car, ordering food, or finding the nearest ATM still need an exact location to operate properly.
Google said that users can still grant access to the exact location if needed. This means that the experience of using location services will not be affected, but users will have more options to protect privacy.
By allowing proximity sharing, we want to give users more control over their location data," Google said in an official blog post.
Not only changing on the user side, Google is also deploying new APIs for web developers. These tools allow websites to request approximate locations or only ask for accurate locations when really necessary for service functions.
Google also encourages developers to carefully consider the need to use location data and limit requests for accurate location access if not necessary.
Currently, the new feature has appeared on Chrome for Android. Google said that they plan to bring this feature to the computer version in the next few months, but has not announced the specific time. The company has also not confirmed whether this feature will be deployed on Chrome for iOS or not.
The new move is seen as a small but important step forward in efforts to enhance privacy for Android users, especially in the context that location data is increasingly becoming a sensitive issue on the internet.
