Google Maps

Is Google Maps safe to use?

Yes. Google Maps is safe for everyday navigation, and it became noticeably more private when Google moved Timeline, its record of everywhere you have been, off its servers and onto your phone. Timeline is off unless you turn it on. The catch is that Maps is still part of Google's advertising business. Apple's privacy label lists coarse location, search history, browsing history and your user ID as data used for third-party advertising, and Google paid more than $1.7 billion in US settlements over location tracking between 2022 and 2025.

We score Google Maps 60/100, close to Gmail. Its strongest points are security and controls; its weakest are the regulatory record and how much data is tied to your account.

What changed with Timeline

Timeline was powered by a setting called Location History. In December 2023 Google announced that Timeline would be saved on users' devices, that cloud backups would be encrypted end to end so that "no one can read it, including Google", and that when you first switch Location History on, auto-delete would be set to three months instead of 18. The change rolled out through 2024 and 2025. Google's help page now says Timeline saves visits and routes "on each of your signed-in devices", and that a backup is an encrypted copy on Google's servers.

This matters beyond advertising. A Timeline held centrally by Google could be reached by law enforcement and by anyone who got into your account. A Timeline kept only on the phone cannot. The flip side is that if you lose the phone without a backup, the history is gone.

Timeline is only one part of what Maps knows. Searches, directions and places you look up can still be saved to your Google account through Web & App Activity, and Apple's label lists precise location as linked to you for analytics, personalisation and app features. It also lists "sensitive info" for personalisation, which Google does not explain on the label.

Google's location-tracking record

The settlements are about past practices, but they are large. In November 2022 Google agreed to pay $391.5 million to 40 US states that said it kept collecting location data after people turned Location History off. In May 2025 it agreed to pay Texas $1.375 billion to settle two lawsuits over location tracking, incognito searches and biometric data. Google denied wrongdoing and said it had already changed the policies involved. These were consumer-protection settlements, not court findings, but the figures are among the largest privacy payments in the US.

Fake listings and review scams

The most direct way Maps can cost you money is a fake business. Scammers create or hijack Business Profiles for urgent services such as locksmiths, towing and plumbers, then overcharge the people who call. In April 2025 Google said it had removed more than 10,000 listings run by a group that impersonated real locksmiths, and had taken the group to court.

Google's 2025 figures show the scale of the problem: more than 292 million policy-violating reviews blocked or removed, 79 million false edits blocked, over 13 million fake Business Profiles removed and posting limits on more than 782,000 accounts. A newer scheme targets businesses rather than customers. Criminals post fake one-star reviews and demand payment to remove them. Google says it now detects these patterns earlier.

Settings worth checking

1. Check whether Timeline is on (tapping the blue dot in Maps shows its status). If you do not use it, leave it off. If you do, set auto-delete to three months and decide whether you want the encrypted backup.
2. Review Web & App Activity in your Google account. Turning it off or setting auto-delete limits how much of your Maps searching is saved.
3. Use incognito mode in Maps when you search for places you would rather not have in your history.
4. Check location sharing in Maps. People you shared your location with once may still see it in real time.
5. In your phone's settings, allow Maps to use location only while the app is open unless you need background features.
6. Before calling a locksmith, tow truck or repair service found on Maps, check the business's own website and address.

How we scored it

Security (75) and transparency and control (74) are the strongest factors: Timeline is off by default, stays on the device and has short auto-delete. Privacy (48) is held back by the data Maps links to your account for advertising, and the regulatory record (30) by the two large location-tracking settlements. For a phone app whose main job is location, compare Life360, which shares far more.