Google has acknowledged that a recent technical issue led to the loss of some users’ Maps Timeline data, leaving them unable to see their location history. The company confirmed the problem after several users reported losing years of data, with some saying even backups did not restore all of their Timeline entries.
Google told The Verge that Google’s spokesperson Genevieve Park said in a statement that it temporarily suffered a technical glitch leading to the deletion of Timeline information on some of its users’ accounts. Only with the individuals who never activated their data backup was the case. Users with enabled backup previously would most probably have recovered their lost information while users with no backup are very likely to lose it forever.
The problem is symptomatic of a change in how Google saves Maps Timeline data. The company recently switched from saving the data to users’ devices rather than servers. As a result, the feature is not enabled by default and instead must be enabled through the application manually. To do so, one must go to the “Your Timeline” in the Maps app and configure the settings so that the feature is activated by allowing the cloud icon.
Although some users successfully recovered their content by importing the backups, some others have raised concerns about being unable to retrieve all their missing Timeline entries. The issue has been exasperating for several users, especially those who have been relying on their Timeline history for years’ worth of location memory and history.
For the victims, Google has suggested that the backup settings be in position so that future data can be stored. The company has not, however, given a direct solution to users who lost data during the problem and were unable to retrieve it.
This event puts into question the reliability of storage and backup policies for location information, and only time will tell if Google has implemented measures to prevent such from occurring in the future.
