This is one of those features that I'd love if it wasn't controlled by an evil organization.

And all that data probably takes up less room than a few pictures, could easily be stored locally, and encrypted locally before backing up on a server. But why give individuals control and privacy over their own behavior and history when you can sell it to anyone and keep the profits for yourself? /s

You can use “Google Takeout” to download all location data. It has all coordinates and what you were doing (e.g. walking, driving) with timestamps.

I think it’s a nice feature, when it’s explicitly opt-in, and gives you control over what it’s doing. We all know how Google handles that