In this day and age, you need to be mindful of when your location is being monitored. It may not seem like a big deal, but it can border on an invasion of privacy when your location is being tracked.
There are some cases where you do need to have your location settings turned on such as for driving directions in Google Maps. Some people like to use it in conjunction with FaceBook such as checking in to the place you are at. Others like to see the results in a search engine where you are looking for a place “near me”. And, location tracking can help you find your phone if it is lost. But, most of the time, setting your location setting to “On” is not necessary.
How it Works
Mobile location tracking verifies your position geographically based on the location of your cell phone. The process works by through the phone’s GPS (Global Positioning System) or by using radio signals from a combination of cell phone towers. These coordinates precisely disclose the location of the mobile device. This technology can be surprisingly accurate down to within 1 foot of your location.
Telecom companies can use this type of information in several ways. There are companies that use applications (apps) in which your location is integrated into the programming. These apps then use your location to prompt you via marketing notifications based on where you are. Some social media programs such as Facebook use the technology also as mentioned above.
Your Privacy and Your Cell Phone
Since apps actually collect and store data, that information can be used in a variety of ways. The data can be sold for marketing purposes to other companies or sometimes used to target various advertisements more effectively. Because of these examples and more, you have a resource regarding your privacy. This resource is the Electronic Privacy Information Center which is part of epic.org.
This organization asserts that the information gathered using your cell phone can also be used to determine aspects regarding your identity. This includes your buying habits and the things you are doing on your smartphone. This raises issues because your identity is being compromised which creates a privacy concern.
In fact, research has shown that an astonishing percentage (95%) of all social media websites and the related apps share your information to 3rd parties.
Using Your Location Tracking
It is a good idea for your privacy and other reasons that you turn off your location tracking when you are not specifically using it. And, keep in mind that passive location tracking creates an unneeded drain on your battery.
To control whether your location tracking is on or off, you go to the “Settings” option on your cell phone. Here, you would navigate to the “Location” option where you will find a toggle switch. You simply toggle the switch to the on or off position and then you are done.
You can also turn off the location history on your device and create a more permanent setting. For iPhones, this feature is under the “General” option. Then go to the Background App Refresh option. Then, you can turn it off completely or select the options for each application.
For the Android, navigate to the Google option. From there, select the Location option. Then from this point, select the Google Location History option and turn it off.
We hope this article has been informative for you and has helped you understand how to better manage your device. As always, if you have any further question about managing your location or in need of cell phone repair, don’t hesitate to contact Rob the Phone Doctor at 239-910-0100. We are here to help!
