SMARTPHONE owners have warned about their data being tracked by apps on their devices.
If you have a smartphone, chances are most apps on your device are trying to track your location.
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This happens for several reasons, for example, news apps ask for your location so they can offer you relevant information.
Navigation apps like Apple Maps ask for your location so they can direct you from point A to B.
And apps like social media tend to collect personal and location data to learn who you are and better serve their demographics.
Most companies out there relish the opportunity to send you targeted advertisements – and knowing your location helps.
However, this is a prominent form of data collection, and sometimes, can threaten your privacy.
For instance, a company may collect location data on your whereabouts and then share it with a third party without your knowledge.
In more extreme – but still common – instances, your location information could get breached by cybercriminals.
When this data is combined with other factors, like the Internet, and social media, a criminal could easily track your movements.
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Thankfully, there is a way you can protect your privacy and location data.
HOW TO STAY SAFE
“You can disable location sharing on an app-by-app basis rather easily,” cybersecurity firm McAfee notes in a blog post.
“For example, you can set your apps to enable location services only while in use,” they added.
Below we have outlined how to do this on both iPhones and Android devices.
For Android, tap on your Settings app, select Apps & Notifications, and pick an app.
Tap Permissions, then select the triple-dot icon in the upper-right corner.
Next, click All Permissions, scroll down to Location, and switch it on or off.
Users also have the option to turn off their Android device’s location tracking completely.
To do this, head to the main screen of your Settings app and tap on Security & Location.
Once there, scroll down to Privacy and select Location.
Toggle off “Use location” to turn it off entirely, though this may cause issues with certain apps and system services.
On iPhone, you can modify location settings by heading to Settings > Privacy > Location Services.
From there, you can manage which apps can access your location and under what circumstances.
If an app uses Precise Location, you can choose to enable or disable it.
You can also make it so iOS apps can only use your location once or only while using the app.
But remember: You might lose access to some features that depend on it.
