Nowadays, chances are high that you have a stalker in your virtual life – and your own smartphone is the culprit. Indeed, it might sound rather creepy, but we actively use GPS trackers in our day-to-day life. We activate location sharing once and never remember about this feature again. Several years later, your smartphone shares your location with applications and friends without asking for any permission. Silent sharing of your location is the threat to your privacy, and you should take back your digital self.
Let's consider your last experience of interacting with any kind of mapping application or location tagging of the photo in Instagram. Most likely, you gave the permission and moved on. However, the problem is that the permissions tend to remain active just like some kind of gum stuck to your shoe. Your smartphone knows what you want and gives you convenience, not thinking about your actual needs and privacy. Truly, in terms of default settings, the manufacturers give you the convenience, not the security.
First of all, let us speak about Google Maps. It is a really handy application for finding the way to classes or nearest pizza place. However, there is the feature called Location Sharing in this application. This feature allows particular people to trace your every move. For example, you activated this feature to meet up with your friends at the mall last summer. If you did not turn it off, your friends can still trace your every move when you are at home, at school, or even at the movies. It seems like leaving the curtains wide open for your neighbors.
How to solve it? You just have to go to Google Maps on your iPhone or Android smartphone. You need to tap on your profile picture in the top right corner. The drop-down menu will appear. Select "Location sharing" option. Now you will see the list of people that you share your location with. Tap on any of them and select "Stop" option. It will take you just ten seconds to eliminate one of the major threats to your privacy.
Secondly, you should deal with system-level permissions. On iPhone, you should open Settings application and select "Privacy & Security" option. Then select "Location Services" and check the list of all applications that ever asked about your location. You will see the long list of applications like Snapchat, Uber Eats, and others. You can find there the applications that are set to "Always" but do not really need to know your current location. Change the permissions to "While using" or "Never" depending on the frequency of opening the application.
Android users will follow a slightly different path to reach their goal. To check the list of applications that have access to your location, you should also open Settings, then tap on "Location" and "App location permissions". It will show you the list of all applications that are allowed to access your GPS. You will be shocked to know how many applications like games and utilities track your location in background. Of course, the calculator application has no need for your coordinates. Changing the permissions of the application will not damage anything.
Also, there is the feature called Snap Map in Snapchat that is popular among high schoolers. If you do not have the "Ghost Mode" activated, then your Bitmoji is located on top of your house for all your contacts to see. To activate it, you should open Snapchat application, pinch the screen to view the map, and tap on the gear icon. Then you just need to activate the "Ghost Mode". You can either activate this feature for some hours or forever.
Of course, we should not forget about "Find My" network on the Apple devices. It is the great feature to find the lost device and also allows your parents to track your arrival. But you should check regularly who has access to your location. Open "Find My" application and look at "People" tab. If you see the person that you do not trust there anymore, delete him right now. Trust is good, but digital hygiene is better.
Some people claim that turning off location services ruins the whole user experience. They claim that they cannot tag the photos or receive the weather forecast without GPS. Yes, that is true, but it is your tradeoff. You can put the coordinates yourself and also tag the city, not the particular address. Convenience of the targeted advertisement is not worth sacrificing your personal privacy. In this case, you become a product of the service.
Also, it is worth checking your social media applications like Instagram or TikTok. When you post the story, you should check whether location is set to active. Sometimes the applications automatically put the location tag on your posts. Go into the application settings and revoke location access on the operating system level. So, the application will ask for permission each time.
Maybe you are thinking right now that no one cares about your location. But the advertisers, data brokers, and malicious actors can be interested in it. Your location data is a treasure for companies that want to sell you sneakers or fast-food. Also, in the case of data breach, strangers will know your every movement pattern. It is the real security risk that goes beyond the annoyance of the targeted advertisement. Thus, protection of your data is the self-protection measure.
You should spend twenty minutes now scrolling through your settings. It is not a fun activity to do on the weekend, but it is essential. As you lock the front door of your house before leaving, you should lock your digital door as well. Feeling of safety and security from any threats is worth the efforts. Do not allow your smartphone to betray your secrets to the world.
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