Without your knowledge, you could be sharing your location and opening yourself up to privacy scares and even criminal activity. Whether you’re posting photos on Instagram (that contain your location info) or using a social media app to “check-in” at your favorite restaurant or salon, you could be unknowingly or knowingly sharing the details of where you are hanging out — and many tech experts say this is a bad idea. We asked a tech expert: Is sharing your location really safe? Here’s the deal with that practice.
Helpful — But Risky
Because social media has put us pretty much within the public eye, Daniel F. Carter, the SEO Expert at LoveStruck, says it has become increasingly simple to share your location with people — even those you didn’t intend to share with. “Every time you publish a photo or status on facebook, make a Tweet, check-in to a place, you’re sharing your place together with your friends list and their buddies and pretty possibly buddies of those buddies and on and on,” Carter says. “Even as the brand new feature may make it less complicated than ever to discover and communicate with friends and take a look at what people are up to nearby, a few internet protection professionals worry it can be another headache for people.”
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Carter acknowledges that there are times when location sharing can be beneficial, but that the risks can outweigh those benefits. “Although location sharing is helpful to a certain degree, there may be big hazards attached to data that can be used to trace someone’s movement in the course of the day–no longer only for their privacy, however additionally for their bodily safety,” Carter says. “Worse, despite region settings turned off, there is a sure amount of location records that can be inferred to smartphones’ connection to cell towers, WiFi networks, and other surrounding generation.”
To turn off Share My Location, go to Settings > Privacy > Location Services and tap on Share My Location. From here you can opt to turn off this feature.
