Your Phone Can Tell Everyone Where You’ve Been
If you're someone who values their privacy then you're going to want to know about this. You've probably heard that smartphones can be worse tattletales than a three-year-old at a family gathering. It's true they can be and just like the three-year-old, they don't need your permission.
Both Apple iPhone and Android phones have a feature that tracks where you go, how long you were there, and how long you've stayed there. Granted, that feature could come in handy if you misplace your phone and went online from another computer to find it. That's the good news.
The not so good news is that the world full of evil-doers can also figure out where you've been,where you work, and where you live. That information could be quite handy if you had a mind to "borrow" someone's identity.
In the iPhone, the tattler is called Frequent Locations. Android users you're being tracked by Goggle Location History. You might think you have them disabled but chances are you don't.
According to well-known computer guru Kim Komando and her website, here's how you turn off the Frequent locations in your iPhone.
In order to turn off Apple's Frequent Locations features, go to Settings >> Privacy >> Location Services >> System Services >> Frequent Locations and toggle it off. You can also eliminate your history here by clicking "Clear History."
If you're an Android user the steps are similar but not exactly the same. Here's the procedure according to Kommando to "hide" where you've been on the Android platform.
Settings >> Google >> Location >> Google Location History and turn off. You can also access this screen through a separate app called Google Settings.
It's a shame that feature designers put into our devices to help us have become a focal point for those that would hurt us. A word to the wise is this, if you can see the Internet, it can see you. We suggest you proceed with caution.