disablelocationhistory-title

We’ve all thought at one point or another that “Big Brother” has an eye on us and we usually joke about it with friends or co-workers.  When you actually sit down and take the time to research just how much information is kept regarding your location or activities, that smile may disappear.  You may look at it another way and you may see the benefits of Google Location History.  If you are a law abiding, truthful individual, then having your location accessible to anyone that possesses your Google username and password may come in handy.

One day my 6 year old will have a phone (Most likely an Android) and being able to see her activity can be a nice feature.

If something ever happens to me or a loved one, as morbid as that sounds, I would like the proper authorities to access mine as well as others location history.

A small business that can’t afford GPS tracking for their fleet can at least see where their employees are and have been over the course of a shift.  Here’s how it looks on a computer….

Picture is an actual screen shot of my activity that day.  The dots show stops along the way or signal being refreshed.

There are upsides but, more likely than not, you are one of the people that “Big Brother” is overstepping his boundaries.

Also, who is Google sharing this information with? 

Is it being sold to companies that want to monitor your shopping habits? 

Exactly how much information can legally be handed over to someone else without your knowledge? 

Those are all questions for another post but they are all valid and should you be one of the people bothered by this news, you should do your homework.

That brings me to my next point and that is to take your location into your own hands and turn Location History off.  While it is not broadcast all over the news and other media outlets, you have the option to disable location history and go stealth.

 

To disable location reporting or history in Android:

  1. Open the App Drawer and go to Settings.
  2. Scroll down and tap Location.
  3. Scroll down and tap Google Location Settings.
  4. Tap Location Reporting and Location History, and switch the slider to off for each one.
  5. To delete your phone’s location cache, tap “Delete Location History” at the bottom of the screen under Location History.
  6. Repeat this process for each Google Account you have on your Android device.

 

To disable location services in iOS:

  1. Open the Settings App.
  2. Scroll down to Privacy, and select Location Services.
  3. Disable all Location Services by swiping the slider at the top, or scroll down to disable location services for specific apps, including Google and Google Maps.
  4. Select System Services to deny location data from specific features, like location-based advertisements, turn off Frequent Locations, or disable the “Popular Near Me” feature.

This may affect other apps ability to pin point your location automatically so you have to decide what is important to you.

 

[sean-elliott]