This simple Android location setting saves your privacy
Privacy is more important than ever. Beyond fraud and identity theft risks, access to your information could also impact personal safety.
Your phone doesn’t need your exact location at every given moment. It doesn’t need to know where you are unless you use a program like Google Maps.
Fortunately, one setting on your Android phone helps you take back some privacy. Keep reading for a simple way to cut down on location tracking.
Look up the apps that use your phone’s location
On your home screen, swipe down from the top.
- Tap and hold the Location setting. If this isn’t immediately visible in your Quick Settings menu, tap on the pencil icon or the Settings cog and drag Location into Quick Settings.
- From the Location menu, tap on App location permissions.
- Choose an app. From here, you can choose from Allow all the time, Allow only while using the app, Ask every time and Don’t allow.
- Alternatively, you may see the headings above when an app is allowed to use your location. Tap those to see which apps have that permission enabled.
Here’s what each permission means.
- Allow all the time: Apps that can always access your location.
- Allow only while using the app: Apps that use your location when they’re open and active.
- Ask every time: Apps that can use your location only with authorization each time.
- Not Allowed: Apps that cannot use your phone’s location for any purpose.
If you want to change an app’s permission, tap the app icon and set your preferred location access. This must be done individually for each app.
What we recommend
Your location feature is helpful in many situations. You don’t have to block it for every single app. Instead, you should be picky with which apps you allow location access.
This is what we recommend:
True or false: The government can track your phone's location without a warrant
In many TV crime shows, there is a race against time to track criminals through technology. Using city-wide camera footage or triangulating a mobile phone’s signal, police never fail to make an arrest. Tap or click here for five ways you’re being tracked that you must stop immediately.