Can Apps Track You with Location Services Turned off?

PSafe Newsroom — Tue, 04 Jul 2017 19:00:22 +0000

Fortunately, tracking smartphones with location services turned off is impossible for now, but you should still be aware of the many other ways in which applications collect and share your data. Some of these apps go beyond the norm. One way to protect a malicious app or thief from accessing your data and collecting private information is to activate Advanced Protection:

In 2016, an Uber app update allowed the company to track users with the app closed, up to five minutes after customers were dropped off by drivers. A 2014 Foursquare app update accessed user “background location” even when not in use, in order to provide users with better notifications. With these recent events in mind, the idea that apps might be able to track smartphone users even while location services are turned off doesn’t sound quite so crazy.

Who Sees Your Location Data?

When smartphone users allow applications to access their location data, this data is then shared roughly 5,000 times within two weeks. Numerous applications, from Weather and Clock to Waze and MapMyRun, and even services such as Setting Time Zones, rely on this data to alter what you see. While this location information is most often shared with advertisers, it can also be used for more serious means. On the off chance that your data might be given to a credit reporting agency or even to your insurance company, why take the chance?

How Apps Track Users

Whether apps are using your location to provide better notifications or to better target their ads, these practices can often feel invasive. When collecting user location data, applications rely on GPS, Wi-Fi, or the phone’s cellular network to track your phone. Apps that rely on a smartphone’s cellular network to track location are particularly troubling because they face no obligation to explicitly solicit permission from users, unlike apps using GPS to track.

Fortunately, turning off location services disables location tracking with each of these three methods. By restricting location permission for the apps looking to track location, users are better able to control their online privacy.

How to Turn off Location Services

Turning off location reporting and location history is an easy step that Android users can take to protect their location information. To do so, users should open the “App Drawer” on their smartphone and enter “Settings.” Once in settings, users should go to “Location” and then “Google Location Settings.” By switching the slider off for both “Location Reporting” and “Location History,” none of the phone’s apps will be able to access or share location data.

On top of these simple steps, users should also look to delete their phone’s location cache. They can do so by tapping “Delete Location History” under the “Location History” tab. Or, you can save yourself some trouble and use Quick Cleanup to remove cache and junk files from all of your apps instantly:

How to Stop Android Apps from Accessing Your Location

PSafe Newsroom — Thu, 20 Apr 2017 16:00:36 +0000

You don’t always want every app knowing where you are all the time. Many apps in the Google Play store may have malicious intentions, too — you may download a seemingly-innocent app that contains spyware. That’s why it’s a good idea to scan your device for malware after downloading a new app:

The Full Virus Scan will check your phone and SD card for any malware. You’ll be able to find and remove any malware that was designed to compromise your security and privacy.

You may know how to make your phone stop tracking your location entirely, but you don’t always want to turn off your location-tracking entirely. Instead, use these tips to turn off location-tracking for individual apps.

How to Turn off Apps in Android 6.0

Android 6.0 lets you turn off location settings for all apps. However, if you want certain apps to be able to access your location, you can also set permissions that way. Note: Older Android operating systems (4.3-5.1) only let you turn off location-tracking permissions for all of your apps.

Go to “Settings.”
Find the “Location” setting.
At the top of the menu, you’ll see a toggle switch. Toggle this switch to deactivate location-tracking for your apps.

If you still want to use the GPS on your phone, you can choose the “Device only” setting in the “Location” setting. This setting turns off the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth location setting, but leaves your GPS settings on.

Turn off Location-Tracking for Specific Apps in Android 6.0

Go to “Settings.”
Click on “General” and then “Apps.”
Click on “Configure apps” or “App settings.”
Click on “App permissions.”
You’ll see your phone features. Click on “Your location.” Here, you can then click on the apps for which you want to disable location-tracking permissions.

Turn off Location-Tracking For Individual Apps in Android 4.3-5.1

Download a free app called AppOps to turn off location permissions for certain apps.
After installing AppOps, open the application. Once open, you’ll see all of the apps you have installed and the permissions each app has on your phone. In each app, one of the first permissions you’ll see is “Location.”
Toggle off “Location” if you don’t want the particular app tracking your location.

Better Manage All of Your Apps

If you download a lot of apps, you may have a lot of apps on your device that track your location without your knowledge. If you have old apps that you no longer use, use App Manager to quickly locate and uninstall apps that you no longer want on your device. Click here to manage your apps and free up space on your device:

location – PSafe Blog

Can Apps Track You with Location Services Turned off?

How to Stop Android Apps from Accessing Your Location