If you let it, Facebook knows where you shop and which friends are near you or what places you have visited - if you let it.
Our cooperation partner checked4you shows you how to deactivate the location for Facebook.
the essentials in brief
- If you allow the Facebook app on your smartphone to access your location, it may also be recorded, saved and evaluated in the background.
- This allows Facebook to create a profile of you and find out where you were and when.
- However, the only way to prevent this is to accurately record the location. Facebook always tracks your approximate position.
Location capture Facebook
With the Facebook app you can indicate where you are for each post. This can be great to share this information. In order for this to be possible, the app must access your cell phone's location tracking. If you allow this, Facebook will learn a lot of other things and can use them accordingly.
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However, in December 2019, Facebook explained in a statement to US senators that it still records the approximate positions of its users even when location access is switched off. This is already in the data protection declaration . A US journalist published the statement on Twitter .
Security and advertising
Facebook justifies tracking (= user tracking) with, among other things, ensuring security. Recording the location is important in order to be able to warn users if there is a login attempt in an unusual location - for example, a user normally logs in in London and suddenly a login attempt is made in Sydney.
In addition, location recording is important in order to display advertising. For example, those who place advertisements can specify that they are only shown to people in a certain country, region or even a certain city.
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If you have prohibited the Facebook app from accessing your location (more on this below), Facebook will use your cell phone's IP address, for example. This should also apply to other apps from the company, such as Instagram.
You cannot turn off this recording. However, location detection via the IP address is less precise than via GPS - which is why it still makes sense to prohibit the Facebook app from tracking location. The IP address can be used to determine the city or region you are in; not the exact address.
Two examples of what is possible with accurate location tracking:
Where are you shopping?
It should no longer be a secret that Facebook recognizes which websites you browse and shop on. But the app can also determine which store you go shopping “offline”.
Companies that place ads on Facebook can indicate the location of their store and, based on your cell phone's location, evaluate how many customers came to their store after viewing the advertisement. The link between your location and advertising can also be done via WiFi. More about this here .
Which of your friends is nearby?
With Nearby Friends, the Facebook app can show you which of your friends are not far from you. However, you first have to activate the function in the app settings. Once you have done this, you can switch off “Friends Nearby” at any time. Until February 2019, Facebook continued to record and store your location in the background - even if you no longer used “Friends Nearby”.
On February 20, Facebook announced that users of the app on Android will be asked if they would like to have their location recorded in the background. This query is not provided in the app for iOS. We will explain how you control the location recording there in the next point.
Block access to location, disable location history
If you have an iPhone or iPad, you can set how apps are allowed to access your location in the device settings. To do this, tap Settings , then Privacy and Location Services . There you tap Facebook and have the choice between Never , When using and Always . With Always , Facebook can constantly record, save and evaluate your exact location, even in the background.
completely prohibit access to your location for individual apps in the central settings under the keyword data protection For Android version 6 (Marshmallow), go to Settings , tap Apps and select the Facebook app. Then open permissions and turn location .
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For older Android versions before 6.0 (Marshmallow), you can unfortunately only generally deactivate the location service for all apps to protect yourself. Of course, problems arise with applications such as weather, navigation or security apps that offer you the opportunity to locate .
Our tip in case: Avoid the Facebook app and use the network via a browser app (address: m.facebook.com).
In addition, Facebook itself offers the option of blocking the recognition of locations. To do this, open the app's settings (three horizontal lines at the top right on Android) and scroll down to Settings . After you open it, tap Location (in some versions it's called Location or Security and Location ) and turn off Location History .
But that just means that the network doesn't permanently record your location and enter it into your activity log. The app may still use your location for other purposes, such as “so you can find nearby places,” it said in a statement. So if you want to protect yourself properly, this setting is relatively pointless.
And if you've previously enabled location tracking and want to know where Facebook has accompanied you, check out your location history on this Facebook page .
You might also be interested in: Data leak on Facebook: 267 million data records unprotected online
Source: checked4you
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