Facebook will discontinue some location-based services at the end of May without giving any reasons. Facebook has announced that it will discontinue some location-based services starting at the end of May 2022. The “Friends Nearby” and “Weather Alerts” functions are affected, among others.
Info via notification
Android and iOS smartphone users have been informed about the change via notifications since the end of last week. Facebook has not commented on the reasons for this decision. [ HERE ]
“Nearby friends and weather alerts will no longer be available after May 31, 2022. Information you shared that was used for these experiences, including location history and background location, will no longer be collected after May 31, 2022, even if you previously enabled it.”
Facebook
Data octopus location tracking
Depending on the user's settings and approvals, Facebook has stored more or less location data. Among other things, the location history data can be used to generate a map that shows users the places they have visited.
download the individual location history until August 1, 2022 . After this date, the stored location data will be deleted from the Facebook servers.
The Nearby Friends feature allows users to see a list of friends who are nearby and when their location was last recorded. You also have the option of waving and easily drawing the attention of a friend nearby. However, this function is based on reciprocity. Only if both share their locations with a specific public can they learn whether they are near each other.
The term proximity is interpreted very broadly. This means that friends who are several hundred kilometers away are also displayed. While this function can definitely make sense for friends who are actually in the same place to meet spontaneously, the question remains as to what insight the information that friend XY is currently 750 km away brings.
While with Google location tracking the location must be released for each individual contact, which is also possible unilaterally, with Facebook those friends who should not have access (“friends except”) must be excluded. There may be a data protection problem in this opt-out design of the function. However, this is pure speculation.
Facebook continues to collect data
However, Facebook also points out in the notification that the platform will continue to collect user information and location data based on its own data policies. In order to prevent the use of data obtained in this way, users can take appropriate precautions in the settings of Facebook or their smartphones.
Conclusion
Facebook will retire some location-based features like Nearby Friends and Weather Alerts at the end of May. Users were informed via notification. Users will have the option to download their location history until August 1st. The data will then be deleted. Facebook will still continue to collect location data as part of its data guidelines.
Sources: Facebook, 9to5mac
Also read: Scammers pretend to be Facebook and want to crack your profile and page
Notes:
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