Most people who use a mobile device such as a smartphone or tablet are probably not aware that they are constantly being monitored and that all geographical locations are recorded on Google’s servers.
Every place you visit is traced through the Wi-Fi connection, the connection to cell towers scattered throughout the territory and through the GPS module. This option is enabled by default with the aim of improving, making more personalized, the final user experience. In fact, there are many applications and services that depend on the user’s location or show their position in Tweets and Facebook posts etc., in this way the movement is constantly monitored.
Although being traceable can have some advantages, those who do not want to give their exact position can safely disable this feature and even delete all the history of previous positions.
Attention: there are several applications that use the location to provide services and in most cases, giving up location data is worth less than if you want to keep your position private. Before disabling this feature, make sure you do not depend on applications that use the location to provide services or you will have to give them up. However, the effect is not permanent, in fact it is possible to reactivate this function each time you wish, following the same procedure below.
HOW TO DEACTIVATE THE GOOGLE LOCATION ON ANDROID DEVICES
Disabling this feature on Android devices is a breeze. First of all, from the smartphone or tablet go to “Settings” and then press “Location” under “Other”. [Note: depending on the Android version the name and location of the option may vary].
On the next screen, tap or slide the green button at the top right of the screen to turn off location services. This will only serve to pause monitoring, you will need to manually delete location data.
To delete the history of previous positions click on “Google Location History” (location tracking must be “Activate” to access these settings) and tap “Delete Location History” at the bottom of the screen. From the prompt, select the option “I understand and I want to delete” and then tap “Delete” to delete all the history of the previous positions. You can also access location settings from Google Maps.
In the menu, scroll down and tap on “Settings”. In the settings you will see the possibility of “Google Location Settings”, tap on it and you will be able to access the location settings.
HOW TO DEACTIVATE THE LOCATION TRACEABILITY ON IOS DEVICES
The location services are quite flexible on iOS, tap on “Settings” and scroll to Privacy and then tap on “Location Services”. Slide the cursor up to deactivate the “Location Services”. On that screen are all the applications that use the location detection feature to provide services. Just activate those you trust and that you would like to use.
Scroll further down and tap on “System Services” to access additional services that depend on your location. Just disable the services that you are not going to use.
HOW TO DISABLE THE GEOLOCALIZATION FROM THE PERSONAL COMPUTER BROWSER
Some applications and services require your current location while browsing. To disable the location in Chrome click on the menu at the top right of the screen (there are three horizontal lines) and from there click on “Settings”. At the bottom, click on “Show advanced settings …”. There, click on “Content Settings”. From the next window, scroll down and select “Do not allow any site to monitor your physical location” under “Location”. In this way, your position will no longer be monitored.
To disable the tracking of your position in Firefox, instead type “about: config” in the search bar and press enter. On the next page, type “geo.enabled” in the search bar and you will see the “geo.enabled” option below. Double click on “geo.enabled” to set it to “False” and your position will no longer be monitored.
Finally, to disable the position in Opera, click on the menu at the top left of the screen and from the menu click on “Settings”. Click on “Web Sites” on the left side of the screen to see all the options related to it.
Scroll down and select “Do not allow any site to monitor my physical location” under “Position”.