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Facebook now lets you block background location tracking on Android https://ift.tt/2T5y69q Facebook is adding a new privacy control to its Android app today that allows users to prevent the social network from accessing their location when the app isn’t open. The update comes just days after CNBC reported that Facebook’s security team had used location information to track missing interns and users deemed to be threats. Until now, granting Facebook your location data on Android was an all-or-nothing deal: you either had to prevent Facebook from seeing your location at all, or you had to grant it full use of your location. That comes down to how Android works. Google requires that apps get permission to use your location, but it doesn’t offer options for when your location data can be used. Today’s announcement seems to imply that Facebook used that access to keep checking in on users’ locations, even when the app wasn’t open. Now, Facebook is allowing users to opt out of sharing their location while the app is closed, with a toggle that will limit Facebook to checking in only when you’re using the app. On iOS, Apple already presents the option to block an app from using your location in the background, so an update there isn’t needed. Facebook says it’s going to be sending out alerts anyway to both iOS and Android users, asking them to review their location settings. Last week, CNBC reported on how Facebook’s security team once used the service’s access to location data in an attempt to track interns who hadn’t shown up for work. The company is also reported to have tracked the location of users deemed to be threats. Gadget News via The Verge https://ift.tt/1jLudMg February 20, 2019 at 12:07PM
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October 2020
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