Where am I?

By Charles Miller

In one of my previous columns, I recommended the website www.scam-detector.com—there is a dash between scam and detector—as a valuable resource for investigating online scams. Right on cue, the following message went viral on Twitter: “Important! Precise location warning. Since a new update, people can find your exact location from Instagram and this is being used by individuals to target people to commit crimes including theft, stalking, and so forth.”  This message points out a significant weakness of the scam-detector.com site; and this is also posing the challenge of recognizing hyperbole.

While that message quoted above was debunked for being more than a little misleading, it did call attention to a worrisome truth that way too many apps on your smart phone have given themselves permission to track your every movement. Obviously, mapping and navigation apps such as my friend, the app Chatty Cathy, need to have access to your phone’s location to get you where you want to go. The Uber app also needs access to verify where to come pick you up, but many apps do not need that access. They are overstepping, being nosy, and sometimes collecting data about to sell it. To add insult to injury, you may be the one paying—depending on your cell plan—for the cellular data those apps use to spy on you.

You could always turn the location services off entirely. I will provide more on that later, but that could deprive you of features you might want or need. Fortunately, there remains a way you can take back a shred of your privacy while still being able to use the location services in the apps you want to use on your smart phone. On Apple devices click on Settings, Privacy, Location Services. Android devices have slight differences between phones, but their instructions are to click on Settings, then Privacy, Permissions, and finally Location. There, you will find a list of your apps that are keeping an eye on you and those you have allowed to know your location. Tap on any app where you find the options listed: Deny, Only While Using the App, Always, and Ask Every Time. You may choose to change these permissions as you see fit.

While you are prowling around the permission manager section of your smart phone settings, there are a few other things you might want to explore in your phone, specifically the permission settings for “Camera” and “Microphone.”  Tap on either those and be prepared to be surprised to learn that you have allowed the app to turn on and use your camera, and some have permission to activate your phone’s microphone and listen to anything it hears.

Earlier I mentioned that turning off the built-in location service on your device is possible. However, trackers can use other technologies and techniques to reveal your device location whether location services are turned on or off. A smart phone must be in constant communication with nearby cell towers to function, so you cannot realistically turn that off. It is best to remain aware and to be proactive in limiting the permissions that your installed apps have to your location, camera, and microphone. By forming the habit of tailoring these settings as you download new apps, you will find what is right for you.

Charles Miller is a freelance computer consultant, a frequent visitor to San Miguel since 1981 and now, practically a full-time resident. He can be contacted at 415 101 8528 or email FAQ8@SMAguru.com.