Tech
talk - Social media is tracking you!
Social
media apps are tracking your location in shocking detail
If you're
like most of us, you probably don't want to broadcast your whereabouts at all
times. But a lot of social media apps are tracking your location and making it
easy for others to do the same. Here's a look at how the two most popular
social media apps can track your every move.
Facebook tracks the location of all of your
messages
While
it's well known that Facebook's Messenger app uses location data, it's not so
clear how that location data can be used.But thanks to a new Google Chrome extension
called Marauder's Map, we now know that you can get some pretty creepy location
data from the messaging app.
The
extension reveals a person's exact location on a map. It is able to work
because Facebook Messenger ties a user's location data to a message if their
location settings are enabled. The extension then maps out the person's
location based on where they send each message.However, this only works if the
person you are messaging has location data for the app turned on.
Instagram tracks photos even if you don't
geotag
Instagram
also collects some specific data about users' locations based on where they
post images.
While the
picture sharing app does give users the option to name the location of where
they are uploading an image, it also geotags an uploaded pic regardless if the
user has selected the `Add to Photo Map' function.
This
means that anybody can view the almost exact location of where an image was
posted on a map even if the user doesn't select the `Name This Location'
feature.
This is
scary because people tend to upload most images from their home or at work. So
if a user's profile is public and their photo map is turned on, anybody can see
the exact location of where they are posting.
Source
| Economic Times | 3 June 2015
Regards
Pralhad Jadhav
Khaitan & Co
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