The ONE thing parents should know about Facebook Location Setting

Yesterday I logged in to Facebook and got a notification on their updated settings. They have made it rather simple to understand it. You no longer need to read through pages of documents or scroll down a very long page to click on the ‘Accept and Continue’ button.

However, today I spent some time browsing through their settings page. They have added new features, that is Your Facebook Information, Location, Facial Recognition and Business Integration. Here are the new added features:

The one setting that strike the most to me is the location setting.

This is what you should know about Facebook Location setting :

Ever since having a Facebook account in 2006 I thought I was being safe online by almost never clicking on the ‘check in’ button. I have also never switched on Location setting on my profile and do not reveal my city or hometown location.

But with the new Location History feature, I was shocked to find out that Facebook knew exactly WHERE I went, WHAT time I left , WHEN I was away and HOW long I spend in a particular location. If you find the sentence above confusing then check the picture below:

Now that scared me! I can scroll all the way to many years back and trace exactly where I have been. My first instincts was if someone wanted to know exactly what I do and where I go, all they needed to do was hack my Facebook account. Now, imagine someone can know exactly which school your kids go to, what time they leave in the morning, the route they take to go to school or where they go after school. Not just that, they can know exactly where your kids are in this precise moment. This can be really dangerous.

By default Facebook has this feature switched on.

This is how you can check your location history on Facebook

1. Click on Settings
2. Click on Location
3. Click on View Your Location History.

At this point you must either be shocked or probably be aware of this feature. If you are surprised like me then do please read through the next paragraphs to switch off this setting. It is not just your kids location setting that should be switched off but also yours. Giving away your location might also put your family in danger.

You can only switch off the location setting from your device (mobilephone or Ipads).

This is how you can turn it off on an Android device:

• Click Setting
• Click Apps
• Click the 3 red dot on top
• Click App Permission
• Click Location
• Turn of Facebook Location

Or watch the video below :

How to turn off Facebook location on an Apple device:

• Tap Settings
• Click Privacy
• Click Location Services.

I strongly urge all parents to switch off the location setting on yours and your kids devices. Even though Facebook states that all this is private and can be deleted at any time we do know that ‘privacy’ is almost a myth in the digital age. There have been many cases of data leaks and our location is something we do not want strangers to ever know.

Don’t forget to stay safe online

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