It’s no secret that Apple can pinpoint, with scary accuracy, our i devices.  There are some in depth settings on iphone that can track your frequent locations, put geotag information into photos.  Geotag info in photos is the code that anyone could use to find the location a photo was taken.  So if you or your child post a lot of photos, a potential creeper could actually see where your home, work or school is located.

No worries, I’m going to walk you through this to check your iPhone’s settings and your kids if necessary.  If they don’t have one, be sure to save this post so you can find it when the time comes.  To make this post less scroll-y, I am going to use the ‘greater than’ carrot symbol ( > ) to denote the next step to tap on in the phone’s settings.  Example: Settings>Notifications would mean to tap on Settings, that’s the gear like icon, scroll down until you see Notifications and tap that selection.  And so on.  Yup, I got pictures too!

My biggest concern is the location info in camera.  So let’s get started:  Settings>Privacy>Location Services>Camera.  Check Never and tap on Location Services in the top left.  That will bring you back the full Location Services menu.

Next up are the >System Services.  This one has some weird and interesting settings that can show you where you or your child have been if they are enabled.  ‘Find iPhone’, needs to be on, in  my opinion.  If the phone gets lost or stolen, this feature will enable the phone to be tracked.  Just tap on ‘Find iPhone’ and choose either ‘Never’ or ‘While Using’. When done, tap back to ‘Location Services’.

Now the deeper settings.  Scroll down to ‘System Services’>.  Some of these you will definitely want on and some you will definitely want off.  Although the choice is up to you, if you worry over what location information can be given away just from the iPhone, you can follow these suggestions.

 

 

 

 

I have the ‘Location-Based’ services off as well as the ‘Share My Location’ service.  The ‘Location-Based’ services will provide alerts,  ads and suggestions based on where you are at that time.  I already have enough ads in my face, don’t need any based on my whereabouts.  The ‘Share My Location’ service is something that would send info to Apple of where you are when certain things happen or you access apps.  This is probably helpful to them for improving products, but they can send me an email with a survey if they want to know that bad.

Next we are going to jump into ‘Frequent Locations’.  This is a weird one.  Has your phone or your kid’s phone ever popped up and let you know you usually head somewhere at this time, ie work, home, school, etc.?  Well, if it has, that is due to this setting.  Tap on it and let’s take a look.

If the toggle is green or on, then there is probably a list of ‘Frequent Locations’ listed.  This will show where the phone has been most frequently.  Yeah, no.  With all my stuff online, you already know enough about where I go and what I do, let me have SOME privacy.  Some of you may want this feature on your kid’s phone.  Others may not.

By following these tips, and again, I am sorry I do not have any Android user tips at this time, you can be sure little to no location information is being accidentally sent via that device.

In case you missed it, a nifty app I use, Parent Kit, can help regulate the amount of time a child spends on their device, as well as what they can and can’t use or download, check out this post that details what you can do with that.

If you’ve been following along lately, I have published my Facebook page!  I am hoping it will become a supplement to this blog for questions, quick tips, conversations and parenting fun & fails.  Feel free to pop on over and take a look.  Like, comment and join in the conversation.  Can’t wait to see you!