Steve Smith talks about the iOS6 functions of location and privacy, how to maintain your location privacy, maintain your cellphone location settings in a secure method, and how to determine whenever your location is being detected by your iPhone.
Episode #3-13 released on December 9, 2012
The iPhone, a really popular device that many people enjoy. It plays music, movies, podcasts such as this, and gives off your current GPS location to applications, cell towers and your phone company. We can all understand the importance of the towers and phone company keeping track of the phone, its thanks to this we have fewer dropped calls, but we are allowed to know when it occurs, how it occurs, and when it happens.
Today, I explain how to turn off location tracking, enable the ability to know when it is being used, and explain why you should leave certain settings on, rather than off.
First, finding this setting isn't hard. In your iPhone's settings application, click on Privacy, then Location Services. You can either turn Location Services ON or OFF for all applications in general, or select the applications you wish to let detect your location like the weather applications, Siri, etc...
At the bottom of this page there is another menus called System Services. The System Services menus contains ON/OFF tabs for Call Network Search, Compass Calibration, Diagnostics & usage, Genius for Apps, Location-Based iADs, Setting Time Zone, and Traffic. Most of these are useful, and should be left on, things like iADs, and Genius, you can simply turn off if you so desire.
We are not finished, there is a way to find out all the time when your location is being broadcast, and it is at the bottom of the System Services menus, The Status Bar Icon, it will tell you anytime something in your phone is requesting your location, such as GPS, Network Search or any applications. This means, you know, at the very least, that someone or some computer knows where you are.
There are many privacy concerns about having location services turned on, but you only need one valid reason to leave most of the system settings set to on, and that is in case of an emergency. Since about 2002, after the September 11, 2001, attacks, almost all cellphones, including the iPhone have the ability to broadcast your location using AGPS, or Assisted GPS. AGPS is a combination of GPS locations and cell tower detection, which makes it easier to find anyone, and is commonly used by emergency call centers in many countries, including United States and many places in Canada. So, when you decide which location settings you want to turn off, don't turn off everything, for your own safety.
Next week, why I hate Internet Explorer, and like I stated last week, if any of you want to send me suggestions, audio, video, stories, etc... Please send them to ask@tqaweekly.com.
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Host : Steve Smith | Music : Jonny Lee Hart | Editor : Steve Smith | Producer : Zed Axis Productions