Protect your privacy: Deactivate GPS, WLAN & Bluetooth!

Protect your privacy: Deactivate GPS, WLAN & Bluetooth!

in a world in which smartphones play a central role in everyday life, the responsible handling of location data is of crucial importance. A current recommendation from the Stiftung Warentest says that users should only activate their radio connections such as GPS, WLAN and Bluetooth if necessary. This measure not only serves to protect privacy, but can also help extend the battery life. If the battery level is low, the switch -off of non -needed radio connections can win decisive minutes, which is of great advantage for many users. According to tz.de it is also important to deactivate the "improve location accuracy" function, to deactivate additional data collection prevent.

Another risk is that unused Bluetooth can be a potential security risk. Vulnerings in Bluetooth implementations could enable attackers access to smartphones. The deactivation of these radio connections on Android devices can easily be made via the quick settings, while iPhone users should make sure that permanent deactivation must be made in the settings.

location data and its effects

The location data is recorded by various technologies, including mobile network, WLAN, Bluetooth and GPS. This data is not only important for the use of location -based services (LBS) such as route calculation or location -related weather, they also contribute to the creation of detailed movement profiles. These can lead to the identification of people and are considered personal data in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). According to datenschutzexperte.de , users should therefore deactivate all location data on their smartphones.

Some apps collect data even in the background, which means that a careful selection and checking of permissions is necessary. Users should only grant the apps access to location data that they need for their operation. Instructions for deactivating these functions are available for both Android and iPhone devices. This can be done on Android devices via the quick settings, while iPhone users have to adjust the settings under "Data Protection> Location Services".

data protection and risks

A focus should also be on the long -term storage of location data. According to dg datatenschutz.de , such data lead to more detailed movement profiles that can be used for targeted advertising. Contactless payment adds additional information to the user interest profile, which further enlarges the digital footprint. Algorithms that recognize patterns in movements can even predict future lounges.