Facebook for Android has received a new update that gives users more control over their privacy settings, notably allowing them to stop the app from tracking their location.
Before this, the app could track in the background those who have their Location History set to on. Put differently, it could keep tabs on users' location even when they're not using it, but now there's an option to turn it off.
How To Stop Facebook From Tracking You On Android
Step 1: Launch the Facebook app for Android.
Step 2: There should be a notification regarding the new background location setting (as seen in the image below). Now there should be a "Manage Settings" button at the end. Tap it to go to the Location Access menu.
Step 3: Toggle the Background Location option to off.
"We're alerting everyone using the Facebook app on an Android device who chose to turn on Location History in the past, letting them know about the new control, and asking them to take a moment to check that their settings are right for them," Facebook says in a press release.
For those who aren't seeing the notification for whatever reason, just head on over to Settings & Privacy > Settings > Location > Location Settings to turn off Location History. Alternatively, the option is also accessible via Settings & Privacy > Privacy Shortcuts > Manage your location settings.
It should be mentioned that those who never turned on Location History won't have to go through these steps. However, it's likely that some users aren't aware they enabled it in the first place, as it's required to use features such as location tagging.
This update is in response of Android users' feedback regarding how the Facebook app can continuously track their location in the background.
What About Facebook For iOS?
Facebook users on the iOS aren't receiving this update because it doesn't need it. In other words, iOS already has this option long before Android did because of its built-in iOS location permissions, which lets users decide whether to let an app track them all the time, only when they're using it, or never at all.
