Latest news with #SafetyCheck
Scottish Sun
21 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
See if someone is spying on your exact location & watching every move with little-known phone setting
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) MILLIONS of iPhones have a must-know feature that can expose and block anyone spying on your location. It's built into your iPhone as standard but it's tucked away in the Settings app – so it's easy to miss. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 4 You can find Safety Check in your Privacy & Security settings on iPhone Credit: The Sun / Apple You can use it to review who your location is being shared with, including specific people or apps. The feature is called Safety Check and it's on any iPhone running iOS 16 software or later. You can check if you've got that by going to Settings > General > Software Update. Then you can dive into Safety Check to see if you're being snooped on. HOW DOES LOCATION SPYING WORK? Your location can be accessed in two main ways on an iPhone. The first is with location sharing through Find My. That's when your exact location is being shared with another person in real-time – viewable as a dot on a map. There are two ways this might be happening without your knowledge. One is that you set it up for someone years ago – maybe an ex partner – and simply forgot to switch it off. The other is that someone with access to your iPhone set it up without your knowledge. The second way your location can be shared on an iPhone is with an app. iPhone 16e review – I've secretly tested Apple's cheapest mobile and I love the new button but that's not the best bit Loads of apps will be making good use of your location. Think Uber for taxis, Google Maps for driving, or WhatsApp for sharing your location on the way to an event. But some apps might use your location for nefarious means. If you've ever downloaded a dodgy app by accident, it could be a ploy by crooks to track you. So if you've installed an obscure calculator app that never seemed to work properly, always seems to "crash", and has constant access to your location, that's a red flag. 4 Safety Check will help you find out where your location is being shared Credit: The Sun / Apple On top of that, someone else with access to your phone might have installed a location-spying app. So if there's an app that you don't recognise with access to your location, that's also a very worrying sign. Similarly, you'll also want to make sure that your app accounts are locked down. If someone else has access to an app that can track your location, they might also be able to find out where you are. WHAT CAN SAFETY CHECK LIMIT? You can switch off access to the following... Bluetooth Calendars Camera Contacts Files and Folders Health Local Network Location Services Media and Apple Music Microphone Motion & Fitness Photos Reminders Research Speech Recognition Picture Credit: Apple / The Sun HOW TO USE SAFETY CHECK Safety Check is a way to quickly check up on all of your location sharing, and then shut it off if you like. Just go into Settings > Privacy & Security > Safety Check. You'll be guided through a process that shows you all of the ways that you're sharing your location (and other important info, like photos) with people. And you'll be given the option to deny access – to both people and apps. 4 Emergency Reset is a catch-all option to shut off all sharing Credit: The Sun / Apple There's also a more extreme Emergency Reset option that immediately stops sharing all info. And if you're trying to do all of this quietly, there's a Quick Exit button in the corner. That immediately saves your progress and closes the Settings app. Then you can pick it up again later when you're able to.
The Sun
21 hours ago
- The Sun
See if someone is spying on your exact location & watching every move with little-known phone setting
Sean Keach, Head of Technology and Science Published: Invalid Date, MILLIONS of iPhones have a must-know feature that can expose and block anyone spying on your location. It's built into your iPhone as standard but it's tucked away in the Settings app – so it's easy to miss. You can use it to review who your location is being shared with, including specific people or apps. The feature is called Safety Check and it's on any iPhone running iOS 16 software or later. You can check if you've got that by going to Settings > General > Software Update. Then you can dive into Safety Check to see if you're being snooped on. HOW DOES LOCATION SPYING WORK? Your location can be accessed in two main ways on an iPhone. The first is with location sharing through Find My. That's when your exact location is being shared with another person in real-time – viewable as a dot on a map. There are two ways this might be happening without your knowledge. One is that you set it up for someone years ago – maybe an ex partner – and simply forgot to switch it off. The other is that someone with access to your iPhone set it up without your knowledge. The second way your location can be shared on an iPhone is with an app. iPhone 16e review – I've secretly tested Apple's cheapest mobile and I love the new button but that's not the best bit Loads of apps will be making good use of your location. Think Uber for taxis, Google Maps for driving, or WhatsApp for sharing your location on the way to an event. But some apps might use your location for nefarious means. If you've ever downloaded a dodgy app by accident, it could be a ploy by crooks to track you. So if you've installed an obscure calculator app that never seemed to work properly, always seems to "crash", and has constant access to your location, that's a red flag. 4 On top of that, someone else with access to your phone might have installed a location-spying app. So if there's an app that you don't recognise with access to your location, that's also a very worrying sign. Similarly, you'll also want to make sure that your app accounts are locked down. If someone else has access to an app that can track your location, they might also be able to find out where you are. WHAT CAN SAFETY CHECK LIMIT? You can switch off access to the following... Bluetooth Calendars Camera Contacts Files and Folders Health Local Network Location Services Media and Apple Music Microphone Motion & Fitness Photos Reminders Research Speech Recognition Picture Credit: Apple / The Sun HOW TO USE SAFETY CHECK Safety Check is a way to quickly check up on all of your location sharing, and then shut it off if you like. Just go into Settings > Privacy & Security > Safety Check. You'll be guided through a process that shows you all of the ways that you're sharing your location (and other important info, like photos) with people. And you'll be given the option to deny access – to both people and apps. 4 There's also a more extreme Emergency Reset option that immediately stops sharing all info. And if you're trying to do all of this quietly, there's a Quick Exit button in the corner. That immediately saves your progress and closes the Settings app. Then you can pick it up again later when you're able to. 4
Forbes
22-04-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Google Suddenly Confirms New Tracking Nightmare For All Chrome Users
Bad news for 3 billion Chrome users. Is this a shock? I'm not sure. Google has just u-turned again on tracking cookies, with the bad news that they're here to stay. Forever. These devilish tracking cookies were supposedly being killed, until Google hit the pause button last July. Now even its Plan B has failed — albeit the spin is very different. This is a disaster for the privacy of Chrome's 3 billion users. Bar the ad industry, no one likes or wants tracking cookies. In a blogpost, Anthony Chavez, the VP for Google's ill-fated Privacy Sandbox suddenly announced 'it remains clear that there are divergent perspectives on making changes that could impact the availability of third-party cookies.' As such, "we've made the decision to maintain our current approach to offering users third-party cookie choice in Chrome, and will not be rolling out a new standalone prompt for third-party cookies." Per DigiDay, 'in a shocking development, Google won't roll out a new standalone prompt for third-party cookies in Chrome, meaning ad tech companies can still use the targeting technology in the world's most popular web browser.' Chavez assured users they 'can continue to choose the best option for themselves in Chrome's Privacy and Security Settings.' But in a world where Chrome is castigated as the worst offending mainstream browser for privacy and tracking, this will land flat. In reality, Google has struggled to balance ad industry, regulator and user interests. On the positive side, Chavez does say Google will 'continue to enhance tracking protections in Chrome's Incognito mode, which already blocks third-party cookies by default. This includes IP Protection, which we plan to launch in Q3 2025. And we'll continue to invest in making Chrome the world's most trusted browser, with technologies like Safe Browsing, Safety Check, built-in password protections, AI-powered security protections, and more.' That's the same Incognito Mode that was the subject of a lawsuit and settlement for secretly tracking users anyway. This follows Google's equally shocking decision to restore digital fingerprinting, which was unpopular enough in browsers but has also now been expanded to smart devices such as gaming consoles and TVs. This other Google u-turn also referenced new privacy preserving technologies as its reason for change. Just weeks ago, we had been told to expect a single click prompt to disable tracking cookies in Chrome. But not anymore. Not a good day for privacy advocates. Cue the backlash…
