One of the ways apps like Foursquare or Facebook know where you are is through GPS. This is how you are able to locate nearby restaurants or places where you can check-in. This seems like an on-demand kind of service where it will only pull your location when you want it to. However according to a recent report from The Wall Street Journal, that might no longer be the case with Foursquare.
As you might have heard, Foursquare for mobile has undergone a revamp and has gotten a new logo in the process, however it seems that in the new app, the user’s location data will be continuously tracked even when the app is closed. This is a feature that is enabled by default and compared to last time, users will have to opt out of it instead of opting in.
We suppose the upside to the continuous tracking is that the app will always know where we are, thus saving the user a lot of time when they want to check in or look for new places for recommendations. The downside is that it does seem a little creepy that an app will know where you are at all times.
However like we pointed out, this is a feature that can be disabled, so if you’re particularly concerned about your privacy or just don’t see the need for the app to know where you are, then you should probably turn it off. In the meantime what do you guys think? Is this a bit too invasive for your liking?
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