Android users, beware: Your location data might be being inadvertently shared

Got an Android phone? Your location may be being broadcast on more apps than you realize.

App developers could be inadvertently sharing user location data with advertisers, according to findings from an Electronic Frontier Foundation investigation.

The issue arises from certain Software Development Kits (SDKs) that advertisers provide to developers to enable them to monetize their apps. The problem? A number of these SDKs collect location data by default, so if you've given an app permission to access your location, it may well be sharing this data with advertisers without you realizing.

"Even if users were to grant these apps permission to obtain their location data, they would likely not expect their location data to be shared with third parties," reads the EFFs report. "Many users don’t know that granting location permissions to an app grants the same permissions to third-party SDKs embedded in the app, or that an app they're using contains code from outside companies."

How to stop sharing your location on Android

The good news is you can stop sharing your location with any app at any time, via the Settings page.

Just tap Location, then App location permissions. You can then go through your apps one by one and select Don't Allow or Not Allowed.

Alternatively, if you want to stop sharing location data across all apps, you can head to the main menu and toggle Use Location to off (the only issue there is that it will include apps where you might need to give location permissions, such as maps and weather).