If you have a smartphone or tablet with Google apps preloaded you can update your location in a matter of seconds. The Google Maps app allows you to set your home and work locations in one fell swoop. And as long as you’re within Google’s sphere of influence, you can use your smartphone to make purchases and check in to your favorite hangouts.
One of the more enlightening things about Google is that they have the capability to track your whereabouts in a more or less real time fashion. This is especially true for the mobile versions of Google, which have been known to use GPS technology on an adhoc basis to enhance user experience. As such, your aforementioned adhoc location changes may be subject to a slew of privacy threats. Fortunately, there are a number of tools and tricks available to help protect you from the evils of mobile telephony. For starters, you can turn on Location Privacy in the settings menu. Also, you can take advantage of a number of ad-specific features, such as Location-specific Ads and location based ad retargeting, to name but a few.
A good ol’ Google search will reveal a number of useful tips and tricks, ranging from the obvious to the more complex. As mentioned above, you can even change your location on a specific ad-by-ad basis, such as retargeting ads that you stumbled upon on the web. Of course, you can’t just rely on ad-targeting as a way to keep your data secure, and as such, it pays to be informed. Similarly, you can’t just rely on Google as your sole provider of digital services, and the best way to ensure that your data remains safe is to encrypt your private information. Luckily, there are a number of third-party providers, such as Monzo, that can help you with this task.