Every smartphone today has an installed GPS, and there are many benefits from using that system since you can easily find some places in your area, use it as a navigation in the car, and much more. Also, you can use this feature during a workout to check the distance of your jogging or cycling. Moreover, it can help you to find the fastest routes on the road, get a notification about potential traffic jams, road maintenance, and more. You have probably noticed that a lot of apps these days would ask for approval to use a GPS in your phone to provide you with more accurate data.
Many companies are using data collected from phones to target potential customers with more reliable commercials that you can see on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, websites, and many apps. Besides many benefits, a lot of people are having concerns about mobile tracking apps because of the potential threat that they represent to security and privacy. By using phone tracking apps, you can easily find another phone or monitor your child. Visit FamiSafe to find out more about some of the Best Mobile Location Trackers available on the market today. Furthermore, we are going to introduce you to some important facts you need to know before using phone tracking apps.
1. Emergency Services
One of the main benefits that you can have from GPS and location tracking apps is that you can easily find and contact any emergency service wherever you are. In case you don’t know your current location, they will use this feature to locate you in only a couple of seconds. That can be life-saving during some accidents and other emergencies. Moreover, any emergency service could locate you even if there is no network in your area since you can always call 911.
2. Monitoring Your Kids
Another advantage of mobile tracking apps is that you can install one of them is to use it to track your kids. That way, you can be much more relaxed while you are at work or when you let them hang out with their friends. When it comes to younger children, it is recommended to use some additional monitoring apps as well, where you can control the content available on their smartphones, which apps they can download, and even check their messages.
3. You can Find Your Friends Easier
There are many apps that you can use to locate your friends. For example, if you have arranged a meeting in some crowded place or another city, it can be hard to find each-other or to gather together in a group. However, with a feature to see the current location of other people, you won’t need to worry about getting your friends lost in the crowd and wasting time on looking for each-other.
4. Advanced Business Management
If you are leading a business where you have a lot of employees traveling to other cities and delivering goods, using some app for tracking their location can be beneficial in terms of monitoring them and finding ways to improve their productivity. Moreover, you can check if they are driving over a speed limit, making too long breaks, choosing wrong routes, and more. Also, delivery companies and transportation services such as Uber are using the benefits of these apps to offer much better services.
5. Potential Issues with Accuracy
Besides many benefits, there some downsides possible as well. For example, if you are in an area with poor coverage of the LTE network, or the device that you are tracking is not connected to the internet, or there is a bad signal as well, you might get inaccurate data about the current location of that device. This system requires both sides to be connected on the internet and a location feature to be allowed.
6. Potential Privacy Issues
The main problem related to phone tracking apps is that someone might track your location all the time without you knowing that. While we are aware that companies are collecting these data to create better marketing strategies, the main concern is related to the fact that someone might abuse this feature, which increases the chances of a scam, theft, and many more. Also, there is a chance that someone could represent a serious threat to you and your family by becoming able to know the location of all of you at any time. Therefore, pay attention to which apps on your phone are allowed to use your location system.
7. You Can Turn Off This Feature on Every Device
If you don’t feel safe knowing that someone might follow you, you can easily turn off the GPS on your phone. However, you won’t be able to use some of its features like navigation, a search of things in the area nearby, and more. Therefore, you can go into advanced options on your phone and check which apps are allowed to share your location. After that, you can turn off all of them that you don’t find secure enough. If you want to completely turn off all location services on your devices, go into settings, choose a Location Services chart, and switch from ON to OFF. In case you are using an Android device, the method is similar, and you will need to find the Privacy and Location chart in the Settings menu and turn off this feature.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are both advantages and potential downsides from mobile tracking apps. While you can have many benefits from using them to track other people like your friends, family, kids, or employees, there is a risk that someone might try to use this feature to commit some criminal act. In that matter, be sure to allow location services to be available only on highly secured and well-known apps. When you are aware of potential threats and you filtered-out all questionable apps by not allowing them to use your GPS, there is no need to worry that someone might locate your device without you knowing that.
