How to hide your location from Facebook Messenger and prevent tracking on iOS and Android
Just when Facebook parted its messaging and chat app from its news and status feed one on mobile came the controversy in recent days that Facebook Messenger is actively tracking your location, and it is very easy to determine your whereabouts and location patterns from your chat sessions alone.
Given the ubiquity of the Messenger app, which is now installed on nearly 17 million Android devices as a standalone piece, it was pretty demoralizing to hear that a simple Chrome extension called Marauders Map allows you to track the location of any of your chat buddies.
A simple Chrome extension allows you to track the whereabouts of people you chat with on Messenger
News like this could throw a monkey wrench in Facebook's big intentions for Messenger - making it a place to track orders, book reservations, and do much more than simple chat, increasing its user stickiness.
We've no doubts that in light of the scandal that erupted over the Messenger app tracking your location by default, Facebook will plug this hole pretty soon, but until a new update hits, here's how to prevent Facebook Messenger from following your whereabouts for the world to see in an easy manner.
Android
Go to Messenger>Settings>Location, and uncheck the tick box that allows new messages to include your location by default. Just to be on the safe side, you can go to your phone or tablet's Settings app, go to Location services>Location permissions, scroll to the Messenger app list, and set the option to "Reject" from the arrow menu on the right.
iOS
Go to the Settings app>Privacy>Location services, scroll to the Messenger app, and set the tracking option to "Never".
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Things that are NOT allowed: