Smartphone owners beware — someone somewhere knows where you are right now.
Most cell phones today are connected to GPS satellites and offer location-based services, be it to find directions or “check in” to places on Facebook.
According to a study conducted by the Pew Research Center, 28 percent of all American adults utilize location-based services.
While the services and applications are highly useful in a number of circumstances, the trade-off is privacy, said Alex Cook, IT coordinator for continuing education and adjunct mass communication professor.
“What you’re doing when you have location through GPS via cell phone towers turned on is you’re giving yourself another index to go to that store of information,” Cook said.
That information is stored in listings specifically indexed, Cook said.
Cook said he’s noticed people are either “really into” or “terrified” by the idea of checking in and having their location known.
Some businesses offer coupons and special deals for checking in on various social media sites in exchange for the inadvertent advertising.
“I think we’ll reach a point where we’re less concerned about privacy and people knowing where we are because the benefits will outweigh what we’re losing,” Cook said.
Location services can be turned off on all devices, Cook said, but there are disadvantages to disabling them.
“You can always disable them and turn them off, but as things progress, as the [GPS] features become more tied in to the app, it becomes part of the experience of using the app,” he said.
Psychology junior Laura Betancourt said that while she uses some location services on her phone, she limits her usage because of her concerns about privacy.
“I try not to use [location services] because you never know who’s looking at where you are,” she said. “I turn off the ‘where I am’ settings on Facebook and Twitter. If I want people to know where I am, I’ll tell