How to Turn Off Location on Facebook Messenger?

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In the context of the article on the localization of an IP, a visitor recently told me about his geolocalization problems on the social network Facebook. This person had a strange problem of geolocalization of his publications since he was located in Aquitaine, Brittany, Limousin or Lorraine whereas he lives in Picardie…

So I suggested to him to deactivate the location in his Facebook posts in order to avoid these errors. Do you also want to turn off the location on Facebook posts? Then follow this tutorial which will explain you how to remove the location of Facebook posts.

What is Geolocation on Facebook?

Geolocation (also called georeferencing) is the use by your device (computer, smartphone, tablet) of a technology that allows you to locate your position with more or less precision and thus determine your geographical coordinates (latitude/longitude).

There are different ways to geolocate you more or less accurately: geolocation by satellite, geolocation by WIFI, use of the position by GSM, geolocation by IP etc… The development of smartphones has led to a massive development of geolocation which is used by many applications and for multiple purposes: navigation assistance, monitoring and protection of people and their property, professional management of transport etc. …

Since 2010, Facebook has been using location data in different features. For example, to find friends who are close to your location, but also to indicate your location when you post a publication on Facebook or customize your news feed according to your location. Facebook also uses geolocation for its instant messenger, Facebook Messenger.

How to Turn Off  Location from Facebook Posts?

Once you have indicated your location (for example: a store, a monument, a city, a restaurant, etc.), Facebook will add a location to your publications by default from its mobile application. But the interest of localizing your Facebook posts is debatable and you may not want Facebook to indicate your location on your posts or other.

Big problems, big solutions! To prevent Facebook from using your location information sent by your smartphone/tablet, set your device to not use geolocation. The procedure varies depending on the operating system of your smartphone, here we will focus on Android and iOS which are the two most used by phones.

1. Disable geolocation in Android

You need to disable geolocation for all Android applications. Here again, it depends on your Android version (and sometimes the manufacturer of your phone, some manufacturers adding a software overlay to Android). But the technique to follow is globally the same for all Android devices!

For Android version 11:

  1. Go to your settings / adjustments.
  2. Search for Location or Advanced settings and then Location data
  3. Turn off Access My Location, and all your applications will not be able to use your location information.

Note that on many devices there is a shortcut (often at the top, in the notification bar) that allows you to quickly activate/deactivate the geolocation of the device.

2. Disable Location in iOS (iPhone, iPad)

This tutorial performed under iOS 13.2

  1. Click on the Settings icon.
  2. In the menu on the left, click on Privacy then Location Service.
  3. Here you can disable geolocation for all apps by changing the Location Service setting or you can just disable it for the Facebook app by clicking on Facebook in the app list below.
  4. In the Facebook settings, select Never if you don’t want theFacebook for iOS app to access your location data.

 

3. Turn off the Location on Facebook via Account Settings

It is also possible to directly set the Facebook Android mobile application to choose which location data you want it to access.

  1. Click on the "hamburger" menu (the 3 horizontal lines) at the top right to access the settings of the Facebook application.
  2. Scroll down a bit in the settings and select Account Settings in the Help and Settingssection
  3. Then click on Location to access the geolocation permissions.
  4. Here you will be able to set different features using geolocation: find your friends nearby, useful info which allows you to receive information about nearby places.  Disable your location history and even access Android’s geolocation settings directly via the Location Services menu link. It’s up to you to choose which location settings you want to keep!

If you are tired of Facebook’s shameful use of your data, you can also deactivate or close your Facebook account.

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