Facebook Says It's Updating Location Controls on Android

By Michael Dabaie

Facebook Inc. (FB) said Wednesday it is updating its location controls on Android.

The update is to allow users to choose if they want the social media company to collect location information when they are not using the app.

"Today we're announcing an update to Facebook's location controls on Android to give people more choice over how we collect location information and how we store it," the company said in a posting on its corporate website.

Until today, users of features such as Nearby Friends were asked to enable Location History, the company said. That setting would share location data when people weren't using the app, and would allow Facebook to store a history of their precise locations. With this update, users will have a dedicated way to choose whether or not to share their location when not using the app.

Facebook said it will alert app users on Android devices who chose to turn on Location History in the past, letting them know about the new control and asking them to check their settings. Users who never turned on Location History don't have to do anything, the company said.

Write to Michael Dabaie at michael.dabaie@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 20, 2019 12:35 ET (17:35 GMT)

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