Android users warned to check Wi-Fi settings to avoid serious privacy issue

If you are one of the billions of people who use an Android device, you are being alerted to a common oversight that could cost you. You should check your WiFi settings immediately to make sure that it truly off, as it has been pointed out that it could still be running in the background if you simply turn it off.

There’s more to it

According to an article published in The Sun and based on viral video posted on TikTok by tech enthusiast @tatechtips, you need to go to Location in your phone settings and pick Location Services. Then, you should scroll down the page to find WiFi scanning.

If you want another level of privacy, you should toggle that feature off. In the short clip, the TikTokker said:

Turning off your WiFi, doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve turned off your WiFi. So if you head over to your phone’s settings and go to ‘Location’ and then select ‘Location Services’ and here you can see ‘WiFi scanning’. It says ‘Let apps use WiFi for location detection even when WiFi is turned off.

What’s the risk?

The content creator went on to explain exactly why it is important to check this WiFi setting even though you may be certain you turned it off.

So that means that when you’ve turned your WiFi off but you’ve got your scanning on your phone is still constantly sending probe requests for WiFi. So if you want an extra level of privacy turn your WiFi scanning off as well.

The video has already picked up close to 100,000 likes and attracted over 1,000 comments most of them from his followers who wrote to express their gratitude for the tip.

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