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Twitter danger: You could be sharing your location

Many of you tweet your every thought using your phone, post photos on Facebook and Instagram and “check in” wherever you're at on Foursquare. But this lighting speed communication could put your safety at risk, especially on Twitter, which many of us don't think of as a location-sharing network.Most smartphones have built-in GPS software that many apps need to function. A maps or weather app f
Has TODAY's Tamron Hall been sharing her location through Twitter and not even knowing it?
TODAY

Many of you tweet your every thought using your phone, post photos on Facebook and Instagram and “check in” wherever you're at on Foursquare. But this lighting speed communication could put your safety at risk, especially on Twitter, which many of us don't think of as a location-sharing network.

Most smartphones have built-in GPS software that many apps need to function. A maps or weather app functions best when they provide current location data. For example, if you have location turned off, it may be harder to navigate you around a new city or tell you it’s going to be sunny and 90 degrees during your beach vacation.

People often forget to turn off their location when using social media apps like Twitter from their smartphones. It may not seem like a big deal, but you could be sharing your exact location to anyone who looks at your account.

With location turned on for Twitter, your tweets show the city and state where you tweeted. Clicking that icon launches Google maps and allows anyone to zoom into your location.

Today

On iPhones and iPads, you can select which apps you want to allow access to your location. Go to SETTING. Then click PRIVACY. Click on LOCATION SERVICES and then choose the apps that you want to share your location.

If you’ve mistakenly been tweeting your location, Twitter makes it simple to delete your locations while keeping your posts on your page.

Today

From the desktop version of Twitter, click on SETTINGS. Scroll down to “Tweet location.” Click the icon that says “Delete all location information.” Within 30 minutes, all location information is gone from your tweets.

Kyle Michael Miller is a video producer and reporter for TODAY.com. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook.