New Digital Habits of Teenagers: The Dangers of Constantly Enabled Geolocation

Today, many teenagers are forming new digital habits, including the habit of sharing their geolocation on social media. At Kaktus.media, we reached out to cybersecurity experts from the IT center ATLABYTE for comments to find out what risks this may pose.

Experts claim that sharing geolocation always carries risks, especially for young people who have not yet developed digital security skills. The lack of this knowledge makes openness about location potentially dangerous.

- What real threats arise when a teenager shares their geolocation?- The main risk lies in the very function of transmitting geolocation, as location information falls into the category of highly sensitive data. Possible threats include:

Stalking and harassment. Even a friend can use location data to monitor where the teenager is, who they are with, and why they are not at home.
Social engineering. Location information can be used by fraudsters to build trust and manipulate, as well as to intimidate, threatening the safety of the teenager's family.
Threat to physical safety. If an attacker learns that a teenager frequently visits a certain place or is alone, it may lead to the risk of assault or blackmail. This data can even be shared by acquaintances who have access to geolocation.
Bullying and pressure. In the teenage environment, geolocation can be used for bullying: "We know where you are." Offenders can track routes and vulnerable moments when the teenager is alone to intimidate them.
Formation of a digital profile. Frequent location points create an almost complete map of the teenager's life: where they live, study, hang out, and when they are alone. This opens up opportunities for stalking, blackmail, and even theft.

- Is there a difference in the level of threat between sharing geolocation with a friend, in a group chat, and on open social media?- Yes, the difference is significant. Sharing geolocation with a close friend is considered safer, but only if their account has not been hacked and their phone has not been stolen.

Publishing geolocation on social media is the highest level of risk. In this case, the information becomes almost uncontrollable and accessible to anyone.

Here are three levels of risk:

Sharing with a close friend - low-medium risk (but the risk is present). If trust is truly high and access is time-limited, it is relatively safe. However, even in this case, sharing geolocation is not recommended.
Group chat - medium-high risk. The problem is that there may be acquaintances in the group, and it is impossible to control who can take a screenshot or forward the data.
Publishing on social media - maximum risk. In this case, access to the information is granted not only to friends but also to strangers, fraudsters, and data collectors.

Public geolocation is the most dangerous scenario.

- How safe are geolocation features in popular messengers and social media?- Built-in geolocation features in messengers and social media cannot be considered completely safe. Their vulnerabilities can be exploited through leaks, unscrupulous employees, and human factors. Some platforms collect location data even when the "geo" feature is turned off.

Although major platforms (WhatsApp, Telegram, Instagram, Snapchat) use encryption, this does not make them safe. They may share data with various services. For example, 2GIS transmits data about your movements, and even a random request can grant access to your geolocation.

- Can geolocation be used by third parties without the teenager's knowledge?- Yes, geolocation can be used without the teenager's consent through account hacking, phone theft, data forwarding, or leaks on the service side.

- What habits increase risks?- Public profiles, low privacy settings, lack of two-factor authentication, using the same passwords, and constant background geolocation are particularly dangerous. Many teenagers do not check who can see their stories and location, posting photos with location tags, making them easily accessible to offenders.

Using the same password across multiple platforms creates danger: if one account is hacked, access to the others will also be opened.

Trusting "friends from the internet" does not always equate to real safety. Online friendships are often formed quickly, and teenagers easily disclose personal information.

Sharing geolocation for an extended period is the most dangerous option. It is better to share only for a short time.

Sharing geolocation can be dangerous, but if it is necessary to share your location, follow these recommendations:

only with close people;
for a short period;
without posting on open social media;
checking account privacy;
with account protection enabled (2FA).

Recommendations from ATLABYTEFrom a cybersecurity perspective, geolocation should be considered an element of personal attack surface, so the best approach is to minimize the use of location data, and ideally, to completely refrain from using the geolocation feature.

Geodata is a critical identifier that can be used in both digital and physical attacks.

Read also:

Teenagers Share Geolocation on Social Media. Why It's Dangerous and How to Reduce the Risks