Facebook to wipe out Nearby Friends and other location-based features on May 31!

Facebook plans to terminate Nearby Friends and other location-based features at the end of May 2022.

File photo: Facebook

Facebook will delete its location history records after August 1, 2022

Users of this platform have been getting a notification in the app for iOS and Android about the end of Nearby Friends. This is a feature that allows people to share their current location with other Facebook friends. 

At the same time, Facebook also says that Time Alerts, Location History, and Background Location are also going to be removed for good.

Reportedly, the social media giant is only quietly announcing the sweeping data-minimization move via in-app prompts and emails to users. According to a source,  it will remove all information related to these features from its servers. An email sent to a user reads,

Because you've previously used Nearby Friends, Weather alerts, Location History, or Background Location, we’re letting you know that these products and features will no longer be available after May 31, 2022.

To recall, the Nearby Friends feature was introduced in 2014 for both Android and iOS users,  said to be purely optional. As mentioned, it would notify you if another friend who had enabled Nearby Friends was in about the same spot.

The message also informed the users that Facebook will continue gathering some location data as allowed by its data policy. 

The social media giant added that if they want to view or delete their location history, they can access their information and download your information before Aug. 1, 2022.

Note that after the said date, the existing location history will be automatically deleted if they did not take any action. The company explained that location data will still be collected "for other experiences". 

On the other hand, Facebook did not disclose yet the reason behind the decision so we'll have to wait for more updates from them.

What do you guys think?

Source: 9to5mac