Why You Should Delete Your (Ancient) Foursquare Data
Remember Foursquare? I used to use it (and other company apps ) to keep detailed digital records wherever I go, which was cool in 2010. Although I no longer use Foursquare’s Android or iOS apps , I’ve given the company a lot of information about me. Fortunately, it is easy to review all the data received from you and delete it.
You may be wondering why this is important right now. If you haven’t used the app for a while, viewing and managing your data is still good privacy practice. And why leave your accounts dormant when you have a few minutes to delete them? (This is even considering the amount of time it might take you to reset a password you forgot long ago)
If you currently use Foursquare, viewing and managing your data is even more important. As Intelligencer recently described:
“In addition to all these proactive checks, at some point Foursquare started collecting passive data through the ‘sign up button you never had to click’. It does not track people 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (in addition to getting people out of the house, it can drain their phone batteries), but instead, if users agree to let the company “always” track their location , the app will register when someone stops and determine if that person is at a red traffic light or inside a city store. The Foursquare database now includes 105 million locations and 14 billion checkouts. The result, experts say, is a map that is often more reliable and detailed than maps created by Google and Facebook. “
Here’s an even more impressive figure from the Intelligencer report: “Overall, the company now has ‘interest profiles’ for more than 100 million US consumers.”
How to view all the data the Foursquare apps collect about you
It’s easy. Just go to Foursquare’s privacy settings and click the unmissable Export My Details button. You will then receive an email to the address associated with your Foursquare account, and it will look something like this:
Then you need to wait a bit. As stated in the email, this service does not request data immediately. It’s also not a “I’ll go watch Netflix while I wait” deal. In the meantime, however, you can spend a little time adjusting Foursquare’s privacy settings to restrict the use of your data, unless you plan to completely log out of the service.
Change these Foursquare privacy settings
There aren’t a ton of options you can play with through your Foursquare online account settings, but there are a few worth checking out. First of all, think about what you are sharing on social media . You may not have realized that your Foursquare app is being used on more social media platforms than you thought; or you just don’t want the whole world (of your friends) to know what you are doing. Whatever the reason, click this link and disconnect any social media you need from Foursquare; I’ve removed them all, but I’m a bit of a recluse.
After that go to “Connected Applications”. Like most other services, you can use this section to disable any applications that access your Foursquare data. I would delete everything because, again, a digital hermit, but it is at least worth deleting any sites or services that you no longer use (like Klout in my case).
Finally, click on “Privacy Settings”. Make sure the checkboxes are clear enough – turn off whatever you want, such as Foursquare location background usage or targeted ads. Once you’ve done so, make sure you follow this link to remove any background location data that Foursquare has already received from you.
You can also go to the Foursquare or Swarm apps on your Android or iOS devices and turn off background sharing if you’re saving services. If not…
Deleting Your Foursquare Account
You cannot choose which location data you want to use for Foursquare. If you are done with the service or want to delete all your data from it, deleting your account is very easy. Click this link to the Foursquare Delete Account page , find the big red scary button and click on it.
You will need to enter your password to confirm that you want to delete your account, but this is the only real obstacle you will have to overcome in order to complete the process. Again, if you’ve requested a data dump from Foursquare, make sure you get it before deleting your account, otherwise the request won’t be processed.
To Foursquare’s credit, the process – at least on your part – is instant. You will be returned to the Foursquare home page and trying to log in with your old credentials will fail.