Sharing your live location
Let the people you have chosen see where you are as it updates, with your position kept only as precisely and as long as it needs to be
Last reviewed
What live location adds
Ordinary whereabouts sharing shows the country or city you are in, based on the trips you have recorded. Live location goes a step further and updates your position while you have it switched on.
It is separate from every other kind of sharing, and off until you turn it on. Turning it on for one person does not turn it on for anyone else.
This is not an emergency service
Turning it on
Start sharing your position
- Open your Whereabouts & Sharing (opens in a new tab) page
- Choose to start sharing your live location
- Read the summary that appears: it names who will see your position, how precisely, and how to stop
- Confirm, then allow location access when your browser asks
We ask for your agreement before your browser does, so you know what you are agreeing to before the permission prompt appears. Declining either one means nothing is shared.
Your agreement is recorded as a permission you can withdraw at any time from the Permissions tab. While it is withdrawn we refuse to record a position at all, so there is nothing to switch off afterwards.
How precisely your position is stored
Your position is reduced to the least precise level that still satisfies your active shares, and that happens before it is stored, not when it is shown.
In practice, if nobody is currently set to see your exact position, an exact position is never recorded at all. There is no precise history sitting behind a setting waiting to be revealed. With no active share set to city or exact position, positions are stored rounded to country level, which is the level we fall back to.
Stored positions are encrypted
Knowing when you are sharing
While live location is on, an indicator stays visible at the top of your whereabouts page, whichever tab you are on. It is there so sharing can never continue without you noticing.
The indicator includes a Stop sharing control. Selecting it withdraws your agreement, stops new positions being recorded, and pauses what the people you shared with can see.
How long positions are kept
Recorded positions are deleted after seven days, automatically and on a rolling basis. We do not keep a longer-term record of where you have been.
- Stopping live sharing prevents any new position being recorded
- People you shared with see that sharing has been paused, not your last known position
- Positions already recorded are removed once they reach seven days old
Frequently asked questions
Is my location tracked in the background?
Not unless you ask for it. On the web your position is only read while you have your whereabouts page open with live sharing switched on, and closing the page stops it. Background collection is a separate permission that stays off until you grant it.
How precise is the position that gets stored?
That depends on what you have shared. Your position is reduced to the least precise level that still satisfies your active shares before it is stored, so if nobody is set to see your exact position, an exact position is never kept in the first place.
How long do you keep my position history?
Seven days. Positions older than that are deleted automatically on a rolling basis, and we keep no longer-term history of where you have been.
What do people see after I stop sharing?
They are told that sharing has been paused. They are not shown your last known position, and no further positions are recorded.
Why does the browser ask for permission again?
Location permission is granted by your browser or device, separately from your settings here. Both have to be in place, and you can withdraw either at any time.
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