Bluetooth+and+GPS+Considerations

=**Using Bluetooth and GPS**= = = Why is it wise to turn these features off on your __mobile__ phone when you are not using them?

One simple reason why you should turn both these features off is because they use up battery life quickly. A more important one is because people who know how to, can hack your mobile phone through Bluetooth. There are a few different ways to do this, but one device ( []) allows the hacker to:
 * Read your messages and contacts
 * Play your songs
 * Restart or switch off your phone
 * Restore factory settings
 * Change the ringing volume
 * Call from your phone

When it comes to GPS, you shouldn't leave it on because it uses up a lot of your internet data, and if you're on a plan, it could prove pretty expensive! Also, leaving your GPS on could run the risk of you being tracked by somebody you don't know, especially if you own an iPhone, since they are basically like little computers and when jail-broken, can also be hacked into.

- Kyla

Both Bluetooth and GPS have many bad points, but there are several good things about actually leaving your Bluetooth and GPS switched on.

Lost your phone, if you have either your GPS still turned on or a tracking application installed you can track the location of your missing phone though a web browser. And if your phone was stolen you can feed this information to the police and even help them recover your phone.

Bluetooth can also be very helpful. From letting you create personal area network (like a Wi-Fi network) to share an internet connection to sharing important files and data as well as the important transmission of voice. Bluetooth does have its benefits.

Yet there are many disadvantages from using Bluetooth like the Bluetooth hacking, (as described above) and the GPS tracking. But if you are careful, have very strict privacy settings on your phone and devices and other security measures in place, the benefits certainly weigh out the disadvantages, wireless transmission of audio to a sound system, Now that has to be a good advantage.

Written by Troy Stanway 2012

Bluetooth allows devices to communicate wirelessly for the purpose of data transfer. Data is transferred at 720 kbps and the range is anywhere up to 100metres. The word "Bluetooth" is an anglicised version of the Scandinavian //Blåtand/////Blåtann//, the epithet of the tenth-century king Harald I of Denmark and parts of Norway. He united Danish and Norwegian tribes into a single kingdom. Bluetooth technology uses his name, because it brings together communication devices and allows them to communicate. As already listed there are great advantages of Bluetooth But, as others have already said, there is a real disadvantage of Bluetooth if you leave it on. In ‘discoverable mode’ hackers can easily connect or hack into your phone and you will not know about it. With Bluetooth set to ‘on’ phones display their Bluetooth names to anyone within 10 metres, this enables your movements to be tracked. It is possible (although not easy) for someone to have a laptop with a Bluetooth receiver to scan for devices as they sit in a busy area having coffee. They then match this with GPS data and can get maps of where people go. -Sam Harding
 * It is wireless (you can communicate hands-free) and line of sight is not needed
 * A Bluetooth devise is not that expensive and they talk to each other without human intervention, setup is automatic