Microsoft to remove the Location History feature in Windows
Microsoft announced the deprecation of the Location History feature from Windows, which let applications like the Cortana virtual assistant to fetch location history of the device.
By deprecating and removing the feature means that the data will no longer be saved locally and the setting will disappear from the operating system (Windows 10 and 11).
“We are deprecating and removing the Location History feature, an API that allowed Cortana to access 24 hours of device history when location was enabled,” reads Microsoft’s announcement.
The API behind the feature, ‘Geolocator.GetGeopositionHistoryAsync‘, provides apps with locally stored data that had been collected by location services in the previous 24 hours.
“Location services collects positions only when an app or services queries for the user’s location – but no more than once per second,” Microsoft explains.
Device location data is stored locally and the list is only populated when an application or service actively requests it.
BleepingComputer has reached out to Microsoft to ask about the reasons behind deprecating the Location History API and we will update this post when we receive a response.
Preparing for the change
Developers should review applications using the Windows.Devices.Geolocation API and migrate away from GetGeopositionHistoryAsync, oherwise core features of their tool may malfunction in the future.
The location services option will also be removed from Windows Settings > Privacy & Security > Location.
Users can deactivate the setting completely to block location data access requests from all apps and services.
Once deactivated, users should click the ‘Clear’ button to wipe any location data from the past 24 hours.
