Stop live location, withdraw consent or delete the data?

Stop applies to the session

In My Safe Circle 2.2, still in beta and not released in stores, Stop halts local GPS immediately. Offline stopping for everyone remains unconfirmed until the server receives the request. Expiry ends updates without withdrawing account consent.

Stop is not general deletion and does not change future retention choices. Use it to finish a journey. Prepare a session with a clear end using the temporary location guide.

Consent governs retention

Keeping the latest safety update, message and location is optional, initially off and account-wide across devices. Live sharing can work without permanently keeping its final point.

With valid consent, latest data remains without automatic expiry until withdrawal, contact removal or account deletion. A new OK without coordinates does not erase the previous point. There is no continuous route history; the latest relevant information is kept, rather than a trail.

Withdraw through account controls

Open Help and support → Consent and sharing and turn retention off. Server-confirmed withdrawal blocks live sharing across devices and erases retained snapshots and live sessions from the service.

It is broader than Stop and differs from removing a phone permission. Permission controls device access, not erasure of existing server copies. If residual data is reported, use Retry until completion is confirmed.

Understand the 24-hour limit

Without retention, online access to a live session lasts at most 24 hours after its effective end. Later physical deletion uses TTL with no guaranteed clock time; access ending and the document being erased are different moments.

With retention active, Stop leaves latest data under account consent. Waiting a day does not necessarily erase it. Check your actual choice in the consent page rather than infer it from a visible map point.

Notifications and local copies are separate

This withdrawal does not erase safety notifications, reminder replies or local history. They can contain earlier event locations without forming a continuous route. Specify the scope when requesting broader erasure.

Contact [email protected] with the account and requested scope, not passwords or unnecessary coordinates. Service-controlled caches and history must be considered. Independent recipient screenshots or exports cannot be remotely erased by the app.

Contact removal is another choice

Removing a contact revokes online access and starts the relevant cleanup; reinviting does not restore revoked data. Account deletion starts cleanup of account-related data. Choose for the relationship you intend to end.

If the issue is only missing updates, do not start with deletion: use the age and permission checks. For privacy choices, check the server outcome before treating an offline withdrawal as complete.

Frequently asked questions