Don’t leave your phone’s Bluetooth on all the time

Being able to wirelessly share data between different devices at short range via Bluetooth is extremely convenient. The technology is integrated into consumer electronics, from headphones and your smartphone to cool gadgets designed for Bluetooth for utility or entertainment purposes. For many of us, Bluetooth is part of our daily lives, helping us listen to music or take phone calls while driving. We use it so frequently that we end up leaving it on all the time. However, leaving your device’s Bluetooth on all the time can be risky.

Although it is a short-range technology that generally requires the user to deliberately pair the devices, it is not foolproof. According to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), “keeping (Bluetooth) active allows hackers to discover what other devices you have previously connected to, spoof one of those devices, and gain access to your device.” This parallels one of the biggest concerns with using public Wi-Fi networks: Can owners see what you’re doing?

Your smartphone is particularly at risk because it accompanies you everywhere and contains a lot of personal information. This is why it’s important to turn off your phone’s Bluetooth when you’re not actively using it.

To protect your data, the FCC recommends turning off Bluetooth when not in use. Other tips include remembering to remove your phone from any rental cars you’ve paired it with before returning it and changing your Bluetooth settings to hidden mode rather than discoverable mode. However, the latter option is not an option on iPhone, which only allows you to turn Bluetooth on and off.

Android phones have a Fast Pair setting that allows them to search for Bluetooth devices. It’s supposed to only connect to devices associated with your Google account, but, as Belgian researchers discovered, many Android products have a flaw that makes them vulnerable to hijacking and location tracking. Since the problem lies in how Fast Pair interacts with accessories rather than the smartphone itself, this means that even those who have never used an Android or Google product are at risk.

For this reason, it is best to turn off Fast Pair scanning by going to the Devices menu and turning off scanning for nearby devices. No matter what type of phone you have, you should get into the habit of turning off Bluetooth when you’re not using it. After all, it usually doesn’t take long for your devices to reconnect, and that’s a small sacrifice for the protection of your data.