Are you traveling during the holidays? And is your smart phone letting everyone, including thieves, know?

California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris has issued a consumer alert about how mobile applications’ use of location services may assist thieves who can take advantage of someone’s absence to help themselves to their belongings.

“With a tap on your smartphone or tablet, you can get a list of nearby restaurants, directions to a friend’s home or a local weather forecast,” Harris said.

That’s why many people authorize those location services on their electronic device — so those convenient applications, or “apps,” can work, she said.

“Location services take your geographic information from satellites,” Harris said. That takes place through geo-positioning services (GPS) through WiFi and cell-tower networks.

However, “What you may not realize is that some apps can access your location all the time, even when you’re not using them. Your location might be ‘always on,’” Harris said.

She said this broadcasting of a device user’s location can expose them and their families to the risk of theft or physical harm.

“For instance, you may be unknowingly revealing your location if your phone is ‘geo-tagging’ your photos,” she said.

Geo-tagging takes place when a person takes a photograph and the site where the picture is taken and the date-time stamp are inserted into the image file. “If you post the photo online, you are revealing your location at a point in time,” Harris said. That includes the “selfies,” photographs people take of themselves and post online.

She said sharing those photographs without first disabling geo-tagging can be dangerous, especially for those who have been victims of stalking or domestic abuse.

Harris said device users “do not have to be an engineer” to learn how mobile location services work, though the knowledge may be technical.

“By adjusting the settings on your mobile device, you can control location services to protect your privacy,” she said.

She offered step-by-step advice on turning off the location services on mobile devices.

On Android cell phones, pads and other equipment, the user goes to “Settings,” then “Location” and unchecks the boxes. If an application asks for access to your location, the user can decide whether to grant that permission.

To disable geo-tagging of photographs, the user opens the camera, clicks on the gear icon and sets “Location” to “No.” “You may have to click the gear icon on several screen layers,” Harris said.

Users also can select how accurate they want their location reporting to be, whether it is determined based on GPS plus WiFi and cellular networks or just one of these, she said.

“The higher degree of accuracy uses more of your battery, so protecting your privacy will protect your battery life, too,” Harris said.

For iPhone and iPad users with the operating system iOS 6 and later, users would go to “Settings,” then “Privacy,” then “Location Services,” she said. “You can turn it off, or you can choose which functions and apps to give access to your location.”

To disable geo-tagging of photos, a user denies location access to the camera in “Location Services,” she said. “You may get notifications from apps asking to use your location in the background. For privacy, select ‘Don’t Allow.’”

Harris said the California Department of Justice has published such information sheets as “Getting Smart About Smartphones: Tips for Consumers” and “Getting Smart About Smartphones: Tips for Parents,” for those interested in more privacy tips, including how to control location information on other mobile platforms.

The department also has published advice about security and social networking: “Staying Private in Public: How to Limit Your Exposure on Social Network Sites.”

The publications are available at www.oag.ca.gov/privacy/info-sheets.