- 'People nearby' was optional and disabled by default; it displayed approximate distances with rounding.
- Scraping tools like CCTV could list visible users by area and pose privacy risks.
- Telegram retired the feature in 2024 and is promoting "Close Business" along with more moderation.
Privacy in messaging apps is not a whim: it's a necessity. Telegram, the 'People Nearby' feature (also called 'People Nearby' or 'Find People Nearby') has generated debate and many users choose to use it. disable People nearby on Telegram.
Why? Many fear that this can expose your approximate area to strangers and open the door to unwanted interactions. Although Telegram clarified that the numbers are rounded and don't reveal exact coordinates, it hasn't convinced many. If you're one of them, here's everything you need to know and how to check if you're visible.
What is 'People Nearby' and how does it work?
Telegram's 'People Nearby' feature is an option designed to connect with people close to you without having her in your contacts. Since 2019, its purpose has been to encourage local discovery: chatting with nearby users, exploring local groups, or quickly exchanging contacts.
By design, it is a function optional and disabled by defaultThat is, you won't appear in the list unless you explicitly activate your visibility. This is important because, if you never turned it on, you'll usually be hidden without having to do anything. In that case, there's no need to deactivate People Nearby in Telegram.
One thing to keep in mind: if you have your profile picture set to public, anyone who sees you in the nearby users section will be able to see it. It doesn't show your phone number, but it does your username and public photo, if you have them configured that way.
As for the location itself, the app uses the system location permissions to calculate your proximity to other people. If you deny permission to the operating system, Telegram will not be able to detect or display your approximate position. within this feature, which keeps you off the radar of 'People Nearby' even if you accidentally turned on visibility within the app.
Risks: triangulation, scraping and projects such as CCTV
The biggest reason to disable this feature is that certain actors may try to infer your approximate location using public proximity data. This is where Close-Circuit Telegram Vision (CCTV) comes in, an open-source project published by researcher Ivan Glinkin, which relies on the Telegram API to collect information from users with the function activated at different coordinates.
What made CCTV different? While the Telegram app lets you see people near you, this tool automates global queries for a large number of areas on the map. According to its developer, the system could estimate locations with an accuracy of between 50 and 100 meters in some scenarios, and even offered near real-time tracking of users who appeared in the search radius. Telegram, for its part, has denied that its data allows for such precision and emphasizes that it uses wide, rounded margins.
It is important to note that CCTV did not support searching for someone by username directly: instead, it received coordinates as input and returned the profiles detected in that area, including public username and profile picture if they were visible. It doesn't give access to your number or reveal exact addresses, but it can facilitate a rough triangulation, especially if the target keeps visibility on for a long period of time.
Beyond research projects, there are practical risks: spammers, bots, and scammers can use local listings to contact potential victims, launch scams, or extract public data to create phishing campaigns. Cases of harassment associated with proximity-based features on various platforms have also been reported, so it's a good idea to limit your exposure if you don't need this option.
Finally, remember that any proximity data, even with rounding, can contribute to a location footprint If combined with other signals (schedules, connection patterns, photos with metadata, etc.), reducing visibility and controlling permissions minimizes that risk.
App changes: goodbye to 'People Nearby' on Telegram
In September 2024, Telegram announced the removal of 'People Nearby'. According to the platform, it was a feature used by less than 0,1% of users, but which was plagued by problems with bots and scammers. At the same time, the company announced new moderation measures and the introduction of more streamlined ways to report content that violates its rules.
The context of this movement was surrounded by increased pressure on the platform's moderation and security. Telegram assured that it removes millions of harmful posts and channels a day and that its goal is to strengthen its compliance standards against illegal or harmful activities.
As a locally focused replacement, the company has introduced 'Nearby Businesses,' a directory of verified businesses with retail-focused features: catalogs, integrated payments and business tools (store hours, location, auto-replies, chatbots, etc.). With this, Telegram aims to maintain the local discovery component, but focus on legitimate actors with less potential for abuse.
If you still see 'People Nearby' in your app (for example, due to legacy versions or views), it's wise to review your visibility and permissions. Even if the feature is no longer being supported, make sure you are hidden Protects you against possible unwanted uses of data stored or previously listed on your device.
How to check if you're visible and turn off People Nearby
Checking your status is quick and gives you peace of mind. If you open Telegram and navigate to the corresponding section, you'll see whether you're visible or not. The key is to identify if the app offers you the option to 'Make me visible' (which indicates that you are already hidden) or if it says 'Hide me' or 'Stop showing me' (which means you are visible and can be turned off instantly).
- On Android- Tap the menu button (the three lines at the top left) and tap 'People Nearby'. If you see a 'Hide Me' or 'Stop Showing Me' button, tap it to stop appearing in the list. If it shows 'Make Me Visible', you're not sharing your proximity and you will not appear to others.
- On iPhone- Open Telegram and go to 'Contacts'. Inside, select 'Find people nearby'. If you see the option 'Hide me' or 'Stop showing me', tap it to turn off visibility. If you see 'Make me visible', it means you're currently you are not listed in that section.
Once you disable visibility, no one will be able to locate you from that specific feature. Also, keep in mind that if you reactivate the option, visibility will return to other nearby users, and if you have public profile photo, it will be displayed again in the nearby list.
To increase your protection, disable or restrict location permissions in the operating system. This ensures that Telegram cannot access your approximate location, even if at some point you activate visibility by mistake.
- iOS / iPadOS: Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services > Telegram. Choose 'Never' under 'Allow location access'. If you prefer something less restrictive, you can select 'Ask me next time or when I share' and deny when you don't need it.
- Android: Settings > Applications > Telegram > Permissions > Location. Select 'Don't allow'. On modern Androids, you can choose 'Allow only when using the app', but for this particular feature, it's safest to revoke the permit completely.
Other details to consider
Please note that Telegram states that the distances shown by this feature are approximate and have been rounded to 700 meters since 2022, and which do not reflect your exact location. However, if you keep visibility disabled and without location access, your exposure to 'People Nearby' will be zero, and third-party analytics capabilities will be reduced. are reduced to zero due to lack of data.
If you've ever enabled the browsing or local group discovery feature, it's good practice to log back in and tap 'Hide Me' or 'Stop Showing Me' when you no longer need it. This action is reversible at any time, so you can turn it back on if it adds value to you in a specific context.
An additional note: 'People nearby' doesn't show anyone's phone number, but it does show the public ID that each person sets. Therefore, in addition to managing visibility, it's a good idea to review your privacy settings in Telegram (who can see your photo, your number, your last seen, etc.). The more restricted these fields are, the lower the exposure will be if at any time you or your contacts use proximity-based features.
Another sensible point is to disable the system's geolocation when you're not using it in any app. Blocking location by default and only granting it when necessary is a golden rule: this way you avoid giving away data out of habit and minimize your motion trace between applications.
Finally, if you're concerned that your data has been collected in the past by scraping tools, reduce your future visibility and review your privacy settings to restrict access to your public profile. Many of these techniques require the victim to be visible and geolocable; by cutting off the data source, the risk plummets.
Although Telegram has removed the feature for the vast majority of users and has promoted alternatives such as 'Nearby Businesses,' it's still worth checking and adjusting permissions. With visibility disabled and location access controlled, your profile is no longer an easy target for triangulations or unwanted contacts based on proximity.
Opting for a conservative configuration doesn't take away essential messaging functionality: you can still chat, send files, make calls, and use bots without having to expose your location. Keeping the attack surface as small as possible, especially with regard to location, is a good practice that applies to both Telegram and any other app.
If you need to discover local groups or nearby businesses later, you can rely on directories and searches within Telegram that don't rely on your current location, or use the verified businesses option when it's available in your area. This way, you can consciously choose when and how. you share sensitive information such as your location.
The feature for discovering people by proximity was born with a social vocation, but it has proven to be sensitive from a privacy perspective. Today, with its retirement and the security tools at your disposal, you have control to ensure you don't appear in local listings, secure location permissions, and keep your public Telegram identity under wraps.
Editor specialized in technology and internet issues with more than ten years of experience in different digital media. I have worked as an editor and content creator for e-commerce, communication, online marketing and advertising companies. I have also written on economics, finance and other sectors websites. My work is also my passion. Now, through my articles in Tecnobits, I try to explore all the news and new opportunities that the world of technology offers us every day to improve our lives.