Most smartphones today have GPS-based location services built in. Location services tell your phone where it is, allowing you to use features like GPS navigation and other location-aware apps.

Now that everyone is tired of geotagigating photos and “checking in” to different locations, it’s time to add something new to further restrict our privacy.

Geofences are imaginary boundaries that can be set in location-aware applications. They allow users to trigger notifications or other actions when someone with a location-aware device that is being tracked enters or leaves the predefined area established in the location-aware app.

Let’s look at some real world examples of how geofences are used. Alarm.com allows their customers (with the right subscription) to go to a special web page and draw a geofence around their home or business on a map. They can then have Alarm.com send them a reminder to remotely arm their alarm system when Alarm.com detects that their phone has left the predetermined geofence area.