How to STOP your phone from location tracking
Imagine walking through a bustling city, relying on your smartphone to guide you to a hidden gem of a café your friend recommended. It feels effortless—until you realise that every step you take, every search you make, might be quietly recorded by your device. In a world where convenience often comes at the cost of privacy, location tracking has become a subtle yet powerful tool embedded in smartphones. But do we truly understand what we're trading away?
If you're curious about how to strike a balance between functionality and safeguarding your personal data, you're in the right place. Let's explore practical strategies that can put the control back in your hands.
Manage App Permissions
Turn Off Precise Location
Privacy-Focused Browsers:
Find My Device:
Blocking Signals:
Turn Off Location Services
The unfortunate truth is that, to shut everything down, we have to go into our device settings and check each app, line by line, and make individual decisions for how those apps collect our location data.
Completely disabling location tracking is challenging, as it requires reviewing app permissions and settings line by line. While turning off location services entirely is an option, it can be inconvenient—affecting navigation and requiring manual address input in apps. The key is balancing convenience and privacy. Thoughtful adjustments can help protect your data while maintaining essential functionality.
If you're curious about how to strike a balance between functionality and safeguarding your personal data, you're in the right place. Let's explore practical strategies that can put the control back in your hands.
Manage App Permissions
- For iPhones: Go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services. Select individual apps to set permissions (e.g., "Ask Next Time" or "While Using the App")
- For Android: Navigate to Settings > Location. Disable location access or adjust permissions for specific apps.
Turn Off Precise Location
- iPhone: Disable "Precise Location" for apps under Location Services settings.
- Android: Turn off "Location Accuracy" to prevent pinpoint location tracking.
Privacy-Focused Browsers:
- Popular browsers like Chrome or Safari may reveal your location.
- Consider privacy-first options such as DuckDuckGo, Firefox Focus, or Ecosia, which ask before accessing location data and make it easy to clear cookies and browsing history.
Find My Device:
- Features like Apple’s Find My or Google’s Find My Device can help recover lost devices.
- Disable these features if you suspect someone has accessed your account.
Blocking Signals:
- Airplane mode doesn’t always block all signals.
- Use a Faraday pouch for better signal blocking but test its effectiveness first.
Turn Off Location Services
- You can fully disable location services in your phone settings, but this may reduce functionality in navigation apps or weather updates.
- Review each app individually to ensure tracking permissions align with your preferences.
The unfortunate truth is that, to shut everything down, we have to go into our device settings and check each app, line by line, and make individual decisions for how those apps collect our location data.
Completely disabling location tracking is challenging, as it requires reviewing app permissions and settings line by line. While turning off location services entirely is an option, it can be inconvenient—affecting navigation and requiring manual address input in apps. The key is balancing convenience and privacy. Thoughtful adjustments can help protect your data while maintaining essential functionality.
