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A14 TECHNOLOGY
Friday 7 February 2025

One Tech Tip: How to block your phone from tracking your

location

By KELVIN CHAN Chrome could give away
AP Business Writer your location, so try using
LONDON (AP) — Smart- one that that doesn’t store
phones are useful tools for information about you, like
everyday life, but they’re DuckDuckGo, Firefox Focus
privy to nearly everything or Ecosia.
about you, including all the If a privacy-focused brows-
places you’ve been if you er needs to access your
let them. location through your IP
When you use a map app address, they will ask first.
to find the new restaurant It will also let you easily de-
your friend recommended, lete your cookies and other
or your phone’s browser to web browsing data.
check the price of some- Find my device
thing you saw while win- Phones or tablets can also
dow shopping, you could be tracked with Apple’s
be unwittingly allowing Find My or Google’s Find
your phone to track your My Device features for re-
location and share that in- covering lost devices. You
formation with others. can turn this feature off
Phones use various signals if you think someone has
to find your location, in- gained access to your Ap-
cluding cell tower pings, ple or Google account.
Wi-Fi access points, Blue- A person holds an iPhone 15 Pro at the Apple campus, Sept. 12, 2023, in Cupertino, Calif. Block the signal
tooth and GPS. Associated Press Some cybersecurity web-
Sometimes your phone sites recommend using air-
needs to know your lo- trol panel to check permis- setting, under the Tracking says its signals are random- plane mode, but it doesn’t
cation to provide a use- sions. tab, there’s a toggle to ized so they can’t be asso- always shut off all signals so
ful service, like telling the iPhone users can go to the Allow Apps to Request to ciated with a specific per- you shouldn’t rely on it.
Uber driver where to pick Privacy & Security tab, and Track. With this switched son or account. A signal-blocking Faraday
you up. But in other cases, then to Location Services off, any new app requests In any case, you might not pouch would be a better
there’s little justification for to check settings for indi- will be automatically de- want every app to know bet, but be sure to test it to
tracking your whereabouts, vidual apps. It’s not a good nied and they will also be this, so you can tell your make sure it’s actually jam-
which then can be exploit- idea to let apps always stopped from accessing phone to only share its gen- ming all signals. And, keep
ed by apps, ad services or use your location in the your phone’s ad identifier. eral location. in mind, you’ll need to take
even hackers. background, according to Advertising ID On Android phones, turn the device out of the bag
“From fitness tracking to cybersecurity experts. In- Privacy experts recom- off the Location Accura- to use it.
navigation, every location stead, get the app to either mend blocking your cy setting for all apps. On Tradeoffs
ping potentially reveals ask first before using your Google or Apple device’s iPhones, switch it on or off There are so many possible
details about our routines location, use it only while in-house ad identifier, for individual apps. ways for smartphones and
and movements – which you’ve got the app open, which enables third-party Your Google account other devices like smart-
could be risky in the wrong or even never let it use your tracking on most devices Along with app permis- watches to track our loca-
hands,” said Darren Guc- location. for better ad targeting. sions for your device, it’s tion that it’s hard to provide
cione, CEO of Keeper Se- While you’re in Location On iPhones, go to the Priva- also a good idea to check an exhaustive checklist.
curity. “Users should turn Services, you might notice cy setting then scroll down your Google account. Our default relationship
on location tracking only little arrows that indicate to Apple Advertising, and Google was forced to be with apps, companies,
when necessary, such as which apps have used your then switch off Personalized more transparent about and platforms is for them to
during navigation, emer- location. Purple means re- Ads. On newer Android its location tracking prac- track us, “which absolutely
gencies or sharing updates cently, while grey indicates phones, go to the Privacy tices after a 2018 Associ- makes it harder for us to
with trusted contacts, and the past 24 hours. setting, then to Ads, where ated Press story that found scrutinize all the channels
disable it immediately af- It’s a little different for An- you can tap Delete Adver- the company continued through which our data is
terward.” droid phones because tising ID. to track people’s loca- being sent,” said Ruiz.
Experts warn location data there are so many different Pinpoint or general tion data even after they “The unfortunate truth is
could be used to track versions by various device Whether you use Android opted out of such tracking that, to shut everything
people who visit abortion manufacturers. In general, or iOS, they both have set- by disabling a feature the down, we have to go into
clinics. Or “a disgruntled go to settings, and then tap tings to allow precisely pin- company called “location our device settings and
ex could use location shar- the Location icon, which pointing your location by history.” check each app, line by
ing to stalk someone, or a lets you turn it on or off for combining wireless signals Go to myaccount.google. line, and make individual
current, abusive partner all apps. with data from onboard com and then to the Data decisions for how those
could force you into loca- To tweak settings for indi- sensors such as the gyro- & Privacy section, where apps collect our location
tion sharing as a means of vidual apps, tap App lo- scope, accelerometer and you’ll find the Location His- data,” said Ruiz.
control,” said David Ruiz, cation permissions, where barometer. This helps to tory controls. “It’s either that, or turn off
senior privacy advocate you’ll get choices similar to estimate the phone’s posi- Under recent changes, the all location data entirely,”
at cybersecurity company those in iOS. tion if, for example, you’re history will be deleted after which could result in in-
Malwarebytes. iPhone privacy inside a building blocking a three months, though you conveniences like having
Here are some tips to make Apple has other tools to cut GPS signal. can change that default to manually enter your ad-
sure location tracking is down on third-party track- One reason to use this func- setting. dress on ride-hailing apps,
kept to a minimum: ing that might include lo- tion is to show someone Browsers or not getting live direc-
App permissions cation information. On the you’re meeting exactly Popular smartphone web tions from mapping apps,
Head to your phone’s con- iPhone’s Privacy & Security where you are. Google browsers like Safari or he said.q