\n<\/p>\n
Be Aware of Who’s Watching: A Guide to Managing Your Smartphone’s Location Tracking<\/strong><\/p>\n LONDON \u2014 Smartphones are handy for navigating daily life, but they often store a lot of information about you, including your whereabouts\u2014if you permit it. <\/p>\n When you search for a trendy caf\u00e9 using your map app or check online prices after a shopping trip, your phone may share your location without you realizing it. Different technologies such as cell towers, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS help your phone pinpoint where you are.<\/p>\n Your phone requires your location for certain services, like requesting a ride from a taxi app. However, there are instances where tracking your location isn’t necessary and could lead to privacy issues, exposing you to unwanted attention from apps and advertisers or even hackers.<\/p>\n Darren Guccione, CEO of Keeper Security, warns, "Every time your location is pinged, it may reveal details about your daily routines, which can be risky if misused." He suggests that location tracking should only be activated when genuinely needed\u2014like for navigation or emergencies\u2014and turned off immediately afterward.<\/p>\n Concerns have been raised that location data could potentially target vulnerable individuals, such as those visiting reproductive health clinics. David Ruiz from cybersecurity firm Malwarebytes emphasizes that sharing location could also leave you open to stalking, especially from a jealous ex or an abusive partner.<\/p>\n To help safeguard your privacy, here are some easy ways to limit location tracking on your smartphone:<\/p>\n Start by reviewing the permissions for your apps. For iPhone users, go to the Privacy & Security section and select Location Services to see which apps are tracking your location. Experts recommend not allowing apps to access your location constantly. Instead, set it so they can only track while the app is in use or ask for permission each time.<\/p>\n For Android devices, although the steps may vary by manufacturer, generally navigate to Settings and select the Location option to manage permissions for all apps or tweak individual app settings.<\/p>\n Apple provides additional tools to limit unwanted tracking by third-party apps. In the Privacy & Security settings, you\u2019ll find a Tracking section where you can stop apps from requesting to track your activity.<\/p>\n It’s wise to block the advertising identifiers on your device that allow third-party companies to track your movements. On iPhones, head to the Privacy section and find Apple Advertising to turn off Personalized Ads. Android users can delete their advertising ID through the Privacy and Ads settings.<\/p>\n Smartphones can use various signals to accurately determine your position. While this feature is useful for showing someone your exact location, you can opt to share only a general location instead. On Android, you can turn off Location Accuracy for all apps, and iPhone users can adjust this setting on a per-app basis.<\/p>\n If you have a Google account, check its settings as well. Following a 2018 report that revealed Google continued tracking users’ locations even when they opted out, the company now provides clearer controls over location history. Visit myaccount.google.com to find and adjust these settings.<\/p>\n Popular web browsers like Safari or Chrome may also share your location. Consider using privacy-focused browsers like DuckDuckGo or Firefox Focus, which ask for permission before accessing your location and have easy options for deleting browsing data.<\/p>\n Apple and Google both offer tools like Find My Device to help recover lost gadgets. If you’re concerned about data breaches, you might want to disable these features.<\/p>\n Some experts suggest using Airplane Mode to block signals, but this doesn’t always work perfectly. To be more thorough, you can use a signal-blocking pouch, though you\u2019ll need to remove your device from it to use it.<\/p>\n With so many ways for smartphones to track users, it can feel overwhelming to manage privacy settings. \u201cTypically, apps are designed to track us, making it tough to fully understand how our data is shared,\u201d Ruiz states. It\u2019s important to go through settings carefully and make choices about how each app collects location data. Disabling all tracking could mean having to manually enter addresses in apps or missing real-time navigation assists.<\/p>\n By taking these steps, you can help protect your privacy and keep your data safe.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Be Aware of Who’s Watching: A Guide to Managing Your Smartphone’s Location Tracking LONDON \u2014 Smartphones are handy for navigating daily life, but they often store a lot of information about you, including your whereabouts\u2014if you permit it. When you search for a trendy caf\u00e9 using your map app or check online prices after a<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6437,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[6130,114,6980,6982,6979,4139,2878,6977,19,473,6981,4227,2425,118,4338,6978,1506],"class_list":["post-6436","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-alphabet","tag-business","tag-darren-guccione","tag-david-ruiz","tag-finance-business","tag-general-news","tag-inc","tag-information-security","tag-lifestyle","tag-mobile-apps","tag-mobile-phones","tag-privacy","tag-software","tag-technology","tag-u-s-news","tag-wireless-technology","tag-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/indiabulletinusa.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6436","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/indiabulletinusa.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/indiabulletinusa.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indiabulletinusa.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indiabulletinusa.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6436"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/indiabulletinusa.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6436\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indiabulletinusa.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/indiabulletinusa.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6436"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indiabulletinusa.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6436"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indiabulletinusa.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Check App Permissions<\/h3>\n
Privacy Features on iPhone<\/h3>\n
Advertising Tracking<\/h3>\n
Location Accuracy<\/h3>\n
Review Your Google Account<\/h3>\n
Safe Browsing<\/h3>\n
Device Tracking Features<\/h3>\n
Signal Blocking<\/h3>\n
Finding Balance<\/h3>\n