As therecent revelationover Google ’s background tracking of your location shows , it ’s not as comfortable as it should be to work out when apps , gargantuan tech companies and pocket gadget are give chase your location and when they ’re not . Here ’s what you need to know about how location tracking form on a phone — and how to disable it .
Location information is one of the prime second of data any company can get on you , whether they want to personalise your conditions reports or service up an ad for a local bakery . As a result apps and wandering os are very lancinate to get storage area of it . It ’s a via media though , and if you do n’t want to give it away , you ’ll have do without some location - based help ( like directions to the park ) . Do you want wash room or privacy ? You ca n’t have both , but know how it works , and when you could or should activate it should help .
Location tracking by device
If you do n’t want your smartphone to report your position to any app or any tech party , then you need to deactivate the master location mise en scene . It basically stops your phone from screw where it is ( usually done by pink GPS satellites , cellular telephone towers , and even nearby public wifi meshing ) .
On Android , fountainhead to options then tap Security & positioning , then Location , then turn the Use location replacement to Off . If you ’re using an iPhone , open up up configurations , then tap Privacy and Location Services and turn the Location Services switch to Off . Your headphone requisite goes dark as far as location is occupy .
This also means you wo n’t be able to locate where you are on a map , seem for java shops in your local area , or find your twist if it flummox lost ; it also quit Google from anonymously aggregate data to tell Google Maps users how fussy a route or a restaurant is , for exemplar . Both Android and iOS admit more info on the literal bill of fare screens themselves so you know what you ’re let yourself in for .
There is one situation where your location is still shared on both Android and Io though , even with fix give chase off : When you call emergency service . If you ’re in a country ( like the US ) and on a connection with emergency location sharing is enabled , your speech sound will still report your position to first answerer , no matter what .
Location tracking by app
If you enable location trailing on your gadget , then you ’re giving Google and Apple access to that data — it ’s just part of the mess of using their peregrine operating systems with fix services enable . Even with this scope on though , you may deflect individual apps from accessing your machine ’s location .
From preferences on Android , head to Security & location , then Location , then pink App - level permit to see all the apps install on your earpiece — wrench the on/off switch switches to Off for any app you do n’t need knowing your location . For example , you might need to allow Airbnb recognize where you are but not Facebook . Again , this might break some app functions that require location info .
Over in the options app for iOS , tap Privacy , then Location Services to see a full list of apps . You get more granular control on iOS : Apps can be allowed to access location datum Always , or While Using the App , or Never . habituate the Never option to block tracking completely , or While Using the App to block backcloth tracking ( so location entropy is only logged when the app is actually run ) .
This is one way of intercept apps lumber your location in the path highlighted bythe recent AP account : you could see little Lucy in the sky with diamonds on the single-valued function where apps have been fired up on the twist and then get a location fix at the same time . Every app is unlike of course , and will have its own privacy policy on what it does with your location data point .
Remember though that some of these apps have a long orbit . Even if you switch off location access for the Facebook app , Facebook as a platform will know where you are when you enter inside a web internet browser ( because of the IP address you ’re connecting to the web from ) , or when one of your friends tags you in a peculiar place , or when you mark a place in an Instagram pic .
Location tracking by Google (and Apple)
Even if you switch off location tracking accession for all your apps , as long as it ’s enable on your phone — see the first division — Apple ( on iOS ) and Google ( on Android ) can compile location data about you , because they own the O . Google , though , seems far more belligerent about it , and far keener to divvy up location data point across all its merchandise .
This is the sort of tracking highlighted in K. Shankari’sblog office , which prompted the AP study in the first property , and which picks up on issues with Android that users have actually been noticingfor years : Google Play Services will still assemble up some locating data for Google and related services ( like Maps and the Google Assistant ) , as long as location access is swop on at the phone stratum .
Google can even do this on iOS , with the help of the Google app — you’ll notice it requests to lumber location selective information at all time , even when it ’s in the backdrop . At least on iOS you could block the Google app without disabling phone location service entirely , whereas on Android it ’s kind of all or nothing as far as location goes .
This is all laid out inGoogle ’s Privacy Policy , which covers all of its products and services , including Google Maps and Android . “ The type of locating data that we collect depend in part on your gimmick and account preferences , ” say Google — which is a fate of preferences to stick around across , and even then you ’re only controlling locating tracking “ in part ” .
you’re able to readApple ’s Privacy Policytoo , which makes it clear that data from Location Services on Io can be used to learn about places you shoot the breeze a lot , serve up location - based ads in Apple News and the App Store , and make location - base hypnotism ( like the Siri prompts to visit your local coffee shop class in iOS 12 ) .
This information is shared across other devices connect to the same iCloud account , as Google share account information across multiple devices , though Applemakes it clearthat it ’s not concerned in storing this information for itself — it stays mesh on your gadget rather than shine back to Apple . Any datum Apple sees is anonymized and grouped with data from other users .
Like using Facebook , or connecting to public wifi , it ultimately comes down to how much trust you ’re putting in the companies providing these armed service . Are you happy for Google or your iPhone to bang where you are in return for whole tone - by - step directions place , or local weather condition reports , or recommendations about a new eating place in town ?
So , if you desire to jam a specific app from knowing where your phone is , you may switch the permission off at the app level . If you want to stop Google and Apple from gathering any locating information from your roving gadget at all , then you need to deactivate the gadget ’s locating boast totally . Or perhaps just go back to a dense telephone .
AndroidAppleGooglelocation tracking
Daily Newsletter
Get the best technical school , science , and civilisation news in your inbox daily .
News from the future , deliver to your present .
You May Also Like
