Location tracking: Your unsolicited life memoir

May 22, 2025

By Kim Komando

Think you’re off the grid? Think again. Your phone is basically a chatty little informant. While you were living your life, grabbing coffee, sneaking off for that totally relaxing solo cabin trip, it was logging every move like a nosy aunt with a snooping addiction. 

It’s all tucked inside a setting most people have never touched. Note: I tested the steps below, but depending on your make, model and operating system, the steps may differ a bit.

📍 Team iPhone

On your iPhone, go to: Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services > System Services > Significant Locations

Yep, it’s buried deep.

Once you’re in, you’ll see a full list of cities and addresses you’ve visited, complete with time stamps and maps. Apple says this helps features like Maps and Photos “learn places significant to you.” Translation: They know when you went to brunch and how long you stayed.

💡 Want to clear it? You can.

Scroll down and tap “Clear History” or toggle it off at the top. Just know: You’ll lose some personalized features like traffic predictions or location-based reminders.

🗺️ Team Android

If you’ve ever used Google Maps, there’s a timeline of your movements, too, all tied to your Google account across devices.

Check yours: Open maps.google.com/timeline. Or in the Google Maps app, tap your profile photo > Your timeline. You’ll see routes, modes of travel and photos … all time-stamped, curated and a little unsettling.  

Want more control? Inside Your timeline, tap More (three dots) > Location & privacy settings. You can delete parts of your history or pause tracking altogether.

🔒 Pro tip: On Android, you can also go to: Settings > Location > Location Services (or Advanced) > Google Location History … and shut it down per device.

At this point, your phone could testify in court. Take a few minutes today to check yours. You should be the one deciding how much of your life stays on the map.

Speaking of … I was visiting South Korea, but I forgot my phone and I had no map. Let me tell you, it was a true Seoul-searching experience. 🇰🇷