You’re being tracked secretly by 3 settings on your phone
When mobile apps first hit the scene, many were designed to make our phones more useful. This included new tools for productivity, as well as apps for entertainment. Many of today’s apps, though, are packed with sneaky permission requests and hidden trackers.
These tactics are legal because app developers (and the companies behind them) have to give you a choice to opt in or out of these tracking permissions. Unfortunately, not everyone knows how to do that … or the developers make it really challenging to figure it out.
Keep reading, and I’ll walk you through how to turn off these invasive tracking options.
⚠️ A heads-up before we get into the settings
Many smartphones use your location data to send info to first responders in an emergency. When you’re changing your settings, you may see an option to allow emergency services to bypass certain restrictions.
Also, some apps might not function correctly after you disable tracking features (think ride-hailing and fitness-tracking apps). For apps you use a ton and trust with your data, keep your location access enabled.
Then, there’s personalization — and it’s not just about seeing fewer targeted ads. Turning off certain settings could impact other app features, like nearby places, weather alerts and commute times.
🍎 Apple fam, let’s do this
When you stop something like location tracking at the iOS level, all the apps you’ve installed have to abide by those rules. That means you don’t need to change the setting for every single app, in some cases. Score.
1. Ad tracking
Developers know what you’re doing in their apps, sure, but some want to follow you around the web, seeing where you go, when you have your phone with you and even other apps you’ve installed. Why? To build a detailed profile of who you are, which allows for even more targeted advertising. Worse, many take your data, package it up and sell it off to other companies. No, thanks.
You’ll need to change your ad tracking on an app-by-app basis, but Apple makes it easy. Head to Settings > Privacy & Security > Tracking to block apps and stop them from asking for permissions in the first place.
Your phone tracks everywhere you’ve been – See (and delete) it
Google knows more about you than your best friends. That includes (if you have the correct settings enabled) where you go and even the pictures you take at that location.
You have to check out this map. It’s stunning to see your history laid out in one spot.
10 bad iPhone default settings you should change today
Your devices come preloaded with settings and apps that can slow things down. This is especially true with new PCs, which have many programs that start automatically as soon as you boot it up.
Tech companies embed default settings into our devices that supposedly make our lives easier, but they often cause more problems than they are worth. Here are 10 default iPhone settings you should switch off.
How to see the secret map tracking everywhere you go
At this point, the idea of privacy in our digital world seems like, at best, a farce. As we continue to learn about our devices, we see more and more that they are tracking us in many ways, including some that we never thought of.
How to find out where you took a picture
Your digital gallery is a one-way portal to precious moments from the past. Maybe you find a cool picture you forgot about and want to send it to your friends and family. Tap or click here for seven ways to privately share photos.