- Parked locations are those areas and places where you park your car to help you find the spot again. Even though the feature is pretty beneficial, it still invades privacy.
- Is this legal for apps to track your location? Yes, it is completely legal as you agreed to their terms and conditions, aware or unaware.
- Faking your original location is the best thing to do in this situation so you can enjoy the perks of GPS-restricted apps as well as do not have to worry about your privacy.
New developments in technology such as GPS are definitely making people s lives better. But on the other hand, it is also violating privacy concerns by tracking phones for location records.
As an experimental programmer, such things always caught my attention and I research to look for effective ways to solve tracking issues.
In this article, I have penned down the most effective and efficient ways to learn how to block my phone from being tracked.
Are Apps Tracking Your Location?
While giving location access to apps after installation, you might have asked yourself why they actually need your location. Well, I am here to answer this query for you.
All these apps track your location and keep a record of it to enhance your experience with personalized preferences such as recommending nearby places, precise weather forecasts of your area, or location-specified browsing for better results.
Besides personalized recommendations, this data is also sold to third parties such as advertising agencies and companies. They collect data and process it to show relevant advertisements to the target audience based on their interest.
How much do Apps know about us?
Being tracked all the time by applications feels like they are spying on you. But the main question is how much they know about you. Yes, you are being tracked all the time and your data is being recorded. Even the apps that do not need your location to work, ask for access to sell this data to an advertising company.
Your location, places you visit, terms you search for, your social accounts and the information stored on your phone is accessible to different companies.
Is this legal? If you are thinking the same right now then let me tell you that this is completely legal as you agreed to their terms and conditions, aware or unaware.
Do you wish not to make this situation worse? I have a perfect solution for this as I bring different methods to answer how to block my phone from being tracked.
Are Apps Tracking Your Location?
While giving location access to apps after installation, you might have asked yourself why they actually need your location. Well, I am here to answer this query for you.
All these apps track your location and keep a record of it to enhance your experience with personalized preferences such as recommending nearby places, precise weather forecasts of your area, or location-specified browsing for better results.
Besides personalized recommendations, this data is also sold to third parties such as advertising agencies and companies. They collect data and process it to show relevant advertisements to the target audience based on their interest.
How much do Apps know about us?
Being tracked all the time by applications feels like they are spying on you. But the main question is how much they know about you. Yes, you are being tracked all the time and your data is being recorded. Even the apps that do not need your location to work, ask for access to sell this data to an advertising company.
Your location, places you visit, terms you search for, your social accounts and the information stored on your phone is accessible to different companies.
Is this legal? If you are thinking the same right now then let me tell you that this is completely legal as you agreed to their terms and conditions, aware or unaware.
Do you wish not to make this situation worse? I have a perfect solution for this as I bring different methods to answer how to block my phone from being tracked.
Method 1. Changing Your Real-Time Location [most recommended]
Faking your original location is the best thing to do in this situation as your original location will not be tracked by apps and you do not have to worry about your privacy.
MagicGo is a professional tool designed for iOS users to fake their location anywhere in the world anytime they want. You can switch your location to a new place with just one click. The pros of the tool are listed below :
Why I Recommend Mobitrix MagicGo?
- Supports rapidly changing the GPS position.
- The intuitive user interface is user-friendly for everyone who uses it.
- Compatible with all location-based applications, including Map WhatsApp, Fitness app, and Facebook.
- Ideal for gaming. Support virtual movement synchronization allows you to play Pokemon Go without moving.
Former Apple Technican
Steps
- Launch MagicGo.
- Connect your iPhone to the computer and click Start.
- Set a location from the map and click Move.
And you are done. All the apps on your phone will be moved to your new location in no time.
Besides faking your location, turning off your location can block your phone from being tracked. Here are some of the effective methods you can try.
Method 2. Turn off Significant Locations
Significant locations are places that you visited in the past. These places are kept in record by Apple to provide you with better location services. If you wish to turn it off, follow the steps below:
Steps
- Launch Settings and open the Privacy tab
- Go to Location Services and the
- Locate System Services and choose Significant Locations.
- Toggle off Significant Locations
- Click Clear History
Method 3. Turn off Parked Location
Parked locations are those areas and places where you park your car to help you find the spot again. Even though the feature is pretty beneficial, it still invades privacy. Here is how you can turn off parked locations.
Steps
- Go to Settings and open Maps
- Locate Show Parked Location
- Turn it off
Method 4. Disable Location-Based Alerts, Apple Ads, Suggestions
Apple uses your location access to display ads according to your current location for a better experience such as app downloads in an area, alerts, hotels, etc. Sometimes, it can be annoying so here is how to block your phone from being tracked and disable location-based alerts, Apple ads, and suggestions. The steps are as follows:
Steps
- Open Settings
- Go to Privacy and then Location Services
- Select System Services
- Turn off the services
Method 5. Disable iPhone Location Tracking individually for apps
Apps access your location, track your phone and record it to share information with third parties such as advertising companies. Disable iPhone location tracking individually for apps to protect your crucial information with the following steps:
Steps
- Launch settings and open Privacy.
- Go to Location Services.
- Select the app you don t want to share your location with.
- Select Never .
Method 6. Turn Off Location Sharing for Google Maps
You can use Google Maps to reach any location precisely but all of this information is recorded at the backend. While this seems a great technology feature, it is also scary to see the depth of data being stored. It includes places you visit, routes you take and even where you parked your vehicle.. To turn it off, follow these steps:
Steps
- Open Settings
- Go to Location Settings
- Click the Location History is on option
- Switch it to Off
Note: If your phone is stolen or lost, you won t be able to find it again as Google can t track you anymore.
Method 7. Turn Off Wi-Fi Scanning
Wi-Fi scanning by apps lets them access your Wi-Fi and location even when it is turned off to provide your better location service. Here is how to turn off Wi-Fi scanning.
Steps
- Open Settings and locate Google
- Scroll down and select Location
- Click Scanning
- Turn off Wi-Fi scanning
Method 8. Disable Location Sharing for Individual apps
Apps ask for your permission to access your location when you launch them for the first time. If you have mistakenly given access then follow these steps to disable location sharing for individual apps.
Steps
- Launch Settings
- Go to Apps Notifications
- Open App Permissions Location
- Select apps to remove location access.
Note: The location sharing settings might differ a little bit according to your Android OS firmware.
Even if you do not have any sensitive data on your phone, being spied on all the time by these apps makes things annoying. But not anymore. The methods will help you in blocking your phone from being tracked. Not sharing location, turning it off, disabling GPS services are not that effective as they have their cons such as not being able to use some apps or notifying others of your action.
I recommend MagicGo in this situation as it does not share your original location to keep up with your privacy as well as does not notify others. The interface of the tool is super-friendly and people with a non-tech background can easily go through it.
