Do you think that you think that your phone is getting tracked? Have you ever wondered how much data Google is collecting from you and regularly tracking your smartphone? Do you know how much the apps that you use track you?
If you don’t know then here we have the answers and we have come up with ways of cell phone tracking prevention.
The location feature is important and useful when you have to search for nearby shops and while using maps. But this feature could also lead to tracking of your mobile. When you keep your location on then be sure that someone might be seeing and spying on you.
Cell Phone tracking by app companies
Cell phones are becoming an integral part of human life. You use them for shopping, banking, social media and various other things.
Most of these apps use GPS technology to provide you with better features. So when you download the apps they ask for location permission. So in this way your location is tracked by multiple companies legally as you have been granted to use your location. These companies may sell your information to other companies or they can use it for their benefit.
You might have wondered why many companies offer their premium services for free. For those companies, their app is not the product but you are the product for them. They target you and collect your various information and then either they sell it or they target you with more accurate ads. This helps the companies to advertise their product to the most accurate buyers.
Your data is sold to companies, individuals or even to the government. In the past, we have seen various incidents and news of data leaks by companies. Even you would have heard of data leaks from big companies such as Facebook.
This cell phone tracking affects your privacy. You might be wondering what you can do for cellphone tracking prevention?
So here are the ways that can help you.
Ways of cellphone tracking prevention.
You can do the following thing to prevent cell tracking:
Turn off the location service
You can turn off the location service on your Android and iOS devices. If you turn off the location service then no one will be able to see where you go, how much you stay there, where you live etc. Generally, this information can be tracked when you keep your location on.
Use a VPN
Using a VPN can help you in cellphone tracking prevention. VPN encrypts your data and hides your IP address by routing it through a VPN server. So even if anyone tries to track you then they will get the IP Address of the VPN server only. But this type of feature is often offered by premium VPN providers.
You should use private browsers for surfing.
Private browsers such as Firefox Focus blocks advertisement, analytics and social tracker, password and browsing history after each session.
You should use incognito mode while browsing so that the sites can’t track you. But your Internet Service Provider may still track you.
If you don’t want Google to track you while browsing then you should use Yippy and DuckDuckGo etc as these search engines don’t track you as aggressively as Google.
Limit ad tracking
To turn off location is an extreme case because you need location services for various other works. So each time you can’t turn off and turn on the location. To overcome this you can try a limited ad tracking feature. This will not completely stop companies from tracking your location activity rather it will not help you to reset your advertising ID. This will unlink the targeted advertising profile link to your device.
Turn off your Activity
If you don’t want Google to keep a record of your activities such as location history, browsing history and app usage history. Then you can turn it off from your Google accounts.
The step to turn off the activity:
- Log in to your Google Account.
- After signing in click on “Your personal info” in the “Personal info & Privacy” section.
- Then click on “Manage your Google activity” and on “Go to activity control” and turn off the different types of data being stored by Google.
Control apps permission
An app needs certain permission to run on your device. When you download the app then open it then you can popups which ask you permission such as location, storage, camera, manage calls etc. Sometimes these permissions are required.
But sometimes some apps ask for extra permission that they don’t need to operate on your device. Such as a flashlight app asking for location permission. This doesn’t make any sense, right! So you should not give such permission to the apps.
When the popup for permission appears then you have three options to choose from. “Always”, “while using the app only” and “don’t allow” options. You should always select while using the app only option and do that the app can only access any data only when you are using the app. This is one of the best precautions for cell phone tracking prevention.
Turn off your Bluetooth
In 2019 New York Times had published an article revealing how some companies are using Bluetooth tech to get customer data about their shopping habits. These devices are called Bluetooth beacons.
These are tiny devices that can contact certain apps of your device. They are kept in the shop in an unnoticed place. This can record your shopping habits such as in which product you linger a lot.
This information can be used to target you with ads. So you should keep your location and Bluetooth services.
Conclusion
We are living in a world where we are mostly surrounded by technology, especially cell phones. Almost everyone owns a smartphone phone. So you should know the ways to prevent cell phone tracking so that you can keep your private and personal data more safe and secure. This is not possible but by following the prevention ways you can save your privacy from being public.
Hey there! I’m Kuldeep Kumar, and tech is my jam. From the mind-blowing world of AI to the thrilling battlegrounds of cybersecurity, I love exploring every corner of this amazing world. Gadgets? I geek out over them. Hidden software tricks? Bring ’em on! I explain it all in clear, bite-sized chunks, laced with a touch of humor to keep things sparky. So, join me on this tech adventure, and let’s demystify the wonders of technology, one blog post at a time.