Your phone collects location history, an advertising ID, and app activity that companies can share or sell. You can’t stop all of it, but about ten minutes in your settings cuts most of it: set apps to share location only while in use (or never), delete your advertising ID or turn off ad tracking, turn off or auto-delete location history, and revoke permissions that apps don’t need.
Most phone tracking isn’t a hack. It runs on permissions you granted once and forgot, and on an advertising ID that every app on your phone can read. The data is valuable because it’s specific. A trail of locations shows where you live, where you work, and where you go when you think no one is watching. A recent federal case shows what happens to that data once it leaves your phone.
A Real Example: Location Data Sold to Anyone Who Paid
On May 4, 2026, the FTC announced a proposed settlement with the data broker Kochava and its subsidiary, Collective Data Solutions. The FTC had sued Kochava in August 2022, alleging that the company collected and sold precise location data from mobile devices that revealed people’s movements, including visits to health facilities and places of worship. The FTC said consumers didn’t know their data was being shared and hadn’t consented to it. In the FTC’s words, the data “could be used to trace the movements of individuals.”
Under the proposed order, Kochava and CDS would be barred from selling or sharing sensitive location data without affirmative express consent. They would also have to build a list of sensitive locations to keep out of the data they sell, and let consumers ask who received their precise location data and withdraw consent to its sale. Read the FTC’s announcement.
The lesson is not that one company misbehaved. The same data, collected through ordinary app permissions and an advertising ID, flows through a whole industry. The settings below shut off the source.
How Phone Tracking Works
- Location permissions. Any app you allow can read your GPS position, sometimes even when it’s closed.
- The advertising ID. Your phone assigns one identifier that all apps can see. The Electronic Frontier Foundation describes it as the main key behind most third-party tracking on mobile, because it lets different data brokers match up what they know about you.
- Location history. Your phone or your Google account can keep a log of places you’ve been.
- Permissions beyond location. Microphone, camera, contacts, and photos access can also expose more than you intend.
iPhone: Step by Step
- Review app location access. Go to Settings, then Privacy & Security, then Location Services. For each app, choose Never, Ask Next Time, or While Using the App. Choose “Always” only for apps that truly need it, such as a navigation app. Apple says setting an app’s location switch to Never blocks its location access.
- Turn off Precise Location for apps that only need your general area. In the same per-app screen, switch off Precise Location for weather, shopping, and news apps. Apple notes that this gives the app approximate location only.
- Check System Services. At the bottom of Location Services, tap System Services. Switch off what you don’t need. Significant Locations & Routes (which learns places you visit often and your routes) is listed there. Apple says this data syncs end-to-end encrypted, so Apple can’t read it, but you can still turn it off.
- Stop apps from tracking you across other apps. Go to Settings, then Privacy & Security, then Tracking, and turn off Allow Apps to Request to Track.
- Turn off Apple’s personalized ads. Go to Settings, then Privacy & Security, then Apple Advertising, and switch off Personalized Ads.
Source for the Apple settings: Apple, Location Services & Privacy and the iPhone User Guide. One caution from Apple: even with Location Services off, apps and websites may still estimate your general location from your internet connection’s IP address.
Android: Step by Step
- Review app location access. Go to Settings, then Location, then App permissions (labels vary by phone maker). Set each app to Allow only while using the app, Ask every time, or Don’t allow.
- Delete your advertising ID. Go to Settings, then Privacy, then Ads, and tap Delete advertising ID, then confirm. EFF notes this is available to most users on Android 12 and later. On older versions, use the ad personalization opt-out instead.
- Manage Google Maps Timeline. Timeline is off unless you turned it on. If it’s on, Google says your visits and routes are now saved on your device, and an encrypted cloud backup is a separate opt-in. To change this: open Maps, tap your profile picture, then Your Timeline, then More, then Location & privacy settings. From there you can choose Delete all Timeline data, set Auto-delete Timeline (3, 18, or 36 months), or turn Timeline off. Details: Google Maps Help, Manage your Timeline.
- Opt out of ad personalization. In your Google Account, open Data & privacy and look for My Ad Center to turn off personalized ads.
On Both Platforms
- Audit camera, microphone, contacts, and photos permissions. A flashlight app has no reason to read your contacts. Revoke anything that doesn’t match what the app does.
- Delete apps you don’t use. An unused app can still collect data in the background. Our guide to apps that spy on you covers how to check.
- Use a privacy-focused browser such as Firefox Focus, Brave, or DuckDuckGo for everyday browsing. See our browser privacy guide and our post on cookies and privacy.
- Keep your phone updated. Newer operating system versions tighten tracking controls.
- Re-check every few months. New apps and updates can reset permissions or add new ones.
If You Think Someone Is Tracking You Specifically
Everything above addresses commercial tracking. If you suspect a person (a partner, ex, or someone else) is monitoring your phone, change your passwords from a different, trusted device first, because tracking software on your phone can see what you do on it. Update your operating system, and remove apps you don’t recognize. If you’re worried about your safety, a local domestic violence or victim-support organization can help you plan next steps. Acting suddenly can alert the person doing the tracking.
People Also Ask
No. Your carrier knows roughly where your phone is, and some tracking comes from websites and IP addresses. The settings here remove the largest sources: app location sharing, the advertising ID, and location history.
No. Apps keep working. They just can’t use that ID to link what you do across apps. Ads will be less targeted.
It’s much safer than “Always.” The app can read your location only when it’s open. It’s the right choice for maps, rideshare, and delivery apps.
Turning off Location Services entirely disables map navigation and device-finding features. It’s usually better to turn location off app by app and keep it on for the few apps that need it.
They limit cross-site trackers while you browse, but they don’t affect tracking by apps. Use them alongside the permission changes above, not in place of them.
Check each app’s privacy listing in the app store for what data it says it shares. Treat any free app that wants constant location access with suspicion.
Sources: Federal Trade Commission, “FTC to Ban Kochava and Subsidiary from Selling Sensitive Location Data to Settle Charges They Sold Location Data Linked to Millions of Mobile Devices” (May 2026); Google, “Manage your Google Maps Timeline”; Apple, “Location Services & Privacy”; Electronic Frontier Foundation, “How to Disable Ad ID Tracking on iOS and Android, and Why You Should Do It Now” (May 2022)
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