How to stop smartphones from tracking you
The main driving force in this age of targeted advertising is data – tons of it. And it’s not just the smaller companies who are looking to mine your patterns and habits to sell them to marketing and research firms. Everyone wants to be in the game.
At this point, we all recognize the possibility that our phones are tracking us. Whether it is the apps we use or our locations, there are certain features that record our day-to-day habits.
Sometimes, in exchange for a free service, we unwittingly give up something else in return.
More often than not, these data-sharing policies are buried within pages and pages of privacy policies and terms of agreements. You know how difficult and confusing these privacy policies can be, right?
Why are you being tracked?
Online behavioral advertising, which is also sometimes called “interest-based advertising,” uses information gathered through your gadgets about your daily trips, habits and interests. This helps predict your preferences and show you ads that are more likely to be of interest to you.
Facebook, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon and Google all make money off mobile ads, and they too need this information to power their ads. It’s a virtual arms race as the big tech firms try and collect as much user data as they can without blatantly violating your privacy.
Even smaller companies and your phone carrier also want your personal data so they can profit off it by selling it to third-party marketing agencies.
Although it’s not possible to completely eliminate behavioral tracking (unless you completely go off the grid and stay off the internet forever), you have tools at your disposal that can at least minimize what can be tracked.
In this tip, we’ll cover the various ways you can stop your smartphone from tracking your every move.
1. Tweak your phone’s location settings
Apple and Android devices that you might not be aware of. The feature is buried inside privacy settings, and unless you turn it off, it will record your daily routine.
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