How to Protect Yourself against Location Tracking?

Turning off the location services of your smartphone or laptop doesn’t change much. At best, it helps you save some precious battery. Right?

Nowadays, due to the nature of wireless networks, cookies, and so on, location tracking is more than just a common occurrence. Both software and applications can actively track your location, even without consent, in some cases.

While location data is often used to personalize and add to your experience, this data is also knowingly sold to large mega-corporations that will certainly find a way to use it. If you don’t want anything or anyone to track your location, here’s what you have to do.

Turn Off and Clear Cookies Regularly

We’ve all grown accustomed to the cookie popup that we see every time we access a new website. However, most of us usually click accept all without actually reviewing what we’re agreeing to.

The majority of websites out there use cookies that actively track their visitors and, to top it all off, these cookies are stored in one’s computer or device as well. The best course of action is to turn off the cookies feature of your browser and/or to clear these regularly.

On the other hand, some cookies also help you log in faster on websites and platforms, as they save this particular kind of data as well. Keep in mind that you can clean cookies manually and, as such, save the cookies of reputable/needed websites only.

When in doubt, remember that private browsing options don’t save cookies.

How to Protect Yourself against Location Tracking
Location tracking concept illustration
Map vector created by stories – www.freepik.com

Use a Virtual Private Network Software

A Virtual Private Network, most commonly known as a VPN, is a piece of software that fully encrypts one’s data traffic. Not only that, such software can also reroute your vital location data through secure servers as well so that there’s no chance of anyone intercepting it.

Ultimately, a VPN for iPhone or Android, for example, can help you completely hide your browsing history and make it look like you access the Internet from an entirely different location as well.

Tread Carefully On Social Media

The worst part about most social media platforms is the fact that they can’t stop asking us for our location or access to our personal data. Facebook, for instance, while it was hinted some time ago that it actively tracks our locations, is also asking its users to geotag their pictures.

Naturally, sharing your location on social media can have plenty of serious implications. Hackers and thieves alike can use such data to see when you’re not home and strike. This is one answer to the question of who would have a use for my location data?

Learn More About Anti-Tracking Software

VPNs are not the only type of software that can prevent you from being tracked online. Nowadays, common antivirus providers come with anti-tracking extensions or even built-in VPNs.

For example, reputable antivirus software comes with protection packages that extend across all of our devices. If a package includes data protection, then you’re pretty much 100% protected against unwanted location tracking.

Moreover, almost all browsers have comprehensive anti-tracking add-ons and extensions that can make your browsing experience much safer than usual. At the same time, keeping an eye on cybersecurity blogs will keep you on the edge of all the latest tricks and tips as well. You’ll learn more about the newest apps that help keep your location data in your hands only!

Turn Off GPS/Location when Needed

Most of us keep the GPS or location features of our devices on just in case we lose them – or someone steals them from us. Other than that, there’s really no reason to keep such services on all the time!

Obviously, if you need the GPS to find your way through a new city and such, you’ll still rely on it. But once you get home or plan to be in a location for a long time, it’s better if you turn off GPS and location services.

If you want to go the extra-mile, you can also limit what apps and software can access these services. You might keep them turned on for Facebook and Instagram, but not for apps that you rarely use and, most importantly, don’t really need your GPS to function properly!

The Bottom Line

Privacy must still be cherished, so to speak. As we mentioned earlier, your location data can be used by many people and in many ways (and most of them are outright evil!).

Luckily for us, not all people in this world are bad or illicitly chase money. VPN service providers, among many others, are one of the few options that can help us keep your location and data top-secret. But they can’t do it all alone!

As such, next time you turn on your devices, make sure to apply at least half of the steps above to ensure near-perfect protection of your personal information!

Categories: Technology

Write a Comment

Your e-mail address will not be published.
Required fields are marked*

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.