FixableYour devices, car & home
Your phone as a tracking device
The one device that logs where you go, who’s near you, and what you photograph.
Understand it
Your phone is the most complete record of your life that exists: a running history of everywhere you’ve been, the Bluetooth and Wi-Fi devices around you, photos stamped with where they were taken, and the full list of apps you use. Most of it is collected by default, by the phone maker and by the apps on it.
How to spot it
Check your phone’s own “location history” or “timeline” - it can be a surprise how much is there.
Close the gap
- Turn off or auto-delete location history in your Google or Apple account.
- Review which apps have location, and set them to “while using” at most.
- Turn off geotagging of photos in the camera settings.
- Work through the harden-Android and harden-iPhone guides for the full set.
What to do about it
This is part of your plan at the High-risk level - Harden your devices. Work through it there and you’ll close this off along with everything else it covers.