Android 101: how to stop position tracking

Tracking the location can be very convenient – it's convenient when an app can tell you, for example, where are the nearby restaurants or gas stations – but it's also a privacy issue . Do you want all your wanderings to be recorded by Google? Are you comfortable knowing that Mark Zuckerberg's henchmen know where you are at all times? (Well, not that Mark Zuckerberg has henchmen, but you know what I mean.)

In this article, we will see how to stop tracking location on your Android phone and how to delete the history of your locations from your operating system and some of the most popular apps. As always, note that the Android versions may differ and that many manufacturers also use inlays, which may change the location of different commands, but they must be sufficiently similar for you to find your way . For these instructions, I use a Pixel 3 XL under Android 9.

Prevent Google from following you, period.

You probably know that Google can track your location and your movements through its Google Maps app. But you may not realize that your Android phone also tracks your movements and activities through several other built-in apps.

If you really do not want your phone to track all of your movements and activities, there is a way to disable tracking for all (well, for the most part). You simply need to know that you will probably make many of your apps (such as carpool apps, weather apps and, of course, mapping apps) less usable. Or in some cases, completely unusable.

Stop tracking Google using a browser

• Go to https://myactivity.google.com/
• Select "Activity Controls" in the left menu.
• Scroll through the different activities and choose the ones you want to disable.

This may take a while, especially if you want to research what you are going to affect. The listed activities that would reveal your location include "Web Activity and Apps" (which covers everything you've done about Google apps and services) and "Location History" (where you went with your device). You can also delete "Device Information" (contact information, calendars, etc.), "Audio and Audio Activity," "YouTube Search History," and "YouTube Watch History."

You prevented the collection of more data. But now, you may want to delete some or all of the information already collected.

• Go back to the My Activity page and click on "Delete Activity By" in the left menu.
• You can filter your information to delete an activity by application, keyword or date.

Stop Google tracking on an Android device

• Go to settings. Find "Accounts" and tap Google.
• If multiple accounts are listed, tap the one you want to edit.
• Tap Google Account.
• Scroll to "Manage your data and customization" and select it.
• Look under "Activity Controls". Here, as with the browser version, you can disable or pause the monitoring of various activities.
• If you want more granular control of your activities, you can scroll through the screen and select "Manage your activity controls."
• To delete your previous activity records, search the "My Activity" page on the same page. Click on it to view your saved data.
• In each category, tap the three dots on the right to delete all or part of the data.

Stop tracking location on Android devices

If you do not want to prevent Google from recording all your activities and just want to prevent the phone from recording your location, it's easy to do so, as long as you pay close attention to the details:

• Go to Settings> Security and Location
• Look for the Privacy subtitle, where you will see Location. Click on it.
• Look for the "Use Location" feature at the top and disable it.

You think that would be it, not you? But you are wrong. What is meant by "use location" in Android depends on the sensors that track the location of the device: in addition to GPS, it can be Wi-Fi, mobile networks or other sensors. Therefore, before leaving this page, examine the "Advanced" button a little further, press it and search for "Location Services". You will have four categories that you can enable or disable:

• Google Emergency Location Service. This tells the emergency services where you are in case of problems; For example, if your car leaves the road and the ambulance has to find you. You can disable this option if you wish, but read the fine print: "If ELS is disabled, your mobile carrier may still send the location of the device during an emergency call. "
• Google location accuracy. This uses Wi-Fi and other services to help you locate your location. If you want to disable "Use Location", you must make sure this option is also disabled.
• Google location history. This takes you to a page where you can pause the collection of the location history of your device. This does not remove what has already been saved; there are instructions for this later in this article.
• Google Location Sharing. If you share your location with family members or friends, you can manage it here.

But wait, there is more! On the Location page, tap the Scan link. There are two options to determine whether your phone's applications and services can search for Bluetooth and Wi-Fi networks, even when these features are disabled. So you might want to disable them as well.

Turn on and turn off location tracking from the Quick Settings panel

If you want to enable or disable position tracking as needed, you can also do this. One solution is to use the Quick Settings panel (which is what you see when you slide your finger from the top of your screen). The tray contains a variety of icons for the most used Android features. there is a "Location" icon that allows you to enable or disable the location feature.

• Slide your finger from the top of the screen. You should see a line of icons for items such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Flashlight, etc. This is your quick settings bar. Look for the location icon (it usually looks like a water drop upside down).
• Not here? Slide your finger from the bottom of this line of icons. You will see some others.
• Still missing? Look for a pencil icon. in a pixel, it will be at the bottom of the board, but some Android interfaces will have it above. Tap on the pencil to open the menu. You can now see all available icons. What you want to do is make sure that the Location icon is in the easily visible part of the tray.
• If your Location icon is in the lower section, hold down the mouse button and drag it to the visible group.

You can now quickly swipe down from the top of your screen and enable / disable the position – for example, if you want to use Google Maps to guide you, you can turn on / off the position, and then turn it off whenever you want. are finished.

Disable localization tracking for any specific application

It can be tedious to have to turn on and turn off location tracking. Another solution is to determine which applications actually use location tracking and to disable it for those you do not think you need.

• Go to settings.
• Tap on "Apps & Notifications". Open the Advanced header and look for "Application Permissions."
• Tap on Location. Here you will find a list of all your current applications with a toggle indicating whether tracking their location is enabled. You can scroll through the list and disable any options you want (or reactivate them if that proves to be a problem).

Sometimes when you disable permissions in the Android settings, the application itself continually tries to ask you to restore this permission. It's annoying, but unless the app lets you say, "No, leave me alone," you'll have to live with or get a different app.

Delete your location history

Although you can turn off location tracking from your Android phone's settings, once a service has collected your location information, removing that history takes a little work. If you want to delete the history of your locations, you must first go to Google. after that, applications that collect this information include Facebook and Twitter.

Delete the history of your Google locations on Android

You can delete the location history collected for your Google timeline in the My Activity box (see above), but you can also easily get rid of it in Google Maps.

• Access your Google Maps app.
• Tap on the three parallel lines in the upper left corner.
• Tap "Your timeline."
• Select the three dots in the upper right corner. Tap Settings.
• Scroll down the list until Delete Location History. A pop-up window asks you to check a box to indicate that you understand that some of your applications may not work properly. Check the box and select "Delete".

Delete the history of your Google locations in a browser

• Go to https://www.google.com/maps
• Tap the three parallel lines in the upper left corner of the side panel. (If you do not see the panel, look for the small arrow in the upper left corner and click on it.) Select "Your Timeline".
• Look for the gear icon in the lower right corner of the screen. Click on it and then click on "Delete all location history".
• As with the mobile app, a pop-up asks you to check a box to indicate that you understand that some of your apps may not work properly. Check the box and select "Delete Location History".

Delete the history of your Facebook postings

Facebook keeps a separate history of your places. If you want to delete this history, you can do it through the mobile application or the browser.

Use the Android app

• In the Facebook app, tap the hamburger (three parallel lines) in the upper right corner.
• Scroll down the list and tap "Settings & Privacy".
• Tap "Settings".
• Scroll down and tap "Location" (under the subtitle "Privacy").
• You can enable or disable "Location History" here; you can also click on "Location Services", which will take you to the "Location Access" page of Android, where you can completely disable access to the location.
• But you want to delete your location history. Tap on "Show Location History". Tap on the three dots in the upper right corner.
• You can now choose "Delete this day" or "Delete all location history". Tap on it. It will ask you if you are sure – if you are, tap "OK".

Use a browser

• On Facebook, click the small arrow next to the Help icon in the upper right corner. Click on "Settings".
• Look for "Location" in the left menu and click on it.
• Click on "View your location history". Note that you can delete the history of your location here, but you can only disable it in your mobile application.
• Click on the three dots in the upper right corner. As with the mobile app, you can now "Delete this day" or "Delete all location history".

Delete the history of your positions on Twitter

Twitter makes it relatively simple to disable its location tracking in the Android app.

• Tap the three parallel lines at the top left of the home screen.
• Tap on "Settings and Privacy".
• Tap "Privacy & Security."
• Scroll down the list until you see "Precise Location" and press it. You can then uncheck the box that allows Twitter to collect your GPS and other location information.

You can also delete the history of your Twitter positions, but only from your browser.

• Go to your Twitter account, click on your icon and on "Settings and Privacy".
• In the left menu, click on "Privacy & Security".
• If you checked the box "Tweet with a position", uncheck it.
• Then click on "Delete location information". And if you are asked: yes, you are sure.

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