The widespread use of smartphones has always seemed like an advantage. Now, the opinion of users is changing, because you can find anyone with the help of special applications. Even big brands use this option: if you lose your device, you can leave a request to lock it.
As for specifying your location without good reasons, this option is available to many users. Attackers try to get information about owners for different purposes: from identity theft to illegal home invasion. The digital footprint and tags of places you’ve visited are stored in the system. To ensure your security, there are several effective ways. Read about them below.
How to know the location of the phone?
Search services track your movements around the city. So that you can quickly use maps and other similar applications, you need to give permission for tracking. This allows the system to suggest local cafes and social media profiles to help you settle in.
There is also the danger of reverse phone number lookup. In this case, your location is known to the mobile operator. There is no danger of this until malicious users become interested in you. With the help of specific programs, they can find out where you are at that moment.
How to avoid possible tracking?
There are no clear signals that you are being watched. You can’t tell by the heat level of your phone. However, there are plenty of ways to protect your privacy. Each of them is characterized by reliability and security. But you need to take into account all aspects of use. Some of the necessary functions become unavailable. You can determine which of the methods will be effective in your case by yourself. Moreover, you have different options on how to do this.
Lack of signal
Mobile operators track where a user makes a call from. There is nothing dangerous about this: the service provider collects this information about all customers. To protect yourself in cases of danger, it is enough to simply turn off your smartphone. Given that there is no registration on the Web, it is impossible to find you.
When making calls, this option is available again. Use an efficient method when tracking (albeit by a single operator) would prevent you from relaxing.
Leaving the Network
Using open Wi-Fi networks also leads to the discovery of your location. In this case, as in the previous one, it is enough to terminate the connection. In addition, the following helps you exclude tracking:
- using services and applications that change your location (for example, VPN);
- refusing to connect to a public network in a cafe, restaurant or movie theater;
- turning on airplane mode with all devices that are connected to your phone turned off.
It is equally important to turn off GPS. This feature is used by the search engine to generate suitable suggestions. By disabling the tracker, the phone becomes untraceable.
Prohibit tracking activities
It is easy to customize the smartphone to exclude tracking. The owner will have to familiarize himself with the full list of applications that have accessed the location. By disabling this option, it is easy to hide from sight. The restrictions adopted affect the functionality of some applications, but guarantee your safety.
What should you know about disabling device search?
Restricting access to the location will affect the usability of maps and other applications. Besides, take into account that, in addition to “invisibility”, you lose contact with your family and friends. You can’t use messengers or text messages to communicate.
A temporary disabling of the search function will be useful to hide information about yourself. But it is much easier to use VPN services or a proxy server. The result in this case will meet the security requirements: the entry point to the Network is hidden by special encryption protocols. Getting access to them is difficult and time-consuming.
