How and Which Your Smartphone Can Track You and How to Put an End to It: Here’s The Ways

Hello!

A friend and I recently had a rather strange conversation. He had stopped by a jewelry store to find a gift for his wife. With no interest in browsing glittering displays, he planned to make it a quick visit—choose something within his budget and leave.

In truth, my friend cares little for jewelry and, to the best of his knowledge, had never searched for anything similar online. Yet the moment he got home, his feed was flooded with jewelry ads—specifically the exact style of ring he had been looking at. They appeared on Facebook, news sites, and blogs alike.

Was his phone somehow listening in on his visit? Experts have plenty of theories about how this could happen. And how often have you experienced the same thing? YouTube is full of videos claiming smartphones continue tracking users even when powered off. So how exactly is our data collected and used? Is there evidence that we’re handing over more information than we realize?

How Smartphones Collect and Use Data

Our phones gather a great deal of information, all in the name of delivering a smoother user experience. An array of sensors makes this possible:

• Compass (Magnetometer): Tracks your position relative to Earth’s magnetic field.
• GPS: Uses signals from multiple satellites—including Russia’s GLONASS, Europe’s Galileo, and China’s BeiDou—to pinpoint your location.
• Gyroscope: Determines the phone’s orientation in three-dimensional space.
• Accelerometer: Measures the speed and direction of linear movement.

These four sensors are the primary tools smartphones use to collect location data. Both Android and iOS let you control location services: on Android via the quick settings panel, and on iOS under Settings > Privacy > Location Services.

Still, this is only part of the story. Google has previously been found continuing to track users even after they believed location services were disabled.

Fortunately, several practical steps can help protect your privacy. While understanding how smartphone privacy works is valuable, time is often short. The following tools offer effective, ready-to-use solutions.

Privacy Tools Worth Using

DuckDuckGo browser: Web browsing is one of the easiest ways to leak personal data. DuckDuckGo is a privacy-focused browser that avoids storing your activity locally and actively clears trackers other sites may have placed on your device. It also blocks advertising networks and forces encrypted connections wherever possible. Currently available for Firefox on Android, it remains a worthwhile option.

Privacy Badger: This extension intelligently manages cookies, disabling unwanted trackers while keeping useful ones active. It displays privacy risks through color-coded sliders: green for safe sites, yellow for necessary third-party tracking, and red for blocked content.

Disconnect: The app reveals exactly which scripts are attempting to access your data and blocks them. It presents findings in a clear table and includes a VPN to encrypt your internet traffic.

CoverMe: Marketed as a private messaging, calling, and vault app, CoverMe encrypts all communications. Messages can be set to self-destruct after being read or after a chosen time. Note that successful deletion still depends on the recipient’s email client and security settings.

While these tools are helpful, regularly reviewing privacy policies and understanding how the services you use handle data remains your strongest protection. Smartphones offer built-in options to limit tracking—you simply need to explore the settings a little deeper.

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