How to protect your geolocation data from leaks – instructions for Android and iPhone

The recent Gravy Analytics data leak affected geolocation information from applications such as Tinder, Candy Crush, as well as several popular trackers.

Due to regular hacker attacks on various companies involved in the processing of personal data, some of the users' personal information inevitably leaks onto the Web. But at least users can protect their location information by preventing their smartphones from transmitting it.

LifeHacker writes about this.

One of the latest such attacks targeted the geolocation data of users of apps that serve ads — from the dating app Tinder to the game Candy Crush and the tracker MyFitnessPal, not to mention VPN apps.

The leak was the result of a hack of Gravy Analytics, a data broker that collects location information from the mobile devices of millions of iPhone and Android users and sells it to other companies. The data package includes information from devices around the world — more than 30 million geolocation points, including medical clinics, military bases and government buildings. But even worse, this data could potentially identify specific people and track their movements over time.

The stolen geolocation data package was collected by hundreds of apps that serve ads to users. These services also collect other data, such as the smartphone model and IP address, to determine which ads to show. At the same time, when the data broker storage is hacked, neither users nor application developers may even know about it.

The publication advises smartphone users to take measures to protect their location data by prohibiting applications from transmitting information. To do this, on mobile devices you need to disable mobile advertising identifiers (MAIDs), which can be used to create a map of your device's movement, and limit permissions for tracking applications.

How to prohibit tracking movements on Android

Users of devices with the Android operating system need to follow a few simple steps:

1. Open on smartphone “Settings”.
2. Go to the “Security & Privacy” section.
3. Open the “Privacy” tab
4. Select “Advertising” and click “Delete Advertising ID”.

You can also manually define permissions for each individual application. To do this, in the device settings, on the “Privacy Management” tab, select “Permission Manager” and configure access for installed applications.

How to delete tracking identifiers on iPhone

On Apple devices with the iOS operating system, you need to check the list of applications that have access to the geolocation identifier.

1. In the settings, open the “Privacy and Security” section.
2. Go to the “Tracking” tab.
3. Turn off the “Allow applications to request tracking” option or remove permissions for individual apps.

iPhone users can also opt out of location tracking when installing a new app.

The publication also reminded mobile users that when using airplane mode, apps cannot send real-time location information to data brokers.

“If you're concerned about your privacy while traveling, it's best to download offline maps so you can use offline navigation,” the article's authors advised.