Your phone knows where you were last night, but should anyone else know your whereabouts? Tech giants can track your private location data, too. Follow these simple steps and learn how to manage and delete your iPhone’s location history.
How to check your iPhone location history
Location history isn’t just for bragging rights when you want to show off every chic boutique you visited on your vacation — having the location history enabled on your iPhone can be a lifesaver if you ever lose your device. Here’s what you need to do to check your iPhone’s location history on the iCloud: Go to “Settings” and scroll down to “Privacy and security.”Click on “Location services.”Scroll down and tap “System services.”Now go to “Significant locations.”You will be asked to either sign in with your Apple ID or Touch ID.That’s it — you should now see a summary of your iPhone location history.How to clear your iPhone location history
Apple is often praised for their privacy practices, so you might have not even known that the company tracks you. This feature is pretty deep in your iPhone’s privacy settings. Your iPhone is secretly recording your most-visited places and labeling them as “Significant locations.” It also takes note of the exact times you visited them and groups them by cities or regions.
To delete your location history (and also clear the Apple Maps app history) on iOS, follow these steps: Go to “Settings” and scroll down to “Privacy and security.”Click on “Location services.” You will see what apps use your location and when they use it.Scroll down and tap “System services” to see which built-in services use location data to serve you tailored ads or set your time zone. Change their settings to your preference.Now go to “Significant locations.” You will be asked to either sign in with your Apple ID or Touch ID.You will see the location history stored on your iPhone. Tap “Clear history” to permanently delete all of the records.To turn off location history on iPhone and disable “Significant locations,” swipe the bar to the left. You can re-enable the feature at any time. Significant location data is encrypted and stored on your phone, making it inaccessible to Apple employees.
{SHORTCODES.blogRelatedArticles} How to check the Google location history on an iPhone
While your iPhone is tracking your location history everywhere you go, it’s not the only service interested in following you around. If you have “Location history” enabled on Google Maps, you are giving out your whereabouts to Google, too – even if you deleted your “Significant locations.”
The good news is, Google doesn’t collect your location history by default — you have to manually enable the feature in Google maps. Here’s how you can see what location history data Google has gathered: Open the Google Maps app on your iPhone.Tap on your profile picture or initials in the top-right corner.Tap “Your Timeline” to see your recent location history.To see your location history further down the line, tap on “Today” and select a specific time period.How to delete Google location history on an iPhone
You can delete your location history on Google Maps by following the steps below. Open Google Maps. Tap your profile picture or initials in the top-right corner. Open “Your Timeline.” Tap the three-dot icon in the top-right corner and select “Settings and privacy.” Scroll down to “Location settings” and tap “Delete all location history” to remove it permanently. Neither you nor Google will ever be able to access it again. You will then see a pop-up asking you to confirm your choice. Agree and tap “Delete.” You can also choose to automatically delete Location History that is older than 3 months, 18 months, or 36 months. That means you can be sure that everything is wiped out after a certain time and you’re not storing private data on your iPhone. Otherwise, your records could be kept on your device indefinitely. This applies both to Google location history and your iPhone. How to disable location settings in Google Maps If you’ve become uncomfortable with Google Maps tracking your every move since turning the location history feature on, don’t worry — you can stop Google from logging your location history by doing the following: Open Google Maps on your iPhone. Tap your profile picture or initials in the top-right corner. Open “Your Timeline.” Tap the three-dot icon in the top-right corner and select “Settings and privacy.” Tap “Location history is on” under the “Location settings” section. You will be prompted to select your Google account. In the new page, tap “Turn off” under “Location history.” How to disable web and app activity Google has been caught red-handed collecting data even on phones with the location settings disabled. If you use any other Google apps or use Google search, your location will be time stamped and will still be sent to Google. The collected data can be used to create a timeline almost as accurate as the one on your Google Maps. To disable this feature: Go to the “My activity” page and find “Activity controls” on the left-hand side. Tap the “Web and app activity” setting at the top of the page. In the new page, tap “Turn off” to disable activity tracking. There are many privacy-oriented Google Maps alternatives that can be used offline without tracking your location history. Try them the next time you’re looking for directions! A simple way to enhance your privacy Whether your location history is enabled or not, your private information can still be at risk. Your data may be viewed by hackers, stalkers, or your internet service provider (ISP). Luckily, there’s a fast and efficient way to redeem your privacy — a VPN. A virtual private network or VPN masks your IP address and encrypts your traffic, enhancing data protection. With one NordVPN account, you can secure up to six devices. That could include your iPhone, iPad, smart TV, laptop, desktop and router (and any hardware connected to that router). With NordVPN, your online activity will be for your eyes only. Encrypt your data today with the click of a button.
