How to Disable Your Phone Carrier’s Data Tracking to Protect Your Privacy

It is common knowledge that a lot of companies out there monitor the activities of consumers online. For instance, whenever we visit a certain website, we are bombarded with ads promoting products that are similar to what we have already been searching for. This is because data marketers collect and use information about us to target ads to our specific interests.

With built-in GPS and Wi-Fi chips, smartphones can also accurately determine your location. They can also keep track of the location of the data tower that they need to connect to the internet. Through triangulation, these devices can be found by the various cellular providers at any given moment. When enabled, this feature allows you to connect to the Wi-Fi networks of nearby businesses, which you may not have asked for.

Through a lot of the apps on our mobile phones, this process can also be performed with great accuracy and effectiveness as these apps have the ability to collect various data points about their users, such as their browsing history and shopping habits. This is similar to how website cookies are used to track their activities. Besides these, apps can also collect other data points about their users, such as their device type, operating system, and age. This information is used by advertisers to target ads to specific audiences.

Government Entities 

Government agencies have been criticized for misusing geolocation data collected by mobile phones, and the widespread use of surveillance tools in our daily lives can be very alarming.

After getting a search warrant, law enforcers can access the data of an individual's cell phone. This is considered a form of personal property, and the person's privacy rights apply to it.

Law enforcers often get access to the personal data of individuals through tech companies, which are not willing to violate the authorities' requests. Hacking groups have been able to do the same by posing as legitimate organizations and demanding the private information of their users.

Tips to Decrease Security & Privacy Risks Associated With Your Mobile Phone

Always Have a Passcode

Getting your smartphone physically secure is important to prevent it from being stolen or lost. This step should be taken to ensure that you always keep your device in sight and secure its contents. To do this, you can use a screen lock that has a face ID, a fingerprint, or a passcode.

Beacon Services 

When activated, your device will first need to contact the nearest cellular tower to establish its connection. Turning off cellular access would prevent most people from using their device for data and voice communications. However, it would still allow your device to send out beacons if enabled Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.

Turning off beaconing services will prevent you and your device from communicating wirelessly. To do so, enable airplane mode. You can still use music and browse the data on your device, but you won't be able to send and receive messages.

Location Services

With the emergence of mapping apps, you no longer need to carry out paper maps or ask a stranger for a ride. These apps use GPS to provide directions and identify your current location. Although enabling location services for apps is important, there are still other mapping services that don't need to know your precise location to provide you with the necessary information.

A lot of free apps on your phone will typically ask for too much permission to collect and sell your data, such as your location which can lead to a lot of increased risks. 

Both Google and Apple provide their users with several options for controlling their device's location. Owners should only enable these features for applications that they approve. For iPhone users, the settings for location services can be managed through the security and privacy screen.

To configure the location services of Android devices, go to the settings and tap on the icon located on the bottom right-hand corner of the screen. Users can also choose to set their device's location to a relative area.

Know the Risks of the Apps You Download

Prior to installing an app, it's important to conduct some research to ensure that it's secure. Also, make sure that the app has a privacy policy that clearly states how it will handle your data. Many app makers have policies that are so obtuse that it's hard to understand what they're doing with your information.

TikTok, which is a popular video-sharing app, is at the center of a privacy and security controversy due to its ownership by a Chinese tech company called ByteDance. The firm is required by China to cooperate with authorities.

Due to the nature of the company's ownership, it's possible that the Chinese government could require ByteDance to provide sensitive data about its users. Some of the collected data include the users' keystrokes, the MAC address of their device, and the data from their clipboard. Image courtesy of the Hollywood Reporter.

Take Control of Ad Tracking

Administrators of websites use cookies to enhance the experience of their users on desktop and laptop browsers. These cookies are also used to keep track of their activities and provide advertisements. Unfortunately, on mobile devices, the effectiveness of cookies is not as good as on desktop.

An ad serving app will use a unique ID to identify its target audience and deliver relevant content to their device. The ID doesn't contain personal information like your name or address, and it will only send relevant ads based on your location, activity, or usage. Some ad-tracking platforms allow users to opt out of having their data collected and stored in their databases.

To prevent unauthorized access and use of your device, you can turn off the "Allow Apps to request to track" setting in the Privacy -> Tracking section of your iOS device. This will prevent all applications from tracking your activities. However, you can still see targeted ads based on your activity and usage.

On Android devices, you can disable ad tracking through the "Opt out of interest-based ads" option in the Services section of Google. You can also reset the device's Advertising ID.

Controlling Your Data With the Top Mobile Phone Carriers

Some of the phone companies collect various details about their customers' activities on the web, such as their location, app usage, and credit card transactions. According to AT&T's privacy policy, they can also collect users' fingerprints.

According to the privacy policies of the phone companies, they use this data to improve the experience of their customers. Some of the information that they collect is used to make the customer's experience more convenient, and some of it is sold to third parties. However, users can prevent their private data from being used by third parties by deleting or blocking the information that they have already collected.

Being able to control the information that the phone companies collect is very important to protect your privacy. Unfortunately, the risk of data breaches is real due to the number of high-profile incidents. Take a look at some preventative measures to take with the top mobile phone carriers on the market today. 

AT&T

To prevent AT&T from collecting and using your data, you can log into your account and select the "Privacy Choices" option. There are also various options that allow you to control how your data is used and shared. One of these is "Personalized Plus," which lets you customize the way that your data is used and sold.

All privacy toggles of AT&T include:

• The "Personalized Plus" option allows you to customize how your data is used and sold, and it includes information such as your web browsing history and precise location. According to the company, this data is not used to access or use the content of your calls and texts.
• The "Personalized" option allows the company to use your data to make automated decisions and deliver customized ads based on your interests.
• Through identity verification, AT&T helps non-AT&T businesses, such as banks, protect their customers' accounts from fraud and ensure that they are authorized to make transactions. The company claims that it does not allow these organizations to use this feature for other purposes.
• The company also allows advertisers to collect and use limited information about you to create and deliver ads based on your interests. This is done through the "share or sell" option.

T-Mobile

There are a variety of privacy options available to T-Mobile customers. To access your privacy center, go to their website and click on the account's profile. You'll then be able to select your privacy and notifications preferences.

• Sharing data for public and scientific research: T-Mobile will be able to provide its customers with access to scientific and public research initiatives. The company noted that this service is in response to the requests of outside researchers. It will only share certain details about its customers so that these organizations can carry out their work.
• Advertising: Through its advertising options, the company will be able to collect various details about its customers in order to provide them with personalized ads. These include their location and usage history, and the company claims that it will be more likely to show them ads based on their interests. Turning off this feature doesn't prevent the company from collecting this information, and it's still on by default.
• Do not sell or share personal information: You can prevent T-Mobile from selling or sharing your data with other companies by choosing not to allow this.On its website, T-Mobile informs its customers that it will share their personal information with its service providers so they can provide them with various services and products. However, it also allows users to limit the information that it collects through its advertising platform.

Verizon

Similar to T-Mobile, Verizon offers a plethora of options when it comes to protecting your privacy. To find out more about these options, go to your account's profile and click on the "Manage Privacy" option.

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Privacy settings include:

• Customer Proprietary Network Information: Through this feature, Verizon can use your network information to sell you other services that are not included in the bundle you're currently paying for.
• Business and Marketing Insights: Through its marketing and business insights program, Verizon collects various information about its customers, such as their location, web browsing history, and app usage. It then combines these data with information collected from other companies to create "insights," such as when people frequently travel to a certain place. According to the company, this information is used to improve the customer's experience and help others understand how they behave.
• Custom Experience: Through the Custom Experience, Verizon can collect information about the apps and websites that people use to collect data about their interests. The company does not share this data with other companies. To reset the settings for the Custom Experience and its companion program, click on the "Custom Experience" tab. This will enable Verizon to stop collecting location and web browsing data.
• Identity Verification: This feature, which is usually enabled by default, shares account, device, and profile data with third parties to help protect users' identities from unauthorized activities.

Keep Your Privacy Strong With a VPN

A Virtual Private Network is an encryption method that routes all of your internet traffic to one of its servers. The website that the traffic is sent to acknowledges the VPN server's IP address instead of the device's, which ensures that the user's location and identity remain private.

While it's important to disable carrier tracking, using a VPN can help protect your mobile data. It will prevent your carrier from accessing your communications and browsing details, and a good VPN service will also hide your location and IP address. Image courtesy of VPN365. 

REALLY Protects Your Privacy 

The Really Network basically acts as a VPN that allows users to keep their location and IP address hidden from the outside world. It works by routing data through remote servers that prioritize user privacy.

REALLY scrambles the data sent and received over the network, making it impossible for anyone to intercept it. This ensures that your location and online activities are private from any potential cybercriminal or hacker.

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