How Your Phone Is Used to Track You, and What You Can Do About It

During the coronavirus pandemic, location information has shown where people are following social distancing rules, and where they have traveled — enabling analysis of potential hot spots. The Times has used this data to show that people from low-income areas were less likely to be able to shelter at home than people from high-income locations and to demonstrate how the virus may have spiraled out of control in the United States.

How would I know if my data is collected?

It can be difficult for people to keep track of whether and how their data is being gathered. Android-based devices and iPhones both require apps to ask users to enable location services before collecting the information, but the explanations people see when prompted to give permission are often incomplete or misleading. An app may tell users that granting access to their location will help them get weather alerts, but not mention that the data will be sold. That disclosure is often buried in a densely worded privacy policy.

In a recent test of five apps that provide information for Cuebiq’s data set, the disclosures indicated that the data would be shared for advertising and analysis, and users were directed to information on limiting that sharing. But some apps made it easier than others to stop the data collection. And in a test last year by New York Times opinion journalists of an app that sent data to Cuebiq, the initial prompt for the user to allow access to location information did not mention all the ways it would be used. That app later changed its messaging.

Even with such disclosures, it may not be clear to users how frequently someone’s information is collected and what it can show. In Europe and California, users can request their data. Elsewhere, policies vary by company.

You can request your data from Cuebiq or ask the company to delete your data regardless of where you live. Cuebiq ties your data to your phone’s so-called advertising ID, which is used by marketers and others to differentiate phones from each other, and will send you the information associated with that ID. To prevent people from getting data on others’ IDs, the company requires you to download an app that verifies the number and then makes the request. You can then delete the app without affecting your request. The app is available for both Android and iOS.

How can I opt out?

If you want to prevent Cuebiq from collecting your data, the easiest way is to disable the advertising ID on your phone. If you disable it, Cuebiq will no longer keep track of your device.

These instructions provide a good overview for disabling the ID on different Android phones. Apple provides a guide for iPhones here.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/19/technology/smartphone-location-tracking-opt-out.html