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by John W. Simek, Vice President of Sensei Enterprises, Inc.

Disable Google Tracking on Your Smartphone

October 9, 2019

Just turning off location services doesn't mean that Google can't track you. Google's activity controls for Local History states:

Saves where you go with your devices, even when you aren't using a specific Google service, to give you personalized maps, recommendations based on places you've visited, and more.

The Web & App Activity states:

Saves your activity on Google sites and apps, including associated info like location, to give you faster searches, better recommendations, and more personalized experiences in Maps, Search, and other Google services.

In other words, you need to turn of BOTH Location Services AND Web & App Activity. Android Police has a more detailed explanation of the tracking services and how to navigate the settings to disable each one. As the post points out, you can also turn off sharing of usage and diagnostics, which I do by default.

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