From moving into the next street to what movie you just watched offline, everything gets tracked without you even knowing about it. Technology has made things easier for us; no doubt on that. However, the term called Privacy has lost its essence due to several incidents in the past.
Settings in our phones (irrespective of the mobile operating system) give away confidential info to service providers. From what you just liked on a food delivery platform to which holiday destination you just searched for. No matter how teeny tiny the info is, the device reads your behaviour & starts suggesting things & ads in a similar way. Feels like someone’s watching you constantly even if you made sure nobody isn’t & mind you, that someone is not GOD.
Allow/Block iOS Apps From Tracking You
With every new update or latest version, companies try to build a new security & privacy wall for the users. So that the experience doesn’t go haywire & users have belief in the brand as long as privacy is concerned.
For example, while updating any of the apps from the App Store/Google Play Store, the What’s new section stats, bug fixes, performance issue resolved, & security fixes.
Similarly, Apple announced iOS 14 on WWDC 2020, where it talked about new security & privacy updates as well. One of those features that we should know as a user is
- To force iOS apps to ask for permission before tracking your digital footprints across the web. & with the same update, you have access to block the apps from tracking you.
Also Read: Use Picture in Picture Mode in iOS 14
Let’s start allowing/blocking iOS app tracking in iOS 14
Forcing the apps to request permission for tracking anything you do can give you a hard time as well because there are a few apps that work solely if you have permitted them. So before blocking such kinds of apps, put this thought into consideration.
- Let’s start with opening the Settings app on your iOS device.
- Now you need to scroll down; look for the Privacy option & tap on it.
- Here you need to click on Tracking (on the top of the list).
- Please know that the default setting here has been set to allow apps to ask for permission to track with “Allow Apps to Request to Track.”
- To block the tracking of your apps, you need to toggle off the switch “allow apps to request to track.”
- Use the same option to allow apps to track you by switching it on.
- Go to the Privacy > Tracking setting path to track the list of apps you have permitted to.
Using the above way will help you block or allow different iOS apps to get tracked while browsing through the web.
Things to Consider Before Allowing/Blocking Apps to Track
No matter which OS you choose, the ability of apps to track you & your behaviour is quite old. With time, this concept has become quite common & millions of users are quite okay with that as it’s harmless (in some cases).
There have been many incidents (some are recent) that proved the apps-tracking-concept harmful for users. In mid-2019, a report was published by the Washington Post that highlighted the iPhone privacy issue.
The title was, “It’s the middle of the night. Do you know who your iPhone is talking to?“. And it talked about the belief we have on Apple for privacy. In many cases, apps were sending details, including phone numbers and locations (users) to 3rd party firms.
The same year, Apple made changes in the App Store guidelines as well as Kids’ apps related to security & privacy breaches. This update had come to the attention because of the breach Apple devices experienced a while ago. The whole purpose of this new update was to keep users’ data secure than ever before & gaining the shattered trust back.
Wrapping Up
Allowing or blocking apps from tracking your current location doesn’t impact much when you look through service providers’ point of view. Because they will fetch your data differently if not from this, However, the case isn’t the same for users because it’s them who are getting impacted if a breach takes place. So it’s been advised not to believe in the service providers & take the matter into your own hands.
Allow the apps to track you if you are quite okay with it or block the ones you have even 1% suspicion on. Simple as that!!
Next Read
Free Spy Apps For Android Devices
How To Stop Smartphone From Tracking You