## Apex Technology Blog
Apex Technology has been serving the Carolinas since 1998, providing IT Support such as technical helpdesk support, computer support and consulting to small and medium-sized businesses.
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# Tip of the Week: Stop Location Data Collection on Your Mobile Device
[Apex Technology Blog ](https://trustapex.directivesites.com/blog/categories/blog) [Tip of the Week](https://trustapex.directivesites.com/blog/categories/tip-of-the-week)
[Tim Campbell](https://trustapex.directivesites.com/blog/blogger/tim-campbell)
Wednesday, 29 January 2025
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At the beginning of this year, a massive data breach struck a location data broker called Gravy Analytics and took possession of a dataset with 30 million points from devices worldwide. This data could potentially be used to track individuals and their movements, tellingly, through healthcare, government, and military facilities.
Unfortunately, nothing can be done about data that has already been breached, but preventative steps can and should be taken to protect your business. Let’s discuss how to prevent your applications from tracking your movements.
## How to Protect Your Location from Application Data Oversharing
The key to preventing this activity lies in the *mobile advertising ID (MAID)*, a data-based identifier that every mobile device features, almost like browser cookies. Marketers can use MAIDs to see which users have viewed an ad and track their interactions with your business’ brand.
While this sounds reasonable enough, MAIDs can have a dark side.
MAIDs enable ad platforms to effectively single out and track specific users from location to location, creating a more detailed profile of what makes each user tick. This data can then be sold to data brokers, who will resell it for profit.
This last part concerns many for the reasons referenced above. After all, it enables third parties to track your mobile device behaviors, which many see as a breach of privacy. Plus, parties other than advertisers could easily purchase this data from data brokers, potentially putting a user at risk.
Fortunately, these advertising IDs can be deleted on either Android or iOS.
### Deleting the Advertising ID from Android Devices
Since Android 12, users have been able to delete their ad ID permanently. The process for this is relatively simple:
- Open **Settings**
- From there, access **Security & Privacy**
- In **Privacy**, access **Ads**
- Select **Delete advertising ID**, and confirm your choice on the next page.
We also recommend that you review your existing app permissions. You can do so through **Settings**>**Privacy & Security**>**Privacy Controls**>**Permission Manager.**
### Deleting the Advertising ID from iOS Devices
During installation, apps will request permissions to access what Apple refers to as the identifier for advertisers, or IDFA. Selecting **Ask App Not to Track** will deny this access to the IDFA.
You can also go back and revoke any permissions you have already granted by accessing **Settings**, where you’ll find **Privacy & Security**. In this menu, you’ll see **Tracking**, which you can disable en masse via the **Allow apps to Request to Track** slider or on an app-to-app basis
Apple also features a native advertising system that doesn’t tie into the IDFA. Disabling this is as simple as navigating to **Settings**, **Privacy**, and finally, **Apple Advertising**. There, you can switch **off Personalized Ads**.
Again, we recommend you audit your existing app permissions via **Settings**>**Privacy & Security.**
## Your Privacy and Security is Worth Protecting…
…as is the privacy and security of your clients, contacts, and employees. We can help you secure your business’ IT and stay protected against threats. Reach out to us via (704) 895-0010.
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[Data](https://trustapex.directivesites.com/blog/tags/data) [Security](https://trustapex.directivesites.com/blog/tags/security) [Quick Tips](https://trustapex.directivesites.com/blog/tags/quick-tips) [Tip of the Week](https://trustapex.directivesites.com/blog/tags/tip-of-the-week)
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About the author
[  ](https://trustapex.directivesites.com/blog/blogger/tim-campbell)
[Tim Campbell](https://trustapex.directivesites.com/blog/blogger/tim-campbell)
[ ](https://trustapex.directivesites.com/blog/blogger/tim-campbell)
Tim Campbell is the President of Apex Technology which he founded in 1998. In 2009, Apex launched its Managed IT Services division. Since its inception, Apex has become the premier Managed IT Services Companies in the Charlotte metro area specializing in Managed IT, Security, Data Backup & Cloud Computing Solutions.
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