Submitted by Frank Macey on
Location services on the iPhone is constantly collecting and tracking the position of your device anywhere in the world. For most people this provides an incredible level of convenience for everyday activities, such as looking at maps or connecting with friends and family. On the flip side, there can be a dark side for privacy when it comes to personal data being shared.
For anyone who is concerned about the sheer volume of location information that might be collected by apps on the iPhone, Apple provides various ways to limit and control the sharing of this personal data.
Follow these steps to reel in the privacy level of your location settings on iPhone:
- Navigate to Settings -> Privacy
- Tap Location Services
- From here, toggle Location Services to OFF (grey switch) to completely disable all location services on your device
- There are also more nuanced options to limit who can see your location, and which apps can use your location
- If you scroll down and choose an app, options for allowing location access to that specific app can be selected
- In addition to giving an app permission to use your location never, always, or only when using the app, iOS 14 and later offers a Precise Location toggle
- Under Share My Location, iPhone owners can decide whether to allow their location to be shared, and determine who can see their location under Friends
- Be sure to check Location Services -> Camera, to choose if your iPhone photos store information about where the images were captured (known as geotagging)
