Like most people, you store personal data on your smartphone, including banking information, private pictures, passwords, and real-time location details. That means you could be in a big mess if somebody hacks or tracks your phones. For this reason, you want to know how to make your phone impossible to track.
Can Someone Track My Phone?
Yes. Somebody can use location tracking apps to trace your phone. These applications work as long as your device links to a cellular network. That means somebody can find you regardless of your location. Here’s how phone spyware works.
- Phone monitoring: Somebody can use phone spy apps to check what you do on your smartphone, including viewing videos and pictures. Also, the apps enable users to read the messages you send and receive, online activity, and call logs.
- Location tracking: Someone can track your phone using your Google account. Google Maps and GPS sharing option enable another person to track your device’s real-time location.
Somebody can use phone tracker applications to peruse all your texts, monitor your movements, and steal your identifications.
How Can Someone Track Your Phone Without You Knowing?
If somebody wants to get information from your phone or monitor your movements, they can use any of these methods to track your device.
Track Your Location with a Google Account
If you use Google Maps with close contacts, they may use the Location Sharing feature to trace you. Therefore, turning off location sharing is an effective way to make sure no one is tracking your phone. This optional feature enables family members, friends, and co-workers to share locations and trace each other on Google Maps in real-time. However, you must opt into disclosing or sharing your whereabouts, meaning somebody can’t track you without your consent or knowledge.
Your Google account also provides location history because it saves information about where you go with your mobile device. But this works when you sign in to your Google account with the location history feature turned on. Also, you may turn on the device’s Location Reporting.
Track Your iPhone with iCloud
Find My iPhone is a location tracking feature for iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, Mac, AirPods, Apple Watch, and Beats products. You can find this service at iCloud.com. Select the Find My iPhone option and click All Devices to trace your iPhone with this feature. Choose the iPhone you want to trace, and its name will appear on the toolbar.
If you can locate the device, it will appear on a map, showing its location. But for somebody to trace your iPhone with this service, they require your iCloud account login details. Parents can use this feature to locate their kids with their devices.
Hidden Phone Tracking Apps
Phone tracking apps can be risky and disturbing because somebody can use them to check many things on your phone. Most apps can follow the target person’s location, contact records, call logs, and the photos they take on their camera. Also, these apps can gather data about internet usage, browser history, and social media interactions.
Some criminals use these apps to gather banking data, PINs, and credit card numbers. Some applications enable users to turn on the device’s camera and mic to monitor the user’s activity. So, if you suspect somebody is using an app to trace you, it’s wise to find ways to make your phone untraceable.
How to Make Your Phone Untraceable
You can block somebody from tracing you, whether they use a third-party app or your device’s built-in features. Here’s how to do it.
Turn off Location to Make Your Phone Location Untraceable
The location sharing feature on your device can help somebody locate you in real-time. Although every application with access to location details may not work against you, keeping it on can help somebody know your whereabouts. So, if you suspect somebody is tracking you, start by turning Location Sharing off. That way, you will prevent the tracker from accessing your location details.
Turning off location for Android or iOS devices is simple. Navigate to the Quick Settings or Control Center panel and toggle off the location feature. Alternatively, please navigate to the location in the device’s Settings and turn it off.
If you don’t want to switch the location on your device, select the applications that can access your location data. Here’s how to do this.
- Navigate to the Settings
- Tap Security & Location or Location
- Choose App access to location
- Select the apps that can access location details when turned on
This option enables you to ensure that only specific apps can access your location data, meaning somebody can’t track you with spyware.
Turn on Airplane Mode to Make Your Cell Phone Untraceable
You can also use the Airplane mode to make your cell phone untraceable. Cutting off your device’s internet connection ensures that nobody monitors or tracks you. The Airplane mode is a feature that works even when your device’s location is on. Most phone spy apps require an internet connection to gather and transfer information to the tracker. Therefore, enabling the Airplane mode prevents any spy app from collecting information about your location and phone activity and sending it to the tracker.
The Airplane mode feature is easy to activate. Navigate to the Quick Settings or Control Center panel and turn the Airplane mode on to prevent somebody from tracking you. Also, disable the Bluetooth if you’re in a café, store, or place with many people. That way, you can ensure that nobody gets your phone’s unique fingerprint via an in-built feature or a spy app.
Control Permissions on Your Apps to Block Trackers
Another way to make your phone impossible to track is controlling apps’ permissions. Maybe you even have apps you didn’t download or are unfamiliar with on your device. Somebody could use such apps to track you, or they could be spyware. If you suspect somebody is spying on you, go through the applications on your device and control their permissions.
A hacker could use some apps to access or steal sensitive information like your digital activity, login credentials, and GPS data. Here’s how to control permissions on your apps.
- Navigate to the Settings
- Select Privacy and Security
- Choose App permissions, e.g., location
- Select the apps to access it
Your device’s Privacy page doesn’t list the applications with permissions to use all resources. Therefore, you can’t use Privacy settings to control the apps’ capabilities. In some devices like Android phones, a pop-up typically appears after downloading an application displaying its permissions before launching.
Limit Ad Tracking on Your Android Device
Location tracing is not for hackers and stalkers only. Even Ad companies can track you to gather information about your internet usage. Essentially, these companies want to learn about your search history and target you with their ads. For instance, a company can spy on the products or services you search for online and like. That’s why you see ads relating to the information you search online.
If you notice this more often, you can limit ads to make your phone untraceable. Here’s how you can do this on an Android device.
- Navigate to the Settings
- Choose Google
- Tap Ads
- Activate Opt-out of Ads Personalization
Digital advertisers gather information to help them target adverts based on consumers’ location, online activity, and preferences. Many browsers, websites, and apps can access and keep your location information, making it easier for advertisers to get it. Therefore, opting out of ad personalization and controlling app permissions can make your Android phone untraceable.
Check If You’re Sharing Your Real-Time Location
Somebody can track you if you have shared your location with them in the past. And this can work even without spy apps. Follow these steps to ensure you’re not sharing your real-time location details.
- Navigate to the Settings app
- Choose Location
- Tap Location Sharing
These steps will reveal whether you’re sharing your location with anybody. If you realize you are sharing your whereabouts with another person, terminate it to make your phone untraceable. Some devices enable users to turn off location sharing for specific apps, such as social media, in the phone settings. For instance, you can restrict or turn off location tracking for Facebook and Snapchat. While this may not prevent the apps from accessing or storing location details, it makes it harder for other users to get them.
And this is particularly important if you use social media to connect with family and friends or keep up with celebrities. But somebody can use them to track and collect your data. Thus, hackers and companies can use them to access personal information. Luckily, disabling location tracking can prevent such entities from using the apps to collect your sensitive data or track you.
Use a Private Browser/VPN to Make Your Phone Impossible to Track
Using a private browser is another way to make sure no one is tracking your phone. Apart from your location details, some companies and websites want to gather as much information about you as possible. A quality VPN service can help you prevent companies and websites from accessing such information. A VPN encrypts personal data and reroutes your traffic via an external server.
When a third-party attempts to view your activity’s source, it traces back to one of the available VPN servers rather than your actual router. A VPN keeps your connection private while preventing the tracker from accessing your IP address, online activity, and location.
Some VPN apps you can use to not get tracked include Express VPN, NordVPN, and ShurfShark. Also, you can get free VPN applications from Google Play Store. However, free VPN apps are not as reliable as paid options. An ideal VPN should make your web browsing anonymous, ensuring that no prying eyes can track your online activity.
Keep Your Google Account Safe
Another method to not to be tracked by cell phone is securing your Google account. Hackers can easily track your Android phone by accessing its linked Google account. People can get your location details in real-time when they access your device’s Google account. Also, they can steal your information or wipe it remotely. Therefore, securing your phone is a fantastic way to make your phone impossible to track.
If you suspect somebody is accessing your Google account, change the password. Also, revise the devices you have signed into if necessary. Reviewing security settings and changing passwords is the best action to take if you suspect that somebody accesses or uses it.
Google allows you to trace your movements even without a running Google application. And this can help you if you want to remember how you got somewhere. Unfortunately, this makes you vulnerable to somebody that may want to locate you by hacking your Google account. Therefore, securing your Google account is vital when you suspect somebody is tracking you.
Use Anti Spyware on Your iPhone or Android Device
Some spy apps are difficult to spot or detect. That’s because most of them run in stealth mode, and attackers hide them. Therefore, you may have malicious spyware on your phone without realizing it. You can use anti-spyware to scan your phone for spy apps and delete them.
This method can make your phone impossible to track using a spy application. A hacker can install a malicious spy app on your device and use it to gather and sell your sensitive data. If you suspect that somebody has infected your phone with spyware, get anti-spyware and use it to remove it.
An antivirus app can detect and delete or remove malware from your phone. A spyware tool is easy to download and install. Also, it comes with instructions for safely removing spyware from your device. However, some applications claim to be antivirus tools but are not genuine. Therefore, research the available apps before downloading and installing them on your device.
Conclusion
Your smartphone is a small device, but it stores vital and sensitive information. Therefore, somebody can gather sensitive information by tracking or accessing your phone. For this reason, you want to keep your phone safe. Luckily, there are many ways to make your phone impossible to track. However, you may try several approaches to make iPhone untrackable, especially if you’re unsure how the tracker traces you. Also, you can scan your device with an antivirus that detects and removes spy apps. Besides removing spyware, an effective antivirus provides real-time protection by making a smartphone untraceable using spy applications.
Cheryl Bourassa
Cheryl Bourassa is a top-tier specialist with in-depth knowledge of spy practices and methods. She’s been active in the tracking field for a decade. Cheryl is a successful tracking consultant who provides services to dozens of high-level clients worldwide that need world-class tracking services.
