Can I disable phone tracking?

Can I disable phone tracking? The question needs a bit more clarity, are you concerned about being physically tracked, where you are and where you have been? or does online track and trace bother you? websites you have visited, communications, messages, that sort of thing.

Lets take the physical tracking first, if you want to be contacted by phone or text message then the network operator needs to know which "cell" the phone is in to direct the call / message via the local transmitter mast. So in essence some kind of physical tracking is an inevitable side effect of staying in touch with the world.

For finer detail tracking then a smartphone with wifi capability does leave a trail of passed hotspots, even if not connected, so nipping in to a shop then you could be "wifi scanned" even if not connected, this can be mitigated by turning off wifi on your phone. Again though this is a drastic measure that rather defeats the reason for carrying the smartphone in the first place.

This really leaves "online tracking", some apps need to know where you are, such as Uber and Just Eat for obvious reasons, however does an app for watching video really need to know your location, maybe which country you are in for licence reasons but not which field you are camped in at the time.

The way to minimise this is to not automatically accept the EULA (End used licence agreement) during app installation, and delving deep in to the T&C's. If there is mention of gathering location data for "marketing reasons" then you are probably safe to disable tracking on that particular app.

Weirdly its the free app's that are most likely to track you, this is because you are "the product" that the app maker is trying to sell to advertisers, so knowing your habits is very useful and has value. As a guide a "free subscriber" can add £100 to the app company valuation, which is why social media companies with a few computers and millions of free subscribers has a value that exceeds an airline that owns planes!

So, to wrap this up, carry a modern smartphone and you will be tracked to some extent or other, you can minimise it but not totally eliminate it, that is if you want any part of the device to actually work. Otherwise save carrying the thing, leave it at home, and join me back in the dark age admiring the glorious view and not head down glaring at the tiny screen looking at photos of someone else admiring the amazing view, try it once in a while and enjoy the peace 😄