A tech expert has revealed a little-known way that others might be tracking you.
Most people know about ‘Location Services’ and ‘Share My Location’ settings, but Scott Polderman said one little-known feature could let others track you even when those settings are turned off.
‘The last place that most people don’t think to check is their actual provider,’ Polderman said.
Tech content creator Scott Polderman revealed a little-known way that others can track your iPhone.
If you share a cell service provider account with someone else, they may be able to access your location even if you don’t share it with them, Polderman said.
‘Whether it’s Verizon, AT&T, whatever service you have… If you have a shared account, a lot of the carriers allow some form of tracking the other phone,’ he said.
For example, many service providers offer ‘safety’ features for shared accounts that allow account members to track each other in real time.
AT&T offers a Secure Family feature that allows shared account members to track each other in real time. Verizon offers a similar feature called Family Base.
‘If you’re sharing an account with somebody else that you don’t want tracking your location – maybe you had a shared account, got a divorce or are going through one – then you’re definitely going to want to cancel,’ Polderman said.
Setting up your own account will prevent that person from being able to track you.
To do that, log in to your service provider account on your desktop and cancel your membership to the shared account.
From there, you should also be able to set up your own individual account.
But to make sure your location is completely private there are a couple iPhone settings you’ll want to check too.
Apple’s ‘Find My’ network allows you to track your iPhone from your other Apple devices. But as long as ‘Share My Location’ is turned off, other’s shouldn’t be able to track you.
If you’re sharing your location with other people, they can track where you are in real time. Peldman explained exactly how turn this setting off in a step-by-step TikTok video.
First, open settings and scroll down to ‘Privacy & Security.’ Click on that, and then click ‘Location Services’ right at the top of the menu.
Then, you’ll see ‘Share My Location,’ in the middle of the menu. Click that, and you’ll see options for ‘Find My iPhone,’ ‘My Location,’ and ‘Share My Location.’
‘I would leave Find My iPhone on,’ Polderman said.
That setting allows you to locate your own phone from another Apple device if you lose it.
To make sure that other people can’t see your location, you’ll want to make sure ‘Share My Location,’ is toggled off.
To double-check that you’re not sharing your location with anyone else, open the ‘Find My’ app.
From the menu at the bottom of your screen, click ‘Me’ in the right-hand corner. If ‘Share My Location’ is turned off, you’ll see ‘Not Sharing Location’ in red next to ‘Location.’