2 Apps That Are Tracking Your Location For No Reason—Delete Them Immediately!
March 23, 2025 by Lisa Cupido
No matter how accustomed we get to our phones learning much about us via our data, it’s difficult to wrap our minds around the fact that our location is being saved by so many apps and is sometimes used in ways that don’t always make us feel comfortable.
Some apps treat their users like tools to generate profit. When that happens, they often take data such as their locations and sell it to advertisers. If you’ve ever wondered why you’re being served so many ads for businesses in your area — or why, when you travel, those ads appear for places in your temporary location — that’s the reason.
You don’t have to let all apps use your location when it isn’t necessary. Here are two apps that may be tracking your location for no reason.
1. Weather Apps
Hear us out on this one. We know that it makes logical sense for weather apps to need your location, more so than most other apps. How will it do its primary job without your location — it all makes sense. However, now all weather apps are the same and it’s worth doing your homework if you’re about to download one to see if it takes permissions that it shouldn’t. Some of these apps may be constantly tracking your location, even when you aren’t using them. This collects data it doesn’t need and drains your battery. Some are sharing your location with third-party advertisers and tracking your location history for this same purpose. If you feel uncomfortable about being a tool for these apps to profit off of, make sure you aren’t just downloading any app without doing a deep dive into how it uses your location and other data.
2. Facebook
Facebook has been known to use location data in a few ways, and in ways you may not appreciate. Because the Meta app is free, it relies on its users to generate profit, and one of the ways it accomplishes this is by selling your location to advertisers who then serve you targeted ads. Facebook can store your location, track your location even when you aren’t using the app, and even send you location-based notifications (which can feel creepy).
You can delete the app to ensure it isn’t tracking you. But there are also a few ways to mitigate how Facebook uses your location if you aren’t ready to get rid of the app.
Go to Settings > Privacy > Location Services. Find Facebook and choose from Never, While Using the App, or Always, depending on how comfortable you are with Facebook having your location details.