[mothered]

I think there a way for blocking it. but I am not totally sure.

In terms of the device per se, there certainly Is.

The GPS, Barometer & Magnetometer sensors are all responsible for location tracking. Data stored In cell phone towers emitted by the phone's connectivity (signal strength) that can be tracked via cell phone tower triangulation, Is beyond the end user's control.

understand

Probably not.

I haven't provided an In depth elaboration.

[darkninja1980]

In terms of the device per se, there certainly Is.

The GPS, Barometer & Magnetometer sensors are all responsible for location tracking. Data stored In cell phone towers emitted by the phone's connectivity (signal strength) that can be tracked via cell phone tower triangulation, Is beyond the end user's control.

understand

Probably not.

I haven't provided an In depth elaboration.

I understand this part in what you said. Is beyond the end user's control.

[mothered]

understand

Probably not.

I haven't provided an In depth elaboration.

I understand this part in what you said. Is beyond the end user's control.

That pertains to cell phone tower triangulation. How the data Is stored and the legalities Involved In It's collection, Is quite complex.

What the end user can control, Is the said sensors- of which disabling each one does differ between each device manufacturer.

[Tibo inc]

Looking to upgrade my current phone (Pixel XL) and get something new. I'm pretty split between all the options at the moment. I'd love to upgrade to a Pixel 3 XL but I'm not sure when that is coming out. The P20 Pro looks amazing but I've never had a Huawei device before so I can't judge on that. The brand new iPhones are also quite nice looking but I'm not sure about switching back to iOS.

To give some background on my needs in a phone: I'm fairly heavily invested in the Google ecosystem (I use gmail quite often and all of the GApps, and Chromecasting is my main way of watching entertainment in my house along with a Google Home) so that is a strong factor holding me back from iOS. I'm an engineering student so I spend a fair bit of time using my phone to read PDFs and stuff for homework assignments. I don't game much at all however I like using emulators. I also use my camera quite a bit so a good camera is almost a must. Lastly I care about my privacy and use a VPN fairly often, however I don't expect anonymity.

Any suggestions for a new phone?

to be honest I am not a fan of any smartphone.  why because they can track your location.

Is that really such a bad thing though? I mean who is going to want to track you?

[Oni]

I haven't bought a new phone since my Moto Z Play. Has pretty good specs even 2 years later.

[Cr3aTor]

Looking to upgrade my current phone (Pixel XL) and get something new. I'm pretty split between all the options at the moment. I'd love to upgrade to a Pixel 3 XL but I'm not sure when that is coming out. The P20 Pro looks amazing but I've never had a Huawei device before so I can't judge on that. The brand new iPhones are also quite nice looking but I'm not sure about switching back to iOS.

To give some background on my needs in a phone: I'm fairly heavily invested in the Google ecosystem (I use gmail quite often and all of the GApps, and Chromecasting is my main way of watching entertainment in my house along with a Google Home) so that is a strong factor holding me back from iOS. I'm an engineering student so I spend a fair bit of time using my phone to read PDFs and stuff for homework assignments. I don't game much at all however I like using emulators. I also use my camera quite a bit so a good camera is almost a must. Lastly I care about my privacy and use a VPN fairly often, however I don't expect anonymity.

Any suggestions for a new phone?

to be honest I am not a fan of any smartphone.  why because they can track your location.

Is that really such a bad thing though? I mean who is going to want to track you?

I think it's bad, because nowadays you have always with you a device that knows your location, can see phone calls, messages, some apps access the camera, microphone, images, etc. So this location tracking feature is another way to invade your privacy and gather as much data as they can. I'm not quite sure about this, but I think even if you choose to disable the GPS feature it's still going to work. As @mothered said, this is beyond the user's control.

A lot of regular users are saying: "If i'm not doing anything wrong, i have nothing to hide. So I'm okay with this."
As i see this situation, those people are fine with the fact that somebody can know their personal lives, family, location, thus anybody being able to make a psychological profile and maybe use it against them.

[Tibo inc]

to be honest I am not a fan of any smartphone.  why because they can track your location.

Is that really such a bad thing though? I mean who is going to want to track you?

I think it's bad, because nowadays you have always with you a device that knows your location, can see phone calls, messages, some apps access the camera, microphone, images, etc. So this location tracking feature is another way to invade your privacy and gather as much data as they can. I'm not quite sure about this, but I think even if you choose to disable the GPS feature it's still going to work. As @mothered said, this is beyond the user's control.

A lot of regular users are saying: "If i'm not doing anything wrong, i have nothing to hide. So I'm okay with this."
As i see this situation, those people are fine with the fact that somebody can know their personal lives, family, location, thus anybody being able to make a psychological profile and maybe use it against them.

I didnt consider this, you make a good point

[mothered]

I'm not quite sure about this, but I think even if you choose to disable the GPS feature it's still going to work.

Even with GPS disabled, both the Magnetometer & Barometer sensors can track your location.

That aside, If there's a (malicious) JavaScript code that's embedded In a webpage that you're viewing, It allows your browser to estimate your location and the Information Is sent to the website's servers- all without your permission.
Moreover, the browser's built-In geolocation feature (found In all major browsers) that uses the HTML5 Geolocation API, can also obtain your location however this does require your permission. Typical behavior of this, Is when a popup comes up with a message of "www.example.com wants to know your location". A lot of users simply click OK without thinking which Is certainly not good practice.

[Cr3aTor]

I'm not quite sure about this, but I think even if you choose to disable the GPS feature it's still going to work.

Even with GPS disabled, both the Magnetometer & Barometer sensors can track your location.

That aside, If there's a (malicious) JavaScript code that's embedded In a webpage that you're viewing, It allows your browser to estimate your location and the Information Is sent to the website's servers- all without your permission.
Moreover, the browser's built-In geolocation feature (found In all major browsers) that uses the HTML5 Geolocation API, can also obtain your location however this does require your permission. Typical behavior of this, Is when a popup comes up with a message of "www.example.com wants to know your location".  A lot of users simply click OK without thinking which Is certainly not good practice.

Thanks for getting it all clear.

[mothered]

I'm not quite sure about this, but I think even if you choose to disable the GPS feature it's still going to work.

Even with GPS disabled, both the Magnetometer & Barometer sensors can track your location.

That aside, If there's a (malicious) JavaScript code that's embedded In a webpage that you're viewing, It allows your browser to estimate your location and the Information Is sent to the website's servers- all without your permission.
Moreover, the browser's built-In geolocation feature (found In all major browsers) that uses the HTML5 Geolocation API, can also obtain your location however this does require your permission. Typical behavior of this, Is when a popup comes up with a message of "www.example.com wants to know your location".  A lot of users simply click OK without thinking which Is certainly not good practice.

Thanks for getting it all clear.

You're welcome.

There's a lot more such as ultrasonic cross-device tracking and OS leaks, but they're pretty In depth and beyond the scope of this post to elaborate.