Even if you turn off Location History, Google often stores your exact location.
Here’s how to remove these markers and some best practices to keep your location as private as possible.
But there is no silver bullet, as simply connecting to the Internet on any device marks an IP address that can be geographically mapped.
Smartphones also connect to cell towers, so your carrier always knows your general location.
To disable tracking on any device
Start your browser and go to myactivity.google.com. You must be logged in to Google.
From the drop-down menu at the top left, go to ‘Activity Options’. Turn off both Web & App Activity and Location History.
That should prevent precise location markers from being saved to your Google account.
Google will warn you that some of its services won’t work as well if these settings are disabled.
In particular, neither the Google Assistant, a digital concierge, nor the Google Home smart speaker will be particularly useful.
On iOS
If you use Google Maps, change your location setting to ‘While using’ the app. This prevents the app from accessing your location when it is not running.
Go to Settings Privacy Location Services and select Google Maps to make the adjustment.
Consider using a search engine other than Google in the Safari web browser.
Under Safari Search Engine Settings you will find other options such as Bing or DuckDuckGo.
You can disable location while browsing by going to Settings Privacy Location Services Safari Websites and setting it to ‘Never’.
This still doesn’t stop advertisers from knowing your rough location based on the IP address on any website.
You can also disable Location Services almost completely on the device through Settings Privacy Location Services.
Both Google Maps and Apple Maps still work, but they don’t know where you are on the map and can’t give you directions.
Emergency services can still find you if necessary.
On Android
Under the main settings icon, click “Security & Location.” Scroll down to the ‘Privacy’ heading. Tap ‘Location’. You can disable it for the entire device.
Use ‘App-level permissions’ to disable access to different apps.
Unlike the iPhone, there is no ‘While in use’ setting.
You can’t turn off Google Play Services, which tell your location to other apps, if you leave that service turned on.
Log in as a ‘guest’ on your Android device by swiping down from the top, tapping the downward-facing cursor, then tapping the torso icon again.
Pay attention to which services you log into, such as Chrome. You can even switch search engines in Chrome.
To remove previous location tracking on any device
On the page myactivity.google.comlook for an item with a location pin icon next to the word “details.”
When you click on it, a window will appear with a link that sometimes says ‘From your current location’.
Clicking on it will open Google Maps, showing where you were at that moment.
You can remove it from this popup by clicking the navigation icon with the three stacked dots and then clicking “Remove.”
Some items are grouped in unexpected places, such as subject names, google.com, Search, or Maps.
You have to remove them item by item. You can delete all items by date ranges or by wholesale service, but you end up removing more than just location markers.