What Data Does Your Phone Send? Limit It on Android and iPhone

Your phone sends data to several parties. These include the operating system maker (Google or Apple), the phone manufacturer, your mobile carrier, and every app you install. They collect diagnostics and crash reports, location, usage of apps, advertising identifiers, and whatever each app gathers itself. You can cut most of it in about ten minutes. On Android, open Settings > Security and privacy (or Privacy): review the Privacy dashboard and Permission manager, delete your advertising ID, and turn off Usage & diagnostics. On iPhone, open Settings > Privacy & Security: turn off Allow Apps to Request to Track and Analytics & Improvements, and set location to While Using per app. Then check your Google or Apple account's activity settings, because those store data in the cloud, separately from the phone.

Ethan's son got his first phone for his thirteenth birthday, and Ethan, remembering a news story from years ago about a phone maker quietly collecting users' data, asked Jake what the phone would be sharing and with whom. Jake sat down with both of them and went through it setting by setting: which apps could see location, which had microphone access they did not need, the advertising ID, the diagnostics, and the account history quietly building a record of every search and place. Twenty minutes later the phone shared far less, and Ethan's son understood why each switch mattered. This page is that walk-through, for Android and iPhone.

Menu names vary between Android phone makers and versions; if a path does not match, use the search box at the top of Settings with the setting's name.

Who collects data from your phone

Some collection is essential: a carrier must know which tower your phone uses to deliver calls, and an app needs your location to give directions. The goal is not zero data, which would make a phone unusable, but sharing only what each service actually needs.

Common privacy myths

A few beliefs get in the way of sensible privacy settings. "My phone is listening to my conversations for ads" is the most common; investigations have repeatedly found that the eerily relevant ads people notice come from location, browsing, app activity and the behavior of friends and family, not secret recordings, which is exactly the data the settings on this page limit. "I have nothing to hide" misses the point: privacy settings are about who profits from your data and how safely it is stored, not about hiding wrongdoing. And "privacy settings break my phone" is rarely true; the steps here leave every feature working.

Another myth is that incognito or private browsing makes you invisible. It only stops the browser saving history on the phone; websites, your network and your account still see what you do.

Where the key settings live on each phone

Names shift slightly with each version and between Android makers, but the categories stay the same, so searching Settings for the words in the middle column usually finds the right page.

Review app permissions

App permissions are the single biggest control. Each permission, such as location, camera, microphone, contacts or photos, lets an app read something private. Many apps request more than they need.

1. On Android, open Settings > Security and privacy > Privacy > Permission manager, or search Settings for Permission manager.
2. Select a permission, such as Location or Microphone, to see every app that has it.
3. For each app, choose Allow only while using the app, Ask every time or Don't allow.
4. On iPhone, open Settings > Privacy & Security, select each category, and change each app's access.
5. Repeat for camera, microphone, contacts, photos, nearby devices and physical activity.

A good rule: location only while using the app, and only for apps that need it; microphone and camera only for calling, recording and camera apps; contacts only for messaging. A flashlight, a game or a shopping app rarely needs any of them.

Pay special attention to permissions that grant broad access: Accessibility services can read the screen and act on your behalf, Notification access lets an app read every notification, and Device admin apps can resist removal. These are legitimate for some apps, such as password managers or screen readers, but unknown apps with them deserve immediate removal.

Clipboard and notification alerts

Modern phones warn you when an app reads the clipboard: a small message appears saying the app pasted from your clipboard. If an app reads it without you pasting anything, that is worth noticing, since the clipboard often holds passwords, codes and addresses. On Android, clipboard history also clears automatically after a while on recent versions.

Notifications are another quiet leak. Messages and codes shown on the lock screen are readable by anyone who picks up the phone. In notification settings, choose to hide sensitive content on the lock screen, so the phone shows that a message arrived without showing what it says.

The privacy dashboard and indicators

Android's Privacy dashboard, in the privacy settings, shows which apps used location, camera and microphone in the past 24 hours, and on recent versions the past week, with a timeline for each. It is the quickest way to spot an app using a sensor when you were not expecting it. iPhone's App Privacy Report, in Settings > Privacy & Security, shows similar information plus which internet domains each app contacted.

Both systems also show a green or orange dot at the top of the screen when the camera or microphone is in use. If you see it when you are not using a camera or calling app, swipe down to see which app is responsible. Android also offers quick toggles to block camera and microphone access for every app at once, handy in sensitive meetings.

Review the dashboard after installing any new app for the first week, when unexpected sensor use is most likely to show up.

If something looks wrong, revoke the permission straight from the dashboard entry, then decide whether to keep the app at all.

Location: precise, approximate and history

Location deserves extra attention, because a record of where you go reveals where you live, work and spend time. Both Android and iPhone let you give apps approximate location instead of precise: a weather app needs only your town, not your street. On Android, turn off Use precise location for an app in its location permission; on iPhone, turn off Precise Location.

Phones can also improve location accuracy by scanning for Wi-Fi networks and Bluetooth devices even when those are off. On Android, find Wi-Fi scanning and Bluetooth scanning under location services and turn them off if you prefer. Google's Timeline, formerly Location History, records places you visit; it is now stored on your device by default, with optional encrypted backup, and can be turned off in your Google account's activity controls or in Google Maps.

For photos, also check the camera app's own location setting, which is separate from the apps that read photos later.

Location sharing with people

Separate from apps, phones can share your live location with people: Google Maps location sharing, Apple's Find My, family safety apps and messaging apps. Over time, those shares pile up and are easy to forget. Review them now and then: in Google Maps, tap your profile picture and choose Location sharing; on iPhone, open the Find My app's People tab. Remove anyone who no longer needs to see where you are, and prefer time-limited shares, such as "for one hour", for one-off meetups.

Children's location sharing with parents is a deliberate exception many families keep; agree openly on it rather than setting it up silently.

Unknown tracker alerts

Small Bluetooth trackers help find keys and bags, but they can also be misused to follow people. Both Android and iPhone now alert you if an unknown tracker seems to be moving with you. On Android, the feature is under Safety & emergency > Unknown tracker alerts in Settings; on iPhone, alerts are built into Find My and on by default. If you get an alert, the phone can help you play a sound on the tracker to find it. Keep these alerts on, and keep Bluetooth on for them to work.

Your own trackers can be set to share their location only with you, and both platforms let you see trackers registered to your account, so you always know which ones are yours.

Advertising ID and tracking

Phones have an advertising ID, a code that apps and ad networks use to link your activity across apps for targeted ads. Removing it is one of the most effective anti-tracking steps.

• Android: open Settings > Security and privacy > Privacy > Ads (or search for Ads) and select Delete advertising ID. Apps then receive a string of zeros instead.
• iPhone: open Settings > Privacy & Security > Tracking and turn off Allow Apps to Request to Track. Apps are then not allowed to track you across other companies' apps and websites.

You will still see ads, but they will be less personalized and fewer companies will be able to build a profile from your app use. Google's own ad personalization is controlled separately in your Google account's Ad settings, under My Ad Center.

On Android, deleting the ID is better than the older option to reset it, since a reset simply issues a new ID that tracking can start building on again.

Data brokers: where app data can end up

Some apps and ad networks sell or share data with data brokers, companies that combine information from many sources into profiles, including location histories in some cases. Deleting the advertising ID and limiting location permissions starves this market of new data from your phone. For data already collected, many brokers accept opt-out or deletion requests, and some states require them to; California, for example, has created a single process for residents to ask registered data brokers to delete their information.

Paid services that send these requests on your behalf exist, but the most effective step remains preventing the collection in the first place, which is what the phone settings on this page do.

Some data brokers also offer people-search sites that publish names, addresses and phone numbers; searching for your own name shows which ones list you and where to request removal.

Diagnostics, analytics and usage data

Both operating systems ask, during setup, whether to send diagnostic and usage data to help improve products. This is usually optional. On Android, search Settings for Usage & diagnostics and turn it off. On iPhone, open Settings > Privacy & Security > Analytics & Improvements and turn off Share iPhone Analytics and related options. Apps often have their own diagnostics or "improve the app" switches in their settings as well.

Diagnostics are generally less sensitive than location or account activity, since they focus on crashes and performance, but turning them off reduces data leaving the phone with no downside for you.

Crash reports can occasionally contain fragments of what was on screen when an app crashed, which is one more reason to keep them off on a phone used for sensitive work, unless an app's developer asks you to send one to fix a specific problem.

Voice assistants and recordings

Voice assistants listen for a wake word on the device and send what follows to the company's servers to answer. Recordings may be stored in your account. In your Google account, Web & App Activity includes an option for audio recordings, which is off by default for many users; check it. On iPhone, Siri's settings let you delete Siri history and opt out of sharing recordings to help improve Siri. If you rarely use the assistant, turning off the wake word, so it only listens when you press a button, removes accidental activations.

Assistants on smart displays and cars linked to the same account share that history, so the same review covers them.

Your Google or Apple account history

Much of the data about you is stored not on the phone but in your account in the cloud, which is why changing phone settings alone is not enough. For Google, open myactivity.google.com or Settings > Google > Manage your Google Account > Data & privacy. Review Web & App Activity, which records searches and app use; Timeline; and YouTube History. You can turn each off, delete past activity, or set auto-delete to remove activity older than 3, 18 or 36 months.

For Apple, much more processing happens on the device, but you can review data and download or delete it at Apple's privacy portal, and manage iCloud and Siri settings in Settings > your name. Siri history can be deleted in Siri's settings. Auto-delete is the single most useful account setting: it keeps recent activity for convenience while preventing years of history from building up.

While in your account, also turn on two-step verification and check the list of devices signed in to it. Account security is part of privacy: an account someone else can reach exposes everything stored in it.

See exactly what has been collected

You can download a copy of what Google holds about you with Google Takeout, at takeout.google.com, choosing which products to include. Apple offers a similar request through its privacy portal. Looking through the export, even briefly, is often eye-opening: years of searches, places, voice recordings and app activity. It is also the best way to decide which history settings to keep and which to turn off.

Many apps and services offer the same through their settings, often under a name like "download your information". Privacy laws in many places give you the right to request this data and to ask for its deletion.

Your privacy rights

Depending on where you live, laws give you rights over the data companies hold. In the European Union, the GDPR lets you access, correct and delete personal data and object to some uses. In the United States, there is no single federal privacy law, but a growing number of states, led by California, give residents rights to know what is collected, to delete it and to opt out of its sale or sharing for targeted advertising. Companies typically provide forms for these requests in their privacy policies or account settings.

Exercising these rights takes some effort, but for services you no longer use, a deletion request removes data that settings alone cannot reach.

Keep a record of requests you send and the responses, since companies have set periods to reply and may ask you to verify your identity before deleting anything.

Phone manufacturers' own data collection

Phone makers often add their own services and analytics on top of Android: customization services, app stores, cloud backups, assistants and marketing programs. These have separate settings, usually in the maker's account section in Settings or under a privacy menu, and sometimes in their own apps. Look for options named customization service, marketing information, diagnostic data, user experience program or similar, and turn off those you did not choose.

The 2017 story this page first covered was a reminder of why this matters: a phone maker's analytics sent detailed device information, including identifiers and app usage, to its servers without clear consent, and changed its practices only after a security researcher published his findings. Since then, privacy laws and platform rules have tightened, and most makers now ask during setup, but the switches still deserve a look.

When setting up a new phone, slow down at the setup screens: most of these choices are offered there first, with a pre-selected Agree or Accept all button. Choosing More options or Customize at each step saves revisiting them later.

What your mobile carrier sees

Your carrier sees which towers your phone connects to, so it knows your approximate location whenever the phone is on, plus the numbers you call and text and how much data you use. It does not see the content of encrypted apps, websites using HTTPS, or end-to-end encrypted messages. Carriers in the United States may use some customer data for marketing; most offer privacy choices in your online account or by request, where you can opt out of programs that use your data for advertising or analytics.

Turning on Wi-Fi calling or using Wi-Fi does not hide your location from the carrier entirely, since emergency services rules require location information for Wi-Fi calls.

Your carrier account also holds sensitive details, so protect it with a strong password and a PIN or passcode for account changes; that stops criminals from moving your number to a new SIM, an attack that can take over accounts protected by text-message codes.

Watches, cars and smart speakers

Devices connected to your phone collect data too. Smartwatches and fitness trackers record heart rate, sleep and location, usually syncing to the maker's cloud; their companion apps have their own privacy settings. Cars that connect to phones or have their own internet connection can record trips, speed and location, and some makers share driving data with partners; check the car's app and privacy settings. Smart speakers keep voice recordings in the account linked to them. Each device deserves the same ten-minute review as the phone.

When you stop using a device, delete its data in the companion app or account before removing the app, since uninstalling the app usually leaves the cloud data in place.

Do VPNs make your phone private?

A VPN encrypts traffic between your phone and the VPN provider, hiding which websites you visit from your carrier or the Wi-Fi network you are on. That is useful on public Wi-Fi. It does not stop apps from collecting data, does not remove the advertising ID, and does not hide anything from the websites and services you sign in to. It also moves trust from your carrier to the VPN company, which can see the same traffic, so choose a reputable one with a clear no-logs policy. A VPN is one layer, not a substitute for the settings on this page.

What apps collect beyond permissions

Permissions control access to sensors and personal data stored on the phone, but apps also record what you do inside them: what you view, tap, buy and search. That data goes to the app's company and often to analytics and advertising partners. Google Play's Data safety section and Apple's App Privacy labels in the App Store summarize what each app says it collects and shares; read them before installing, and choose apps that collect less when there is a choice.

Social media apps also receive data from other apps and websites through sharing tools and ad networks. Our guide to Off-Facebook Activity shows how to see and clear what other businesses send to Facebook.

Signing in with Google or Apple

"Sign in with Google" and "Sign in with Apple" buttons are convenient and often safer than creating another password, but they connect the app to your account. Sign in with Apple can hide your email address by giving each app a unique relay address, which stops apps sharing or selling your real address. Google sign-in shares your name, email and profile picture with the app. Review connected apps occasionally: in your Google Account under Security > Your connections to third-party apps & services, and on iPhone under Settings > your name > Sign-In & Security > Sign in with Apple, and remove apps you no longer use.

Removing an app's access there does not delete the account you made with it; delete that inside the app or on the company's website.

Keyboard apps see everything you type

A keyboard app sees every word you type, including messages, searches and, in some cases, passwords. The keyboards built into Android and iPhone are designed to keep that private, with most processing on the device. Third-party keyboards can be excellent, but install them only from well-known developers, and on iPhone think carefully before granting Full Access, which lets a keyboard send data over the internet. If you no longer use an extra keyboard, remove it in the keyboard settings.

The same caution applies to keyboard features that sync your typing history or personal dictionary to the cloud; turn sync off if you prefer it to stay on the phone.

Voice typing on built-in keyboards may send audio to the cloud unless an offline option is on; check the voice input settings.

Remove unused apps and auto-reset permissions

Every installed app is a potential data collector, even one you have forgotten. Delete apps you no longer use. Android automatically removes permissions from apps you have not used for a few months; check that Pause app activity if unused or Remove permissions if app isn't used is on in each app's settings. iPhone offers Offload Unused Apps in App Store settings, which removes apps while keeping their data, though deleting fully is better for privacy.

Ethan's son had installed eleven games in his first week; four were already forgotten. Deleting them removed four data collectors at once.

Before deleting an app, check whether it has an account you should close first; deleting the app alone leaves the account and its data on the company's servers.

Before selling or giving away a phone

A phone handed on with data still on it is a privacy disaster waiting to happen. Back up what you need, then sign out of your Google account or Apple ID first, which removes the anti-theft lock that would otherwise stop the next owner using it. Remove any SIM and memory card. Then do a factory reset from Settings > System > Reset options > Erase all data on Android, or Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Erase All Content and Settings on iPhone. Modern phones encrypt storage, so a reset makes old data unrecoverable in practice.

Finally, remove the old phone from your account's device list, so it no longer receives codes or appears in Find My.

For phones you are recycling rather than reselling, the same reset applies; recycling programs handle the hardware, not your data.

Backups, cloud photos and what they contain

Phone backups to Google or iCloud contain messages, photos, app data and settings, which makes them as sensitive as the phone itself. They are protected by your account, so a strong password and two-step verification matter. Apple offers Advanced Data Protection, which end-to-end encrypts most iCloud data so even Apple cannot read it; Android backups are encrypted with your screen lock for many data types. Cloud photo services may analyze photos to group faces and places; you can turn face grouping off in Google Photos and Apple Photos settings if you prefer.

Backups are worth keeping, since a lost phone without one is a bigger loss than most privacy risks, but know what they hold and protect the account behind them.

If you turn on Advanced Data Protection, store the recovery key or set up a recovery contact carefully; with end-to-end encryption, Apple cannot help you recover data if you lose access.

Work phones and work profiles

If your employer manages your phone, it can see certain information and control certain settings. On Android, a work profile separates work apps, shown with a briefcase badge, from personal ones; the employer manages the work profile but cannot see personal apps, messages or photos. On a fully managed company phone, the employer can see and control much more. iPhones enrolled through work have similar separation. Read the management notice during enrollment, keep personal activity in personal apps, and assume anything on a company-owned phone may be visible to the company.

Separating work and personal phones entirely is the clearest arrangement where the job allows it; otherwise, a work profile is a good compromise that keeps each side's data apart.

Run a privacy checkup every few months

Settings drift: new apps arrive, updates add features, and permissions you granted once stay granted. A quick review every few months keeps things tidy. Google's Privacy Checkup, in your Google Account's Data & privacy page, walks through activity controls, ad settings and what is visible to others. Apple's Safety Check, in Privacy & Security, reviews who and which apps have access to your information and can reset sharing quickly, which is especially valuable if a relationship ends or a device was shared.

Set a calendar reminder; the checkup takes about ten minutes once the initial setup on this page is done.

Older phones and fewer controls

Many of the controls on this page arrived in recent Android and iOS versions: the privacy dashboard, approximate location, the camera and microphone indicators, ad ID deletion and tracker alerts. Phones that no longer receive updates miss them, and miss security fixes too. If a phone is stuck on an old version, the privacy settings it has still help, but the safest option for privacy and security alike is a phone that still receives updates. When buying, check how many years of updates the maker promises; several now commit to seven years for recent models.

Updates also refresh the built-in apps that hold the most personal data, such as messages and photos, so an updated phone protects privacy in more ways than its settings menus show.

Your mobile browser

The browser is where much tracking happens. In Chrome on Android, open Settings > Privacy and security to block third-party cookies, send Do Not Track requests, and clear browsing data; consider Safe Browsing on Enhanced protection. Safari on iPhone blocks cross-site tracking by default and can hide your IP address from trackers. Browsers built for privacy block more trackers by default. Searching through engines that do not build profiles is another option. Our guide to tracking prevention in Edge explains how browser tracking protection works.

Clear browsing data now and then, especially cookies, and sign out of accounts on shared or borrowed devices.

Private browsing tabs help on shared devices by not saving history locally, though, as noted, they do not hide activity from websites or networks.

Public Wi-Fi

On public Wi-Fi, the network operator can see which sites you connect to, though not the content of encrypted pages, which today is nearly all of them. Phones also use a randomized MAC address for each Wi-Fi network by default on recent Android and iPhone versions, so networks cannot easily track the same device across locations; leave that on. Forget public networks after use, so the phone does not join lookalike networks with the same name automatically, and use mobile data or a reputable VPN for anything sensitive.

Captive portal pages that ask for your email or phone number to use free Wi-Fi are collecting marketing data; a throwaway address or simply declining, where possible, keeps your main details off their lists.

At home, your own Wi-Fi with a strong password and up-to-date router firmware removes most of these concerns.

Messages, photos and what they reveal

Photos carry hidden information called EXIF data, including the date, the phone model and, if location tagging is on, exactly where the photo was taken. Many apps strip it when you share, but not all. On Android, the camera app's settings let you turn off location tags; on iPhone, the camera's location permission controls it, and the share sheet's Options lets you remove location from individual photos. Our guide to what WhatsApp keeps in shared photos shows what survives.

For messages, apps with end-to-end encryption keep content private from the company, though they still see metadata, such as who you message and when.

Email tracking pixels

Many marketing emails contain tiny invisible images that report when and where you opened the message. Apple Mail's Protect Mail Activity setting hides your IP address and loads such images privately, and Gmail loads images through Google's servers, which hides your location from senders. In other email apps, look for a setting to ask before loading remote images. This does not affect the emails you read, only what senders learn about when you read them.

Read receipts in messaging apps are the visible version of the same idea; most apps let you turn them off if you prefer people not to know exactly when you read their messages.

Setting up a child's phone

1. Create a child account with Google Family Link or Apple's Family Sharing, so you can approve apps and manage settings.
2. Turn off ad personalization and delete the advertising ID.
3. Set location sharing to family only, and limit app location to while in use.
4. Require approval for app downloads.
5. Review camera, microphone and contacts permissions together, explaining each one.
6. Turn on auto-delete for account activity.
7. Talk about photo sharing, location tags and what not to post.

Doing this together, as Jake did with Ethan's son, teaches the habits as well as setting the switches.

For younger children, Family Link and Family Sharing also let you see which apps they use and for how long, which helps conversations about both screen time and privacy.

The settings Ethan's son ended up with

1. Advertising ID deleted, ad personalization off.
2. Location for maps and family sharing only, approximate for weather.
3. Microphone and camera for the camera, calls and one video app only.
4. Usage and diagnostics off.
5. Account activity set to auto-delete after three months.
6. Lock screen hiding message content.
7. Unknown tracker alerts on.

Every one of these still lets the phone do everything he wants; they simply stop it sharing more than it needs to.

He also knows how to check them again himself, which matters more than any single switch: new apps will ask for new permissions, and he now reads those prompts instead of tapping Allow.

Privacy depends on security too

All these settings mean little if someone else can unlock the phone or an app can break into it. Use a strong screen lock, keep the phone's software updated, and install apps only from the official stores. Our guide to how Android gets security updates explains why updates matter even on older phones, and our page on whether phone assistants can be hacked covers a less obvious risk.

A phone that is lost or stolen is the most direct privacy risk of all; turn on Find My Device or Find My, so you can lock or erase it remotely if it goes missing.

What this page said in 2017

The original version of this page, from October 2017, reported that OnePlus phones were sending detailed analytics, including device identifiers and app usage, to the company's servers. After the report, OnePlus stopped collecting some of the identifiers and added a clearer opt-out. The story itself is old, but the lesson behind it lasts: phones send more than most people realize, and the settings to limit it are there for anyone who looks. This rewrite turns that news item into the walk-through.

It also shows that public scrutiny works: researchers, journalists and users asking questions changed one company's practices within weeks.

Phone data collection: frequently asked questions

Ethan's son still uses his phone for everything a thirteen-year-old uses a phone for. It simply shares less: no advertising ID, location only for maps and the family, no microphone for games, and an account that forgets its history after three months. He now checks new apps' permissions himself, which was the real goal. Phones will always send some data; the difference between a phone set up in ten minutes and one never checked is how much.

Revision note. Written October 2, 2026, rewriting our 2017 news note on OnePlus data collection into a complete guide to what phones send and how to limit it on Android and iPhone. May your phone share only what you meant to share.