We answer the questions readers asked in response to our guide to anonymizing your phone
About the LevelUp series: At The Markup, we’re committed to doing everything we can to protect our readers from digital harm, write about the processes we develop, and share our work. We’re constantly working on improving digital security, respecting reader privacy, creating ethical and responsible user experiences, and making sure our site and tools are accessible.
This is a follow-up article. Here’s the first piece, if you’d like to read that one as well
It tickles me when I read of journalists protecting their privacy. You can see how far up the tree they’ve climbed.
There are many, many more ways to track that anonymous phone. These are feel-good settings to disable for that sense of false security; like you’re in control. It does have effect, don’t get me wrong.
But a big part of tracking is not what your phone sends, but other devices detect. There’s no opt out of that data collection.