{“lastseen”:”2026-02-03T12:05:07″,”description”:”Most iPhone owners have hopefully learned to manage app permissions by now, including allowing location access. But there’s another layer of location tracking that operates outside these controls. Your cellular carrier has been collecting your location data all along, and until now, there was nothing you could do about it.\\n\\nApple just changed this in iOS 26.3 with a new setting called \\”limit precise location.\\”\\n\\n## How Apple’s anti-carrier tracking system works\\n\\nCellular networks track your phone’s location based on the cell towers it connects to, in a process known as triangulation. In cities where towers are densely packed, triangulation is precise enough to track you down to a street address.\\n\\nThis tracking is different from app-based location monitoring, because your phone’s privacy settings have historically been powerless to stop it. Toggle Location Services off entirely, and your carrier still knows where you are.\\n\\nThe new setting reduces the precision of location data shared with carriers. Rather than a street address, carriers would see only the neighborhood where a device is located. It doesn’t affect emergency calls, though, which still transmit precise coordinates to first responders. Apps like Apple’s \\”Find My\\” service, which locates your devices, or its navigation services, aren’t affected because they work using the phone’s location sharing feature.\\n\\nWhy is Apple doing this? Apple hasn\u2019t said, but the move comes after years of carriers mishandling location data.\\n\\nUnfortunately, cellular network operators have played fast and free with this data. In April 2024, the FCC fined Sprint and T-Mobile (which have since merged), along with AT\\u0026T and Verizon nearly $200 million combined for illegally sharing this location data. They sold access to customers’ location information to third party aggregators, who then sold it on to third parties without customer consent.\\n\\nThis turned into a privacy horror story for customers. One aggregator, LocationSmart, had a free demo on its website that reportedly allowed anyone to pinpoint the location of most mobile phones in North America.\\n\\n## Limited rollout\\n\\nThe feature only works with devices equipped with Apple’s custom C1 or C1X modems. That means just three devices: the iPhone Air, iPhone 16e, and the cellular iPad Pro with M5 chip. The iPhone 17, which uses Qualcomm silicon, is excluded. Apple can only control what its own modems transmit.\\n\\nCarrier support is equally narrow. In the US, only Boost Mobile is participating in the feature at launch, while Verizon, AT\\u0026T, and T-Mobile are notable absences from the list given their past record. In Germany, Telekom is on the participant list, while both EE and BT are involved in the UK. In Thailand, AIS and True are on the list. There are no other carriers taking part as of today though.\\n\\n## Android also offers some support\\n\\nGoogle also introduced a similar capability with Android 15’s Location Privacy hardware abstraction layer (HAL) last year. It faces the same constraint, though: modem vendors must cooperate, and most have not. Apple and Google don’t get to control the modems in most phones. This kind of privacy protection requires vertical integration that few manufacturers possess and few carriers seem eager to enable.\\n\\nMost people think controlling app permissions means they\u2019re in control of their location. This feature highlights something many users didn\u2019t know existed: a separate layer of tracking handled by cellular networks, and one that still offers users very limited control.\\n\\n* * *\\n\\n**We don\u2019t just report on phone security\u2014we provide it**\\n\\nCybersecurity risks should never spread beyond a headline. Keep threats off your mobile devices by downloading Malwarebytes for iOS, and Malwarebytes for Android today.”,”published”:”2026-02-03T11:20:19″,”modified”:”2026-02-03T11:20:19″,”type”:”malwarebytes”,”title”:”Apple\u2019s new iOS setting addresses a hidden layer of location tracking”,”source”:””,”references”:””,”id”:”MALWAREBYTES:1409F0B71018DCD209B21CE2C7B5B2FA”,”bulletinFamily”:”blog”,”cwe”:null,”cvelist”:[],”sourceData”:””,”sourceHref”:””,”cvss”:{“score”:0,”severity”:”NONE”,”vector”:”NONE”,”version”:”NONE”},”cvss2″:{},”cvss3″:{“version”:””,”vectorString”:””,”baseScore”:0,”baseSeverity”:””,”attackVector”:””,”attackComplexity”:””,”privilegesRequired”:””,”userInteraction”:””,”scope”:””,”confidentialityImpact”:””,”integrityImpact”:””,”availabilityImpact”:””,”cvssV3″:{“version”:””,”vectorString”:””,”baseScore”:0,”baseSeverity”:””,”attackVector”:””,”attackComplexity”:””,”privilegesRequired”:””,”userInteraction”:””,”scope”:””,”confidentialityImpact”:””,”integrityImpact”:””,”availabilityImpact”:””}},”href”:”https:\/\/www.malwarebytes.com\/blog\/mobile\/2026\/02\/apples-new-ios-setting-addresses-a-hidden-layer-of-location-tracking”,”category_name”:”News”,”post_link”:””,”product”:””,”version”:””,”vendor”:””,”ai_description”:””,”ai_severity”:””,”ai_vendor”:””,”ai_product”:””,”ai_version”:””,”ai_score”:0}<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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