TIL my phone was tracking my grocery runs after I turned off location

I disabled location services on my shopping app last week, but I still got a notification saying I'd been in the Piggly Wiggly parking lot for 18 minutes. Turns out the store's Wi-Fi and my Bluetooth were enough to ping me, even with GPS off. Has anyone else had apps figure out where you are through other sensors, or is there a way to actually block that stuff?

2 comments

2 Comments

blair_green7d ago

Ha! Welcome to the club, Big Brother's got Bluetooth now.

robinson.jake7d ago

That Piggly Wiggly trick works the other way too. Some stores use your phone's MAC address to track you through their own systems, but if you've got Bluetooth off, they can still get you through ultrasonic beacons. Those are the high frequency sounds apps use that you can't hear. Heard about a study where phones picked those up from TV ads and then matched them to locations later. Real fix is checking app permissions line by line and turning off Bluetooth scanning in your phone's location settings, not just the app itself. Batteries drain a little faster, but the peace of mind is WORTH it.