Have you ever seen the “Tracking Notifications” feature on your iPhone? Although it may seem a little puzzling, its purpose is to help you stay informed and secure. Right now, iOS 14 and later versions include this fantastic feature, “tracking notification” from Apple. This feature alerts you whenever another device or network app, like “Find My” or “AirTag,” is tracking your iPhone.
What is “Tracking Notifications”?
To put it simply, tracking notifications are alerts that let you know when an app tries to track your online and app-to-app activities. It makes it easier for you to pick out which apps are trying to copy other apps’ movements. You will receive push notifications regarding its status if you enable this service.
Consider yourself browsing a shopping item on an app. Ads for the precise items that you were just looking appear on your social media accounts later as you scroll through them. These notifications are designed to handle that specific type of tracking.
Let’s look at another example of this. By simply placing an AirTag in your bag, someone would be able to track your every step. Apple created the Tracking Notifications function to warn users whether a device that is compatible with “Find My” is following them or if someone is keeping an eye on their movements in order to avoid this.
How to turn “Tracking Notifications” On and Off?
To turn on the Tracking Notifications on your iPhone, you need to follow these simple steps.
Step 1: Launch the “Settings” app on iPhone then Locate “Notifications” and tap on it.
Step 2: Scroll down, navigate to “Tracking Notifications,” and click on it.
Step 3: Toggle “Allow notifications” on or off as per your desire.
By doing these steps, you can turn the tracking notifications feature on or off.
Importance Of “Tracking Notifications”?
There has never been a more important time to prioritize user privacy. Here’s where tracking notifications on iPhones come into play, not just as helpful but also as proactive guardians of users’ privacy. To ensure customers are aware of apps and services that are prying on their activities, the iPhone’s tracking notification is crucial.
Here are some critical merits of “tracking notification” feature.
- Defense Against Unwanted Monitoring: The tracking notification feature acts as a shielding system against any device or app that keeps a constant watch. By doing this, you can ensure control over who has access to your location data and avoid unauthorized tracking.
- Customized user interface: Turning on tracking notifications allows for a more tailored experience. Notification detail and frequency are customizable, allowing you to strike a balance between being informed and avoiding unwanted access.
- Complete control over location-related information: Tracking notifications aid transparency. You have complete control over who has access on the information about your whereabouts. As a result, you can actively manage your digital data and build trust with your devices.
- Sensitivity to current circumstances: Tracking notifications deliver instant alerts, enabling a real-time understanding of how your data is being used. This way, you have more control over your data as you can make sound decisions, regardless of whether apps are using location data or devices like AirTag are in close proximity.
- Reducing risks: Tracking alerts enables timely action, preventing unauthorized access to location data. This lessens the possibility of possible privacy violations and protects against information misuse.
How Does “Tracking Notifications” Work?
The feature uses the Find My Network and the U1 chip to locate & expose unspecified devices.
Nearly a billion Apple products make up the peer-to-peer “Find My” network, which is capable of detecting and relaying Bluetooth signals from other compatible devices like AirTags, AirPods, or other iPhones.
U1 chip offers short-range ultra-wide connectivity. This assists in getting precise location data by calculating the time radio waves take to pass through between devices.
If an application works with an ad network to display customized adverts, it may track your Safari browsing activities. In this case, you will see a tracking notice informing you that the app is trying to track your movements.
Even if users choose to allow tracking notification access, the software will continue to collect personal data. Further, even if the user opts out of tracking, the app may still show generic ads in place of user-specific ones. Although, it won’t be able to collect your data.
FAQs
It is a Find My feature, that allow iPhone users to get notified when tracking devices like AirTags are tracking them. You can also get tracking notifications whenever a service or app tries to access the location information on your device.
When you turn off tracking notifications, you will not receive any further alerts if your phone is being tracked by some other device or an app. In a nutshell, you would not be able to know if your iPhone is being followed or not.
Conclusion:
The “tracking notification” iPhone feature acts as a valuable feature for user privacy. It helps you stay aware and informed from the detective’s eyes trying to get unauthorized access to your device. Hence, keeping the tracking notification on your iPhone ‘on’ at all times will keep you aware at all times.
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