Of course, there are ways you can avoid being tracked online. So at least in theory, advertisers can offer you products and experiences you’re actually interested in, rather than bombarding you with ads for, I don’t know, lawyers specializing in Canadian criminal pardons. For one thing, sometimes it’s nice to go where everybody knows your name. No, I mean, online tracking isn’t all bad. Invade your privacy and chip away at your online anonymity, which nobody likes. Potentially jack up their prices on you, because they know you live in a wealthier state or city Spam you with targeted ad campaigns that follow you around the web, attempting to trigger your every subconscious desire When you put all these things together, as data brokers do, you end up with a unique online fingerprint that allows advertisers and companies to immediately identify you, along with all your likes, dislikes, personal traits, and neuroses (oh come on Karen, we’ve all got them).Īnd that’s potentially very bad news, because once they know exactly who you are and what makes you tick, companies and advertisers can: Yes, that sounds bad - but why exactly is it bad for *me*? Websites can also collect information about your device, your operating system, browser version, fonts, screen resolution, color depth, timezone, what add-ons you use, whether you block cookies, whether you block ads, and so on.ĭata companies and advertisers also know which articles you read and which ones you skip which videos you watch and which ones you stop after 5 seconds which promotional emails you read and which ones you send to your trash folder without opening what you like on Facebook, what you retweet, and what you heart on Instagram. Many of these companies own an average of 3,000 pieces of data that they’ve purchased or collected about each of the 350 million people in their database - including their location, the food and restaurants they like, their online habits, the questions they ask Google, where they work… even medical info and credit scores. They then sell your profile to other companies for big wads of cash. They put this information together with info from other sources (like public records) to create a profile of you. Data brokers are companies that buy and sell personal information about you. The companies behind those sites can then use this information to target you as you browse the web - and they can also sell it to data brokers. How does it work, you ask? Well, the websites you interact with online collect data about you like your interests, likes, dislikes, and purchase history.
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And yet, there’s a very good chance your list already exists. What sort of things would you write? Three thousand personal facts is a lot of personal facts. Imagine you were asked to come up with a list of 3,000 facts about yourself. What do these online trackers know about me? Researchers at the University of Washington found that 75% of the world’s most popular websites use tracking tools, including their own cookies and third-party trackers. You can disable, any System Service, including Significant Locations by unchecking the option (See image below).What do you mean, “someone”? Who’s tracking me online?Īll the cool kids are doing it - from FANG (that’s Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, and Google) to you and me and your friendly neighborhood artisanal donut store’s website (probably). On the next pop-up, you will see a list of System Services on your Mac that can use your Location information.
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Next, click on the Privacy (1) Tab, click on Location Services (2) in the side menu and then scroll down in the right panel to “System Services” and click on the Details (3) button next to it.ĥ. On the Security & Privacy screen, click on the Lock Icon and then enter your Admin User Name and Password to make changes.Ĥ.
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On the System Preferences screen, click on Security & Privacy.ģ. Click on the Apple Logo in the top menu bar of your Mac and then click on System Preferences option in the drop-down menu.Ģ.
TRACKING SOFTWARE FOR MAC COMPUTERS HOW TO
Related: How to Remove Location Data From Photos On iPhoneįollow the steps below to turn OFF Significant Locations in order to Disable Location Tracking on Mac.ġ.Also, your Location information is stored locally on your Mac in an encrypted form and this information is not shared with Apple. However, in case you want to, it is possible to Disable Location Tracking on Mac by turning OFF “Significant Locations” service on your device.