How to Disable a Cell Phone's GPS Tracking System?

Many cell phones today have dedicated sensors that can determine your location using GPS satellites. These sensors provide support for some very useful applications, such as turn-by-turn navigation. There are some reasons why you may wish to disable this support, and it is easy to do so. Disabling the GPS when you are not using it can improve the battery life of your phone. Your phone's camera also uses the GPS to encode the location of each photo that you take with it, and you may wish to disable this to protect your privacy.

Apple iPhones

Step 1

Tap the "Settings" icon and then tap "Privacy."

Step 2

Tap "Location Services."

Step 3

Tap the "On" switch next to "Location Services" to put it in the "Off" position.

Step 4

Tap the "On" switch next to individual applications in the list below to disable GPS for specific applications only.

Android phones (4.0 and up)

Step 1

Tap the application launcher on your phone's Home screen.

Step 2

Tap the "Settings" application.

Step 3

Scroll down to the "Personal" category and tap "Location services."

Step 4

Tap the item labeled "GPS satellites" if it is checked, to disable the GPS.

The Main Steps

Press the menu or enter key on your cell phone to enter the main menu. Some touchscreen phones allow you to simply press a menu icon on the screen to enter the phone's main menu.

Look for an entry in the menu labeled "Location," "Options" or "Settings." The GPS location-sharing option could be listed under a different menu heading depending on the manufacturer of the phone. Some phones contain a listing under "Options" or "Settings" called "E911" that will allow you to disable the tracking feature.

Use your phone's arrow keys or touchscreen to highlight the option to disable the location or GPS system. Press the "Enter" or "OK" key to select the option to disable the location-tracking system. Some cell phones provide only an "On" and "E911" option instead of an option to disable tracking completely. If you select "E911," only a 911 call center operator will be able to see your location if you call from your cell phone to report an emergency.

What is E911?

E911 (Enhanced 911) is a system adopted by the U.S. FCC (Federal Communications Commission) that tracks the number of the mobile within 100 meters. The government requires all wireless service providers to include such features to instantly identify and locate callers during emergency situations.

Enhanced 911, E-911 or E911 is a system used in North America that links emergency callers with the appropriate public resources. Three-digit emergency telephone numbers originated in the United Kingdom in 1937 and have spread to continents and countries around the globe. Other easy dial codes, including the 112 number adopted by the European Union in 1991, have been deployed to provide free-of-charge emergency calls.

In North America, where 9-1-1 was chosen as the easy access code, the system tries to automatically associate a location with the origin of the call. This location may be a physical address or other geographic reference information such as X/Y map coordinates. The caller's telephone number is used in numerous manners to track a location that can be used to dispatch police, fire, emergency medical and other response resources. Automatic location of the emergency makes it faster to locate the required resources during fires, break-ins, kidnappings, and other events where communicating one's location is difficult or impossible.

In North America the incoming 9-1-1 call is normally answered at the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) of the governmental agency that has jurisdiction over the caller's location (see #Location below). When the 9-1-1 call arrives at the appropriate PSAP, it is answered by a specially trained official known as a Telecommunicator. In some jurisdictions the Telecommunicator is also the dispatcher of public safety response resources. When a landline call arrives at the PSAP, special computer software uses the telephone number to retrieve and display the location of the caller in near real-time upon arrival of the call.