Urgent warning to stop advertisers and Big Tech tracking you online – follow these steps

ADVERTISERS and tech companies can track your every move online.

Security experts are warning about ad tracking in which every website you visit, every item you buy online, is being watched by advertisers and marketers trying to figure out how to get your attention.

GettyAdvertisers can track your every move online[/caption]

By following each website you visit, advertisers can then build a profile on you, figure out your likes and dislikes, and ultimately try to sell you products with pesky ads.

Typically, according to PrivacySavvy, advertisers will use third-party cookies to collect your data.

Marketers likely know your age, race, education level, where you live, what you do for work, and what your interests and hobbies are.

They also likely know your browser preferences, operating system, IP address, time zone, and online location, among others. 

While they won’t know your name or postal address, what they potentially know is your:

Ad tracking could be seen as helpful to some because it shows you items you might be interested in buying.

But while you’re seeing ads you don’t mind seeing, you’re comprising your privacy – with all of your private information out there on the web.

So, here’s how to disable ad tracking across your computers, cell phones, and other devices you use. 

HOW TO DISABLE

If you’re using an Apple iPhone go to settings, hit privacy, advertisement, limit ad tracking. Toggle it off then hit “Reset Advertising Identifier.”

For Android, PrivacySavvy says to enter your settings, hit Google, ads, opt out of ads personalization, then toggle off and hit: “Reset advertising ID.”

If you’re using Windows 10, hit settings, privacy, general, then toggle off the first feature that shares your advertising ID.

If you’re struggling to turn off ad tracking on your iPhone, try hitting settings, then screen time, content and privacy restrictions, then advertising.

You should be able to tick off “allow.”

IOS 14.5

If you’re using the new iOS 14.5 update, a new feature can help online privacy by giving you the option to disable ad tracking within the apps you use. 

The App Tracking Transparency feature allows you to control which apps are able to track you.

When you download and open a new app, you’ll get a notification that asks if you want to let the app track your activity across other companies’ apps and websites. 

You’ll also see information about what the app would track. 

At this point, tap ask app not to track to block that activity or allow.

Also, to opt-out of app tracking across every app, you download by going to settings then privacy then Tracking.

Then toggle off allow apps to request to track. 

This result is that any app that tries to ask permission will be automatically blocked from asking and informed that you have requested not to be tracked. 

After this, all apps will be blocked from accessing your device’s information used for advertising, according to Apple. 

For apps already downloaded and that may have tracking permissions set up for, you can still turn those permissions on or off. 

This is done by going to settings, tapping an app, and then tapping to turn off allow tracking. 

Alternatively, go to settings then privacy then tracking, and tap to turn on or off each app in the list.