Your phone knows where you went yesterday, what you searched at 2am, and how long you spent in every app. Much of that data does not stay on your phone - it quietly flows to advertisers and data brokers through app trackers. The good news is that Android gives you real controls to shut most of it down, and it takes only a few minutes.

Start with the advertising ID. This is the identifier apps use to follow you across apps, which is why you search for shoes once and see shoe ads everywhere. Go to Settings, Privacy, then Ads, and delete your advertising ID. This single change stops hundreds of apps from profiling you across app boundaries.

Next, fix location permissions. Open Settings, Location, then App location permissions, and work through the list. Does a calculator need your location? Does a flashlight? Change anything set to Always to Only while using the app, and turn off precise location for everything except maps, ride-hailing, and delivery apps. Most people are surprised how many apps hold their precise location.

Then turn off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth scanning. Even when Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are switched off, your phone may keep scanning in the background and announcing your presence to every tracker nearby. You will find the toggles under Settings, Location, then Wi-Fi and Bluetooth scanning. Your Wi-Fi and Bluetooth still work normally - this only stops the background leaking.

After that, review your Google ad settings. At your Google account's ad center you can turn off personalized ads, so Google stops using your activity profile to target you. You will still see ads, just not ones built from your private history. Also audit which apps have microphone and camera access under Settings, Privacy, and remove anything that does not obviously need it.

For system-wide tracker blocking, consider a dedicated filter. Android's private DNS setting supports encrypted DNS with providers that block tracker domains, and apps like DuckDuckGo's App Tracking Protection block third-party trackers inside other apps. Before installing any privacy tool, though, check the app is safe on the Play Store first. Tracking is only half the story - the same mindset that locks down advertisers also guards against AI agents quietly exploiting websites, and switching key accounts to passkeys closes the biggest remaining hole in your sign-ins.