The Gentle January series shares one practical privacy tip a day from a Markup staffer who actually uses the advice in their own life.

I have spent a lot of time reporting on the collection and sale of consumer location data. After digging into the way our precise movements are monetized for advertising or other business purposes, I decided I needed to limit my own daily data exhaust. 

A few months ago I made the switch away from Google Maps to use Apple Maps for all my wayfinding needs. I had been using Google Maps sort of mindlessly for years, and recently started noticing people saying how good Apple Maps had become. After trying it a few times, I actually preferred the less cluttered interface of Apple Maps. The change was very smooth, and I feel much better about limiting the tracking of my movements.

Google is an advertising company above all else, and its “Google Services” segment generated $253 billion in revenue for 2022. When I was using Google Maps, every time I searched for directions to my destination or looked for a restaurant in an area, I was broadcasting a huge number of new ways that companies might want to target me with ads. 

Looking at Apple’s businesses, there are currently only three areas where they use user data for personalized advertising: the App Store, the Stocks app, and Apple News. Apple does not offer location-based ads in Apple Maps, and the company states that they take several important steps to anonymize your location data before sharing it with unnamed “partners.” But there are reports that Apple plans to roll out ads in other product lines. 

As always, pay attention to the permissions you are asked to share with apps, and try to understand how the company behind the app will be using your data.