Smartphone users are advised to turn off location tracking to ensure data security.

Our smartphones not only know our current location, they also store our entire travel history. Worse, they regularly share this information with third parties. The latest location-tracking nightmare underscores the threat that persists, despite the protections built into iPhones and Android devices.

The NSA warns that mobile devices are designed to collect and share location data, making this information extremely sensitive and in need of strict protection.

Location data can reveal a wealth of important details, from the number of people in a location, their movements, the daily habits of both individuals and organizations, to previously unknown connections between users and locations. This is the key to painting a complete picture of user behavior and connections, increasing the risk of abuse and privacy violations.

The warning from the NSA became even more serious when French security researcher Baptiste Robert spoke out after the data leak of the American company providing location-based data analysis services Gravy Analytics.

On the social media platform X, he revealed: "The data samples contain tens of millions of location points from around the world, including sensitive locations such as the White House, the Kremlin, the Vatican, and many military bases."

"This is not just a regular data leak, but a serious threat to national security. In just a few seconds, I can identify military personnel by combining location data with maps of military locations in Russia," he stressed.

The NSA's warning, although it originated from a recommendation last updated in 2000, remains relevant and urgent today. As the NSA notes, "Each user has a different risk tolerance for location tracking, but most share some level of concern about data privacy."

For those who are particularly concerned about privacy, the NSA recommends drastic measures like disabling location services entirely, or even turning off cellular and Wi-Fi when not in use. However, these are clearly too extreme for most users. So the NSA has come up with two more practical recommendations that you should implement immediately to protect yourself:

- Restrict application access:Only grant apps the minimum permissions they need. Adjust your privacy settings to make sure apps don't use or share your location data unnecessarily. For apps that need location access, set it to "only while using the app" or turn off location access entirely if possible.

- Limit advertising and tracking:Optimize your privacy settings to reduce the likelihood of being tracked by ads. Regularly reset your device's advertising ID to reduce the risk of your data being collected and misused.

The NSA warns that apps, even when downloaded from official app stores, are still capable of collecting, analyzing, and transmitting information that could reveal a user's location.

Many apps often request location access and other permissions unrelated to their core functionality. For users concerned about privacy, especially location information, extreme caution should be exercised when sharing personal information on social media platforms.

On both iPhone and Android, you can easily check which apps are tracking your location or accessing sensitive phone functions.

To protect your privacy, regularly review the permissions your apps have been granted and promptly disable access for any apps that make you feel uncomfortable.

“While it is impossible to completely prevent location disclosure, through careful configuration and conscious use, users can minimize the amount of location data shared. The first step to protecting this information is to understand how location data is collected and used,” the NSA said.

“Any device that sends and receives radio signals carries the same risk of revealing location information as a mobile phone,” the agency warns.

These devices include health trackers, smartwatches, smart medical devices, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, and even in-car communication systems.