There is a list of all the places you've been hidden on your iPhone.
You probably were unaware of its existence, and it is known as the Significant Locations list.
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| list of all the places you've been hidden on your iPhone |
Few iPhone owners are aware of and probably won't feel comfortable with the extent of location tracking that is hidden in plain sight, deep within the settings of your iPhone (seven layers deep, to be exact).
Yes, a lot of us are aware that when we use specific apps, our iPhones typically follow us in order to share personalized information with us, such as the current location's weather, coffee shop recommendations, and more.
But in a quick survey I conducted with some acquaintances, not one person (out of the dozens of people I surveyed) knew how to go to the precise screen I'm referring to here or where to find it. The Significant Locations list is what it is named.
A minute-by-minute journey history of my precise whereabouts in each place I've visited over the previous five years is displayed in the Significant Locations section.
Apple claims that this data is never shared without your consent, for what it's worth. The information gathered by the Significant Locations feature "is encrypted and stored only on your device and will not be shared without your consent," according a support website describing the company's privacy policy for location services. It is used to create better Photos Memories and to provide you customised services like predictive traffic routing. You don't have to be concerned about Apple employees snooping or about the data being utilized for marketing purposes.
However, Significant Locations serves as a sobering reminder of just how much data is generated by simply carrying your iPhone around. And it's comparable to information that other services may use if you give them access to your location.
Now, I actually love Apple a lot. In order to enhance my overall tailored user experience, I tend to lean toward being more open about disclosing data and personal information with tech businesses. I am okay with that because I understand why they need the data.
But when I initially came across this list of secret locations, I thought it was, to put it mildly, a bit much. A minute-by-minute journey history of my precise whereabouts in each place I've visited over the previous five years is displayed in the Significant Locations section.
How to find your location history
- First, launch the Settings app.
- Step 2 Go to the Privacy area (little white hand, blue backdrop) in step two.
- Third step: choose Location Services.
- Step 4: Go all the way to the bottom of the page and select System Services.
- Navigate to Important Locations in Step 5.
You must now enter your passcode or Face ID to log in.
It starts to become intriguing now, though. You ought to see a list of towns. There will be a number of places and a corresponding date listed beneath each site.
There should be dozens (and in some cases even hundreds) of locations if you scroll to your hometown. My phone displays "136 locations" for me in New York City under New York, New York, along with a date range.
- Click on your hometown in step six.
You'll see that "Home" likely ranks first on your list. It becomes considerably more explicit at this point.
- Step 7: Click on Home.
Finally, a minute-by-minute breakdown of your home and work commutes, together with your mode of transportation, is shown to you.
Taking a step back, Apple does clarify that certain locations are encrypted and cannot be accessed by Apple in the Significant Locations section. For that portion, we'll have to trust their word. However, it's not enough for them to even qualify it in that way. The fact that this section is so obviously buried surprises me the most.
Anyone who has ever created a digital product understands that hiding material from the user by placing it seven screens away from the main page and behind a series of scrolls, clicks, and obscure names is intentional.
Can I turn it off?
Recall that Apple claims to maintain the privacy of this data. However, you may simply turn the Significant Locations switch to the off position if you don't like this list. Turn it on, scroll to the bottom of the history, then choose Clear History if you truly want to start over.
Rather than taking Apple seriously, this piece is more of an FYI. Ultimately, we are to blame for allowing technology to become more and more ingrained in our lives since we continue to favor its tailored advantages over the less practical but more private other reality.
Investigate on your own to learn which settings are active and which you have disabled. Learn what settings you have control over and what they do exactly. Your own IT future is in your hands. This is really a brief PSA about a feature of your iPhone that you probably haven't looked at all that much. It is obvious that technology may make our lives better in almost every way, but our society will be at its healthiest when we fully comprehend the ramifications of how and why it all functions.
To make clear how the Significant Locations feature functions, this post has been modified.