How to disable your iPhone's creepy tracking feature

By Rosa Golijan

We've established that your iPhone is constantly tracking and recording your location without your knowledge or consent, and initially you were helpless when it came to stopping this pesky phenomenon. But now we've got a way to put an end to the creepy tracking feature — assuming you're willing to use an app unauthorized by Apple.

The Next Web reports that a free iPhone app called Untrackerd can be used to delete any of the location data recorded to your device — and to prevent any further data from being saved. There's a catch though: The app only works if you've jailbroken your iPhone.

Jailbreaking — as the process of unlocking iOS devices so that they can run unauthorized software is called — is a quick and simple task at this point and can be done by anyone. In fact, tip site Lifehacker maintains an "always up-to-date" guide which will show you how to get through the whole task in just a few clicks.

Once you've jailbroken your iPhone, all you need to do is download Untrackerd from the Cydia Store and let it do its thing:

A package [will install a] daemon (process that can run in the background) to clean consolidated.db file. No new icons are added to your homescreen. There are no options to configure.

That's it. Sounds simple enough.
A few cautions before you run off, jailbreak your iPhone, and download Untrackerd:

• There can be risks to jailbreaking. Some legit apps might not run correctly or your iPhone may act up in strange ways. Your phone may also be left with some security vulnerabilities.
• Untrackerd was created by a third-party — and while that individual's intentions are probably good — no one's checked whether the app itself does anything shady while cleaning up your data.