How to stop websites from tracking you on your iPhone or iPad
Do you want to know how to stop websites from tracking you on your iPhone or iPad? This guide will teach you how to view and block website trackers that follow you as you browse the web on your mobile device, using Safari. Keep reading to learn more!
Trackers prevent ad blockers
You’ve probably noticed that more and more websites are starting to ask you to disable your ad blocker. That’s because ad blockers prevent ads from loading, and most sites rely on advertising revenue to keep their doors open. But what if there was a way to view website trackers in mobile Safari? Luckily for you, there is! There’s an app called Trackers which will show you the list of all the websites that have been tracking your activity. There are plenty of other apps available too (e.g., Ghostery) which also allow you to see the list of all trackers, but we think Trackers has the best interface. The app will also show you information about each tracker, such as how often it sends out requests and what types of information it collects from your device.
Trackers in mobile safari are easy to spot
When you visit a website in Safari, a small icon appears in the address bar. This indicates that the site is using a tracker. You can tap this icon to see which trackers are active on the page and how many there are. If you see a lot of trackers, it’s a good idea to leave the site. You can also disable all trackers in Safari by going to Settings > Safari and turning off Prevent Cross-Site Tracking.
Use Private Browsing Mode
When you browse the web in Private Browsing Mode, Safari won’t remember the pages you visit, your search history, or your AutoFill information. Any new tabs that you open will also be in Private Browsing Mode. To turn off Private Browsing Mode, tap the URL bar and then choose Done.
If you don’t want Safari to track which sites you’ve visited at all: Go to Settings > Safari > and switch Private Browsing On. Your browsing activity is not recorded when it’s turned on.
Use Incognito mode (Chrome only)
Chrome’s Incognito mode is a great way to browse the web without having your browsing data saved to your device. When you’re in Incognito mode, Chrome won’t save your browsing history, cookies, site data, or information entered in forms. This means that any website you visit while in Incognito mode will not be able to track you. To enable Incognito mode, open Chrome and tap on the three dots at the top right corner of the screen > More tools > New incognito window. Tap again to close it. You can also just type chrome://incognito/ and hit enter in Safari’s address bar to go straight into it.
Block cookies from specific domains
When you browse the web on your iPhone or iPad, Safari blocks most cookies by default. However, some website trackers are designed to get around this protection. If you’re concerned about being tracked, there are a few ways you can stop cookies from following you around the internet. If you want to stop individual sites from setting cookies, tap the i button next to that site in your browser history and then select Block Cookies. You’ll be able to see how many of that site’s cookies have been blocked below the address bar.
Browse with an extension like Ghostery
When you browse with an extension like Ghostery, you can see all of the trackers that are trying to collect data about you. This is a great way to see which websites are tracking you, and it can also help you block them if you don’t want them to have your data. To use Ghostery, simply install the extension and then browse as usual. When you go to a website that has trackers, you’ll see a list of them in the Ghostery extension. Each one will have information about how many times it’s been used, what type of tracker it is, and what kind of data it collects. If you find any that make you uncomfortable, just click Block next to the name to prevent that tracker from following your activity anymore.
