Have you ever wondered how your phone seems to know to display an ad for a product you were interested in buying? You ran a single Google search for a new pair of shoes, and now you’re seeing shoes everywhere.
No, your phone can’t read your mind; it has a mobile advertising ID that advertisers leverage to track your activity and display relevant ads. While this unique identifier contributes to a personalized user experience, it also represents a significant invasion of privacy.
In this guide, we’ll explain what a mobile advertising ID is and why you should consider removing it. To save you time and simplify the process, we’ll outline steps for disabling the ID on Android and iOS devices.
What Is a Mobile Advertising ID?
A mobile advertising ID is your phone’s “advertising fingerprint.” It’s a combination of letters and numbers unique to every mobile device used for advertising purposes. Via this ID, advertisers and app publishers can track your behavior across apps and websites. With this data, advertisers create user profiles and target each person with ads that cater to their interests, previous searches, or purchasing habits.
Mobile advertising IDs are platform-specific. Android devices have AAIDs (Android Advertising ID), while iPhones have IDFAs (Identifier for Advertisers). Although they’re called differently, these identifiers serve the same purpose: providing your data to third parties for ad personalization.
It’s essential to distinguish between a mobile advertising ID and an IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity). The latter is a permanent, unique hardware identifier that isn’t used for tracking.
How Does a Mobile Advertising ID Work?
Once you install an app on your phone (regardless of the OS) and use it for the first time, the app retrieves the mobile advertising ID. Advertisers then compare this data against a database to analyze and understand the user journey, build profiles, and deliver ads.
Through the mobile advertising ID, third parties can access only your activity; they can’t get a hold of your personal information, like your:
- Name
- Email address
- Payment details
While this is true in theory, practice suggests otherwise. Firstly, the mobile advertising ID reveals sensitive information, such as online behavior, purchasing habits, and app usage, which can often indirectly reveal your identity as well. If someone knows what you like, what ads you click on, and what products you buy, they don’t really need your email to identify you.
Secondly, there’s an entire industry that deals with connecting mobile advertising IDs to personally identifiable information (PII). Therefore, your mobile advertising ID may not collect your personal information directly, but it offers a gateway for advertisers to create a detailed profile of you.
Why Should You Consider Disabling Your Mobile Advertising ID?
The main reason to consider disabling your mobile advertising ID is to protect your privacy. The ID may not directly reveal your identity, but it allows third parties to learn more about your behavior, app usage, and habits. The thought of this information being accessed and manipulated by someone you don’t know, often without your explicit consent, is unsettling for anyone who values their privacy and security.
Over time, third parties can create detailed records on you, predict your behavior, and directly influence what you see online. Worse yet, data brokers and other parties can exchange your information, so even if a particular party never accessed your mobile advertising ID, they could still get your data from other sources.
Other reasons why you should consider disabling your mobile advertising ID include:
How To Disable Your Mobile Advertising ID on an Android and iPhone
Disabling your mobile advertising ID involves several steps, and they differ depending on your operating system. We’ll walk you through the steps for Android and iOS devices so that you can effortlessly complete the process and enhance your privacy.
How To Disable Your Mobile Advertising ID on an Android
Google (the company behind Android) began allowing users to permanently delete their mobile advertising ID in late 2021 and early 2022. Follow the steps below to disable it:
- Launch the menu and open Settings
- Tap Security and privacy
- Scroll down and select More privacy settings
- Tap Ads
- Choose Delete advertising ID and confirm your decision
Note that disabling the ID will remove personalized ads, but you’ll still see ads that may not be as interesting to you. The action is reversible; you can always get a new advertising ID if your priorities change and you wish to see personalized ads again.
How To Disable Your Mobile Advertising ID on an iPhone
Apple has a unique approach to app tracking. Starting with iOS 14.0, the company introduced the App Tracking Transparency (ATT) framework, which requires apps to obtain explicit permission from users for data sharing and advertising. This means that unless you opt in, apps can’t access your mobile advertising ID.
This policy change has revolutionized the mobile advertising landscape and affected big companies, such as Meta, which have lost billions of dollars due to it.
If you’re unsure whether apps can access your mobile advertising ID and want to check your settings, here’s what to do:
- Open your menu and go to Settings
- Tap Privacy & Security
- Open Tracking. Scroll down to see which apps have access to your mobile advertising ID and switch the toggle button next to those you don’t want tracking your activity
- Switch the toggle next to Allows Apps to Request to Track to ensure apps can’t ask you to track your activity in the future
Can You Reset Your Mobile Advertising ID?
Disabling your mobile advertising ID protects your privacy, but it involves a compromise: you won’t be able to see as many personalized ads. If you enjoy this experience but want to get a “fresh start” and remove accumulated data, resetting your mobile advertising ID is a better option.
The action involves generating a new ID; once you set it up, your past activity will no longer be associated with it, and your profile will be built from scratch. If you see ads for products that no longer interest you, resetting the ID is an efficient way to start over.
Although resetting your mobile advertising ID doesn’t offer the same level of privacy protection as disabling it completely, it does break tracking chains and makes it significantly harder for advertisers to build detailed profiles of your behavior.
If you’re an Android user, follow the steps below to reset your mobile advertising ID:
- Open your menu and go to Settings
- Scroll down and tap Security and privacy
- Go to More privacy settings and choose Ads
- Select Reset advertising ID and confirm your action
Keep in mind that after resetting your ID, apps can still show you ads, but they won’t be as relevant until they “learn” your interests once again.
Since managing mobile advertising ID looks different on iPhones, there isn’t an option to reset it like on Android.
What Else Can You Do To Prevent Tracking and Targeted Ads?
Disabling your mobile advertising ID reduces exposure to personalized ads, but it doesn’t fully prevent tracking. To enhance your privacy and safeguard data, adopt these best practices:
- Control app permissions
- Carefully choose the apps you install
- Use a privacy-first carrier
1. Control App Permissions
Even with the mobile advertising ID disabled, apps can still access some of your information (such as your location, photos, or contacts) if you let them. Apps can collect this data and use it for advertising purposes or share it with third parties, thus jeopardizing your privacy.
Worse yet, malicious apps can exploit these permissions to modify your settings or install malware or spyware on your iPhone or Android, compromising device security and potentially leading to financial loss or identity theft.
To maintain control over your data and prevent apps from being granted excessive permissions, review your settings periodically and make adjustments as needed.
Controlling app permissions looks the same on Android devices and iPhones:
- Open Settings, scroll down, and tap Apps
- Find the app for which you want to review permissions and disable those you don’t need
2. Carefully Choose the Apps You Install
Both the App Store and the Google Play Store have strict review processes that an app must undergo to get published. Still, there have been several instances of malicious apps on both these stores, like the recent SparkCat crypto spyware incident.
This shows that installing apps from official sources isn’t sufficient protection against malware and spyware. Double-check the developer for every app you want to install on your device and ensure it’s legitimate. You should also browse through reviews for any red flags, including bugs, privacy complaints, or unusual behavior.
3. Use a Privacy-First Carrier
Traditional carriers collect vast amounts of your information, often without you realizing. Since they rely on a trust-based infrastructure with poor defense mechanisms, big telcos frequently experience data breaches and leaks, allowing your sensitive information to easily fall into the hands of cyberattackers.
To ensure network security, switch to a privacy-first carrier, such as Cape, which offers a higher level of protection against leaks and breaches, guaranteeing the safety of your information. Thanks to minimal data collection, an advanced infrastructure, a unique “Don’t trust us” policy, and robust privacy and security options, Cape offers powerful protection from network-level threats.
Meet Cape: The Secure Carrier Designed for Today’s Threats
Traditional carriers collect detailed records of your calls, texts, and locations. That data becomes a liability—fueling surveillance, breaches, and leaks.
Cape takes a different approach. We’re a privacy-first carrier that collects only the bare minimum required to keep your service running. What little data is necessary is stored briefly, never shared, and never sold. With less data to compromise, you’re better protected from the start.
At the core of our network is Cape’s own cloud-native, software-based mobile core. A mobile core is the backbone of a cellular network that controls the complex systems to connect people across endpoints. By running our own network, Cape can control how data flows through your device and implement modern security protocols.
Other security-first features of Cape include:
Feature | Description |
Your account is secured with a cryptographic signature generated from a 24-word recovery phrase, stored only on your device. Not even Cape can access it. This ensures only you can authorize sensitive changes like SIM transfers. | |
Cape doesn’t ask for your name or billing address. Payments are tokenized through Stripe, with financial records stored completely separate from your account information, so your identity can’t be linked to your subscription. | |
Our proprietary signaling proxy validates network requests in real time, blocking suspicious activity before it connects. This keeps your location data private and protects against telecom exploits. | |
Both voicemail content and metadata are encrypted and then re-encrypted with your private key, making them accessible only from your device. |
Cape offers all the benefits of a premium carrier, even with the added security and privacy safeguards. At $99/month (taxes and fees included, no hidden costs), you get:
- Unlimited 4G and 5G with fast speeds
- Unlimited talk and text
- Free international roaming (for eligible countries and devices)
Get the Cape-Level Protection To Secure Your Communications
You can sign up for Cape using our anonymous onboarding process here.
We’ve partnered with technology leaders Proton to help you build a privacy-first ecosystem. You can choose between Proton Unlimited and Proton VPN Plus when you become a Cape subscriber, and you only pay an extra $1 for six months.
