How To Reset Advertising ID or Delete It From Android: A Step-by-Step Guide

The advertising ID is a label attached to your device that many users aren’t even aware exists. As the name suggests, this ID acts like a permanent name tag that advertisers rely on for long-term user profiling. While it is not the only form of user behavior tracking, it remains a relevant tactic for profiling and ad customization.

Luckily, advertising IDs aren’t permanently embedded in your phone infrastructure. You can reset the advertising ID or delete it entirely from your Android device to reduce tracking and restrict how this digital identifier is used.

In this guide, we will address the key concerns around the advertising ID, including:

• How the advertising ID works
• How to change the advertising ID on Android or delete it completely
• The realistic privacy benefits of resetting or deleting your advertising ID

What Is Advertising ID?

Think of the advertising ID as your phone’s unique fingerprint. The mobile advertising ID (MAID) is a unique 32-digit combination of letters and numbers assigned to each device. Since one person typically uses mobile devices, this identifier is often associated with the owner. That allows advertisers and data brokers to assign a digital identifier to a device and track user behavior across websites and apps.

Google defines the advertising ID as a unique identifier provided by Google Play Services that users can reset or delete at any time. It is generally presented as a standard mechanism that allows app developers to monetize their apps. Google also notes that the ID “gives users better controls,” suggesting greater user choice and control over how the identifier is used.

However, this intended benefit is open to interpretation, as many users view behavioral tracking by default as an invasion of privacy. The primary purpose of the advertising ID is to track ad campaign performance, support tracking, and collect user behavior data for ad personalization, which is then shared with third parties. By default, personalized advertising is enabled unless the user opts out in their settings.

While they serve the same purpose, Android and iOS label mobile advertising IDs differently, which is why you’ll see Android Advertising ID (AAID) or, more commonly, Google Advertising ID (GAID) on Android devices and IDFAs (Identifier for Advertisers) on iOS devices.

How Does Advertising ID Work?

The advertising ID is stored directly on the device and is assigned by your phone’s operating system. On Android devices, it lives within Google Play Services, it’s tied to the device, and it’s accessed by apps after installation. It is, however, completely distinct from Android Device ID, which serves as a technical device identifier and is not used for user behavior tracking.

Here’s how the advertising ID mechanism works in practice on an Android device:

• Your Android smartphone comes with a default GAID specific to each device (e.g., 38400000-8cf0-11bd-b23e-10b96e40000d).
• When you launch an app downloaded from Google Play Services, the app itself and any third-party advertising networks integrated within it may request access to the advertising ID.
• The GAID automatically becomes a means for advertisers to collect information about your activities across devices, including browsing behavior, the types of content you engage with, the apps you use, and your interactions with targeted ads.
• Because the ID is device-specific rather than app-specific, third-party advertisers can collect information about the entire user journey, not just specific segments tied to a single app or service.
• The collected information, such as browsing history, purchasing habits, app usage, and general behavioral patterns, is compiled into a database that enables advertisers to deliver highly personalized ads.

Let’s say you search for popular vacation spots on Google. After that, you open a booking app to check accommodation prices in Greece, and then browse a flight finder app to compare ticket options. Each of these actions occurs in a different app, but because they’re tied to the same advertising ID, they together form a signal indicating travel intent, which then influences the ads you see across your phone.

How Do I Reset My Advertising ID on Android?

Resetting your advertising ID on Android essentially “cleans the slate” and breaks the link between your current device activity and the advertising profile associated with it. The multilayered ad profile shaped by your app usage, browsing activity, and interactions across services over weeks, months, or even years becomes harder to associate with the new identifier.

While some users reset their ad profiles solely to refresh the ads and prioritize new interests, this decision is usually driven by privacy concerns. Once the ID is reset, advertisers can no longer easily link future activity to the previous advertising profile, although some forms of tracking may continue through other channels.

To reset the advertising ID on Android, follow these steps:

1. Open your device’s main Settings app
2. Inside the Settings menu, tap Privacy, then Ads
3. Find the Reset advertising ID option and tap it
4. Tap Confirm when the confirmation pop-up appears on the screen

On older Android versions, the process may differ slightly:

1. Open your device’s main Settings app
2. Inside the Settings menu, tap Privacy > Advanced > Ads
3. Find the Reset advertising ID option and tap it
4. Tap Confirm when the confirmation pop-up appears on the screen

This action deletes the old GAID and replaces it with a new one. Keep in mind that the exact Android Settings path for resetting the advertising ID may vary by device manufacturer and Android version.

How Do I Delete My Advertising ID on Android?

When you reset the Google advertising ID, your current ID is replaced with a new one. By contrast, deleting the advertising ID doesn’t trigger the creation of a new one. This action doesn’t stop apps and services from displaying ads, but it can limit their ability to share behavioral data with third-party advertisers and deliver tailored ads based on tracked activity patterns.

Keep in mind that opting out of ad personalization doesn’t affect other methods apps may use to collect and assess behavioral signals. Many apps rely on additional identifiers and tracking techniques beyond advertising IDs, such as browser cookies and IP addresses, to accurately profile users and target them with interest-based ads.

To delete your advertising ID on Android and limit personalized tracking, follow these steps:

1. Open your device’s main Settings app
2. Inside the Settings menu, tap Privacy, then Ads
3. Find the Delete advertising ID option and tap it
4. Tap Confirm when the confirmation pop-up appears on the screen

On some older versions of Android, the process may differ slightly:

1. Open your device’s main Settings app
2. Inside the Settings menu, tap Privacy > Advanced > Ads
3. Find the Opt out of Ads Personalization option and tap it

Why Google Advertising ID Opt Out or Reset Aren’t Absolute

Resetting your advertising ID makes it harder to connect new activity to an existing advertising profile and continue cross-app tracking. While this breaks the link between future activity and the old identifier, ad targeting and behavioral profiling can still resume under the newly generated ID.

Opting out, on the other hand, doesn’t generate a replacement ID and may seem like a more permanent option. According to Google, deleting your advertising ID blocks access to the identifier altogether. Since late 2021, apps attempting to access a deleted advertising ID receive a string of zeros in place of the usual alphanumeric combination. Google has also instructed developers not to rely on permanent identifiers for advertising purposes when users opt out.

Still, previously collected data doesn’t automatically disappear in either case; it may remain stored in advertiser databases and persist through other identifiers such as cookies, IP addresses, account activity, and device fingerprinting techniques. In the absence of advertising IDs, some apps may continue relying on their own persistent or proprietary identifiers, provided the user is presented with the privacy policy.

Persistent identifiers, though not explicitly allowed for advertising purposes, remain available under a veil of mystery. Even Google has acknowledged that it doesn’t have full visibility into the data sent to third parties via persistent identifiers and notes that the details have yet to be disclosed.

How Advertisers Still Track You When You Delete or Reset Ad ID

Other potential identifiers and tracking mechanisms that apps and advertisers may use to obtain user-specific information, even if you reset or delete your advertising ID, include:

What You Can Do To Limit Tracking Surface

Advertising IDs represent only one layer of tracking. For stronger protection, consider employing these techniques:

• Switch to a more secure browser: Using a web browser such as Tor, which routes your traffic through several encrypted nodes, makes it harder for websites to track your activity and determine your location. For additional protection, you can install anti-tracking browser extensions, such as uBlock Origin, to block ads, known tracking domains, and malicious domains.
• Review privacy policies and limit app permissions: Never accept privacy terms without reviewing them in detail to avoid hidden tracking mechanisms such as persistent identifiers. In your privacy settings, disable permissions for apps that access sensitive information, such as your location, contacts, and photos. Regularly review installed apps and restrict any permissions that aren’t necessary for optimal app functioning.
• Clear cookies, cache, and browsing history regularly: As part of basic internet hygiene, clearing cookies, cache, and browsing history regularly can reduce stored tracking data. That makes it more difficult for websites to recognize returning sessions or store persistent identifiers.
• Switch to a privacy-focused mobile carrier: Big telcos collect and store large amounts of sensitive information, which can be exposed in data breaches or shared with third parties. Privacy-focused carriers such as Cape operate on a minimal-data-collection approach, under the premise that what isn’t stored in the first place can’t be compromised.

Meet Cape: The Secure Carrier Designed for Today’s Threats

We share the most intimate details of our everyday lives with our cell phones. In order to stay connected, our cell phones share that information with local cell networks, and in turn, those cell networks share our data with each other.

While this system is what makes connectivity possible, it was also built with interoperability as its priority, rather than security. The global cell network is vulnerable to a number of threats, as seen through headlines about major carrier data breaches we see time and time again. When major carriers aren’t losing our sensitive personal data in breaches and hacks, they’re actively selling it to ad networks, data brokers, and third parties.

At Cape, we believe that privacy and security shouldn’t have to be sacrificed for connectivity. That’s why we built our service with privacy principles and security features at its core, including:

1. Minimal Data Collection

Cape eliminates the risk of your sensitive data falling into the wrong hands by not even asking for it. When you make your Cape account, we don’t ask for your name, address, or SSN. We only collect the information that’s necessary to provide the service, and we retain it for the least amount of time possible.

2. SIM Swap Protection

During account creation, you receive a unique 24-word phrase that generates a private key tied to your phone number. This pass phrase is required to move your number to a new device or carrier. Nobody else, not even us at Cape, has access to the phrase, meaning there’s absolutely no way for bad actors to transfer your number to their device, effectively nullifying the possibility of SIM swapping.

3. Disappearing Call Logs

Your phone stores an incredible amount of data, which can be accessed through call and text records. Most mobile carriers store your call and text metadata for years, which can easily fall into the wrong hands.

Cape is built to forget, meaning we delete Call Data Records (CDRs) after just 1 day, ensuring nobody can see who you texted or called, track where the communication took place, or access the sensitive information within CDRs.

4. Identifier Rotation

All SIM cards are accompanied by International Mobile Subscriber IDs (IMSI). These function as unique identifiers devices use to register with cellular networks. Traditional telcos assign fixed IMSIs to user accounts, meaning the carriers, advertisers, hackers, and other bad actors can exploit them to identify and track your device.

Cape patches this security hole by allowing you to automatically rotate your IMSI every 24 hours. In practice, this means you appear as a different subscriber every day, making it much more difficult for anyone to identify your device or track your movements.

5. Secondary Numbers

Are you tired of spam messages from brands, phone call surveys, and scammers trying to trick you into sharing sensitive information over the phone? The reason why most people are exposed to these nuisances is that we are often required to share our phone numbers with retailers, websites, apps, and service providers.

While messages and phone calls can be annoying, what’s worse is that your number can easily become a target for data brokers and bad actors. That’s why many people turn to VoIP numbers as secondary lines. VoIPs are a decent option, but they don’t fully solve the issue—they are not encrypted, you can’t use them for 2FA, and they’re an additional cost each month.

When you sign up for Cape, you get two free additional SMS/MMS lines that are middle-to-end encrypted. This allows you to use Secondary Numbers for online shopping, signing up for services and discounts, and receiving secure OTPs, while your primary phone number is reserved for friends and family.

6. Network Lock

Traditional cellular networks were designed for interoperability, not security. Outdated and legacy network protocols like SS7 have vulnerabilities that allow attackers to hack in and track your location, intercept your calls and texts, and steal sensitive information.

Cape’s Network Lock uses a proprietary signaling proxy to verify that your device’s physical location matches the network it’s trying to attach to. If anything looks suspicious, like a mismatched location, we block the connection.

7. Encrypted Voicemail

Voicemails can reveal more than you think, from personal messages to authentication codes, yet most voicemail systems are outdated and unencrypted.

Cape encrypts your voicemails so that only you can access them.

8. Secure Global Roaming

To access phone service while traveling abroad, your phone typically needs to connect to local telecom providers. The trouble is, there’s no guarantee all networks are secure, and not every government treats privacy the same.

Cape doesn’t leave anything to chance. We let you route traffic through our U.S.-based mobile core, so you can safely use international data roaming without exposing your identity or sharing sensitive data or communications with foreign carriers.

With Cape, you get up to 15 GB per month of international roaming, included in your monthly plan.

Get Started With Cape Today

If you’re ready to make a switch from legacy telcos to America's privacy-first mobile carrier, visit cape.co/get-cape.

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