Your Phone Can Be Tracked. Here's How to Lock Down the One That Runs Your Business
Your phone holds your email, your bank and the codes that prove it's you. How it gets tracked or taken over, and the settings that stop it.
I tell every owner I meet the same thing: the phone in your pocket is the most important computer in your business. It has your email, your bank app, your customer texts, and the codes that prove it's really you when you sign in. That makes it worth protecting like one.
"Tracked" can mean several different things. Here are the ones that matter for a business, and what to do about each.
Apps that know where you are
Many apps ask for your location and keep asking long after you stop using them. That data can end up with advertisers and data brokers, who build a surprisingly detailed picture of where you live, work and travel.
- On an iPhone: Settings, Privacy & Security, Location Services. Set each app to "Never" or "While Using", and turn off "Precise Location" for anything that doesn't need it.
- On Android: Settings, Location, App location permissions. Do the same review.
- Turn off ad tracking: on iPhone, leave "Allow Apps to Request to Track" off. On Android, delete your advertising ID under Settings, Privacy, Ads.
Location you shared and forgot about
Family location sharing, a shared photo album, or a ride-share app can keep broadcasting where you are. Check Find My (iPhone) or Google's location sharing for anyone you no longer want to share with. If you get an alert about an unknown AirTag or tracker moving with you, take it seriously and check your bag and vehicle.
SIM swapping: someone takes over your number
This is the one that costs businesses money. A criminal convinces your carrier to move your phone number to their SIM card. From then on, every text message, including the sign-in codes for your email and bank, goes to them.
- Call your carrier and add a PIN or passcode to your account, and turn on their port-out or number-lock protection.
- Move important accounts from text-message codes to an authenticator app or a security key. Those are tied to your device, not your phone number.
- If your phone suddenly shows "No service" in a place where it normally works, call your carrier from another phone right away.
A lost or stolen phone
A phone left in a restaurant is not a disaster if it is set up properly. It is a serious problem if it isn't.
- Use a strong passcode, not a four-digit one, and turn on Face ID or a fingerprint.
- Keep the system up to date. Updates close the security holes attackers use.
- For company phones, and personal phones that get work email, use mobile device management. Microsoft Intune is the usual choice for businesses on Microsoft 365. It keeps work email and files in their own protected space, enforces a passcode, and lets you wipe company data remotely without touching personal photos.
Malicious apps and profiles
Apps installed from outside the official stores, or "configuration profiles" someone talked you into installing, can read more than you think. If you didn't install it, or don't know what it does, remove it. On iPhone, check Settings, General, VPN & Device Management for profiles you don't recognize.
The short version
Add a carrier PIN today, switch your email and bank sign-ins to an authenticator app, and review which apps can see your location. If your team uses phones for work, put them under device management so a lost phone is an inconvenience, not a breach. Do those three things this week and you're ahead of most businesses I talk to.
Not sure where your business stands on this?
We’ll walk through how you handle it today and tell you straight whether it needs attention.