iOS 26.3: Limit Carrier Location Tracking
Mobile networks determine location based on the cellular towers that a device connects to, but with the setting enabled, some of the data typically made available to mobile networks is being restricted. Rather than being able to see location down to a street address, carriers will instead be limited to the neighborhood where a device is located, for example.
According to a new support document, iPhone models from supported network providers will offer the limit precise location feature. In the U.S., only Boost Mobile will support the option, but EE and BT will offer support in the UK.
The feature is only available to devices with Apple’s in-house modem introduced in 2025.
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[Cellular] standards have built-in protocols that make your device silently send GNSS (i.e. GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou) location to the carrier. This would have the same precision as what you see in your Map apps, in single-digit metres.
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A major caveat is that I don’t know if RRLP and LPP are the exact techniques, and the only techniques, used by DEA, Shin Bet, and possibly others to collect GNSS data; there could be other protocols or backdoors we’re not privy to.
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I wonder how meaningful this can be since it's carrier-specific, especially if that carrier utilizes other carriers' networks. (Boost has its own large network, but also uses the AT&T and T-mobile networks, according to Wikipedia.) And what about when roaming? That makes it seem like a carrier can readily bypass it.
I’m confused by this. My location services are always fully turned off. Is precise location still available to cellular providers when iPhone location services are disabled?
@Bob, Cell carriers can normally use cell phone tower triangulation to figure out where you are pretty accurately, if they want to, even without access to GPS data from your phone.
Don't know what Apple is doing here… maybe they're messing with that triangulation via the equivalent of MAC address randomization (changing the device's ID used to ping each tower) and that's possible only on certain networks. I'm curious to learn more.
This is absolutely meaningless as it requires network operator support. The same network operators who have purposely built a system to make billions off monetizing this data.
This is even more useless than “ask not to track” etc.
Best you can do is turn off CPNI data selling and anonymize technologically as much as possible.
> The feature is only available to devices with Apple’s in-house modem introduced in 2025.
So 16e only currently? I don't re-call any other devices with those C-line modems.
