Good news to start: no random website can pull your live position from your phone number, and no satellite is following you. The real leaks are quieter and, happily, mostly under your control. A gentle tune-up is all most people need.
Begin with app permissions. On both iPhone and Android, open your privacy settings and review which apps can see your location. Change the ones that do not truly need it to while using or never, and prefer the approximate option where offered. That weather app does not need your exact coordinates around the clock; it needs your neighbourhood while you are checking it.
Next, strip location metadata from photos. Cameras quietly stamp coordinates into image files, so a holiday snap can whisper exactly where you stood. You can disable location for the camera, or turn off include location when sharing. Similarly, be thoughtful about live-location features in messaging apps: wonderful for meeting a friend, worth switching off again afterward so it does not linger for weeks.
A few broader habits help. Turn off ad personalisation and reset your advertising identifier to make cross-app tracking harder. Use a trustworthy VPN on public wifi so your network activity is not casually observed. And review the significant locations or location history logs your phone keeps; they are useful, but you may prefer them shorter or empty. Our piece on why your phone knows where you are explains what each of these actually touches.
Finally, keep your worry proportionate. Most location exposure is mundane, commercial, and adjustable in an afternoon, not a satellite thriller. If you genuinely fear a specific person is tracking you, that is serious, and the right response is trusted support and possibly the authorities, not a gadget. And if a site ever claims to locate anyone from a number, remember our own truth about live trackers: it is theatre. Real privacy is boring, practical, and entirely winnable.