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I have location services completely disabled for Facebook on my iPhone, yet I am still seeing ads that are clearly based on my precise location – local shops and services within a few streets of my home. How is Facebook tracking my location without permission? Is there a way to stop this completely? I am in the EU so GDPR should protect me here – can I formally complain about this?
Facebook can infer your location even without GPS access, using your IP address, Wi-Fi network, and other device signals. Disabling location in the app only stops precise GPS tracking — it does not stop IP-based location inference. To reduce location-based ad targeting, go to Settings > Ad Preferences > Ad Settings and turn off “Ads based on your precise location” and review what location data is being used.
You can also limit off-Facebook activity tracking by going to Settings > Your Facebook Information > Off-Facebook Activity and clearing the history and turning off future tracking. Under GDPR (if you are in Ireland/EU), you have the right to object to this type of profiling for advertising purposes via Meta’s Privacy Centre. This won’t eliminate all ads but should reduce hyper-localised targeting significantly.
