Turn Off Tracking Secria

How to turn off tracking on a Samsung Galaxy phone

A Galaxy phone has two sets of tracking settings: Samsung's own, led by the Customization Service, and Google's Android settings. Turn off both.1, 3

Checked 4 November 2026 against the sources. Samsung's notice is for US devices.

Turn it off

Samsung says its menu names may change with new or updated models, so search Settings for the setting's name if a path doesn't match.1

Customization Service

Settings › PrivacyCustomization Service

Checked against Samsung's Customization Service U.S. Privacy Notice, effective 20 April 2023.1

  1. Open Settings › Privacy › Customization Service.1Samsung's UK help page, updated 24 April 2026, gives the route as Settings, Samsung Account, Privacy, then Customisation Service.2
  2. Turn off the Customization Service.Samsung says this stops the service collecting, combining and analyzing your information.1
  3. If you keep it on, choose which kinds of information it may collect in the same menu.1

Turning it off doesn't delete what was already collected. Ask for that in your Samsung account's Data management menu, or delete the account.1

Personalized ads from your Samsung account

Samsung account › Security and PrivacyImprove personalized ads with Samsung account data

Checked against the same Samsung notice.1

  1. Open Settings and tap your Samsung account.1
  2. Tap Security and Privacy.1
  3. Turn off Improve personalized ads with Samsung account data.Samsung says that with it on, ads can be based on your app usage, search terms and browsing history.1
  4. Also turn off Improve personalized ads with precise location data if you see it.Samsung says it makes the ads you see relevant to your phone's precise location.1

Android advertising ID

Settings › Privacy › AdsDelete Advertising ID

Checked against Google's Play Console Help.3 Full Android guide

  1. Open Settings › Privacy › Ads.3
  2. Tap Delete Advertising ID and confirm.Google says apps that ask for the ID then get a string of zeros.3

Location

Settings › LocationUse location

Checked against Android Help.4

  1. Open Settings › Location and turn Use location off, or leave it on and limit each app.4On Android 12 and higher, you can turn off precise location for each app separately.4
  2. On Android 12 and higher, open Location › Location Services › Location Accuracy and turn off Improve Location Accuracy.Google says it then collects no location or Location Accuracy data.4

Google says Timeline is off by default, and that with device location off, the places your phone goes aren't saved even if Timeline is on.4 Google Maps Timeline guide

What the Customization Service uses

From Samsung's US notice. It needs a Samsung account to run.1

What it can collect

Device identifiers and how long you use the phone, the music and photos you keep, calendar data, Samsung Internet history and searches outside Secret mode, your Samsung account details, and, for third-party apps you connect, how often and how long you use them.1

Samsung says it builds a profile from this.1

What stays on the phone

Samsung says it analyzes your call and text history and your location on the device, and doesn't collect them. On older software that can't show the newer settings, it says it doesn't collect call and message history, searches, browsing history or GPS location at all.1

Updating the service shows the finer switches.1

Questions people ask

Will turning these off stop ads on my Samsung phone?

No. They stop ads being personalized from that data. Samsung's UK help page says pop-up ads come from third-party apps you installed, not from the phone itself.2

Do I lose features if I turn off the Customization Service?

Samsung says you can still use each service's default features, but customized content and recommendations stop.1

How do I delete what Samsung already collected?

Samsung says you can ask for specific categories to be deleted in your Samsung account's Data management menu, and that everything is deleted when you delete the account. It may take some time to clear from its servers.1

Sources 4
  1. Customization Service U.S. Privacy Notice, Samsung, effective 20 April 2023. Read 4 November 2026.
  2. How to remove ads from a Galaxy smartphone, Samsung UK Support, updated 24 April 2026. Read 4 November 2026.
  3. Advertising ID, Play Console Help, Google, undated. Read 4 November 2026.
  4. Manage your Android device's location settings, Android Help, Google, undated. Read 4 November 2026.

Every step comes from Samsung's or Google's own pages. How we check