Navigation apps use your location to calculate routes, estimate arrival times and provide traffic information. That live use is different from saving trips, destinations or route patterns to an account—and both are different from showing your location to other users. To limit collection, adjust the app’s location permission, review its history and personalization settings, and use deletion controls for data already saved.
What location data can a navigation app collect?
Depending on the app and the features you enable, location-related data can include your current or recent position, routes and destinations, searches, saved places, route patterns, and app interactions. Some services also describe collecting device identifiers or IP addresses. The key is to separate what the app processes to navigate from what it retains or uses for other purposes.
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- Live location: Helps the app locate you, calculate a route, update your estimated arrival time and provide traffic information. Restricting location access can impair navigation.
- Saved history: May include trips, destinations or places you searched for. History controls can delete or stop saving some records, but they do not necessarily stop live location processing.
- Personalization: Saved places or recurring routes may inform recommendations, departure suggestions or other features.
- Public visibility: A setting that hides your location from other users may not prevent the service itself from processing it.
These are distinct privacy controls: device permissions limit an app’s access to location; history settings affect saved records; visibility settings affect what other users can see. Changing one does not automatically change the others.
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The services describe different practices and controls, so their disclosures are not a consistent basis for declaring one universally most private. The points below summarize what each company says; settings and features can vary by device and release.
#1 Best Overall
- Bright, high-resolution 5” glass capacitive touchscreen display lets you easily view your route
- Get more situational awareness with alerts for school zones, speed changes, sharp curves and more
- View food, fuel and rest areas along your active route, and see upcoming cities and milestones
- View Tripadvisor traveler ratings for top-rated restaurants, hotels and attractions to help you make the most of road trips
- Directory of U.S. national parks simplifies navigation to entrances, visitor centers and landmarks within the parks
Google Maps: Timeline is separate from other activity
Google says Maps Timeline, which creates a personal map of places, routes and trips, is off by default and requires opt-in. You can turn it off or delete some or all of it. Timeline follows your auto-delete settings or remains until you delete it. Google also says it identifies some particularly personal places and deletes those visits from Timeline soon after identification. These statements apply to Timeline: Google warns that other settings may still save Maps-related searches, interactions or photos. Review Google’s Timeline controls separately from other account activity settings.
Apple Maps: Optional history and routing features
Apple says it does not collect personal data associated with Maps usage. It says it converts precise locations to less exact locations within 24 hours and, during navigation, converts precise locations from the beginning of a route to a less exact area. Apple describes routing, traffic and nearby points-of-interest information as being used in anonymous, aggregated form to improve Maps. These are Apple’s descriptions of its own practices.
Rank #2
- 6” high-resolution navigator includes map updates of North America
- Hands-free calling when paired with your compatible smartphone with BLUETOOTH technology and convenient Garmin voice assist lets you ask for directions to places you want to go
- Road trip–ready features include the HISTORY database of notable sites, a U.S. national parks directory, Tripadvisor traveler ratings and millions of Foursquare POIs
- Driver alerts for things such as school zones, sharp curves and speed changes help encourage safer driving and increase situational awareness
- Access live traffic, fuel prices, parking, weather and smart notifications when you pair this navigator with your compatible smartphone running the Garmin Drive app
Optional features have separate data flows. If enabled, Visited Places gives Maps access to recently visited places; Apple says these are end-to-end encrypted and unreadable by Apple, and lets users set how long Maps stores them. Preferred Routes & Predicted Destinations uses frequently taken routes and may send preferred or upcoming routes to Apple for route search, widgets and departure suggestions. Apple explains these features and controls in its Maps privacy documentation.
Apple’s separate Location Services disclosure describes crowd-sourced database collection: devices with Location Services enabled periodically send geo-tagged nearby Wi-Fi hotspot and cell-tower locations to Apple. While in transit, GPS-enabled iPhone and iPad devices periodically send GPS locations, travel speed and direction, and barometric pressure to help build traffic, roadway, pedestrian-walkway and atmospheric-correction databases. Apple says this data is encrypted and does not personally identify the user. This is not the same thing as an individual Maps account’s trip history; see Apple’s Location Services disclosure.
Rank #3
- Explore confidently with the reliable handheld GPS
- 2.2” sunlight-readable color display with 240 x 320 display pixels for improved readability
- Preloaded with Topo Active maps with routable roads and trails for cycling and hiking
- Support for GPS and GLONASS satellite systems allows for tracking in more challenging environments than GPS alone
- 8 GB of internal memory for map downloads plus a micro SD card slot
Apple also describes a separate Maps Image Collection program involving ground surveys for map data and Look Around, including GPS traces, images and LiDAR. It says in-app search terms, routing and traffic information are associated with rotating random identifiers that cannot be tied to an Apple Account. Survey collection should not be confused with routine navigation by an individual using the app. Details appear in Apple’s Maps Image Collection notice.
Waze: Invisible Mode changes visibility, not collection
Waze says it may collect device location, usage information, device identifiers, IP address and app interactions. It says location, route information and search-query history help provide navigation, best-route choices, traffic alerts and nearby-place information, improve mapping and navigation, and personalize the experience using home, work, favorites or route history. Its privacy policy explains these purposes.
Rank #4
- 8” navigator with high-resolution, dual-orientation display and map updates of North America .Special Feature:Large Display; Voice Assist; Hands-Free Calling; Live Traffic and Weather; Traffic Cams and Parking; Smart Notifications,Driver Alerts; Tripadvisor; National Parks Directory; Find Places by Name; Garmin Real Directions Feature.
- Hands-free calling when paired with your compatible smartphone with BLUETOOTH technology and convenient Garmin voice assist lets you ask for directions to places you want to go
- Road trip–ready features include the HISTORY database of notable sites, a U.S. national parks directory, Tripadvisor traveler ratings and millions of Foursquare POIs
- Driver alerts for things such as school zones, sharp curves and speed changes help encourage safer driving and increase situational awareness
- Access live traffic, fuel prices, weather, parking and smart notifications when you pair this navigator with your compatible smartphone running the Garmin Drive app
Waze’s Invisible Mode hides your location on the map from other users. Waze explicitly says it continues to collect your location and route information for the purposes in its policy. Treat Invisible Mode as a public-visibility setting, not an opt-out from Waze’s collection.
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Best Value
- Bright, high-resolution 5” glass capacitive touchscreen display lets you easily view your route
- Get more situational awareness with alerts for school zones, speed changes, sharp curves and more
- View food, fuel and rest areas along your active route, and see upcoming cities and milestones
- View Tripadvisor traveler ratings for top-rated restaurants, hotels and attractions to help you make the most of road trips
- Directory of U.S. national parks simplifies navigation to entrances, visitor centers and landmarks within the parks
How to limit location access and saved history
Use the control that matches your goal. If you want to stop an app accessing device location, change its device permission. If you want to remove stored trips, use that service’s history controls. If you only want to hide from other users, change the visibility setting—but do not assume that also stops collection.
1. Review device-level location permission
On Apple devices, open Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services, then select the navigation app to review its access. Apple supports Allow Once on iOS 13 or later, iPadOS 13 or later, and watchOS 6 or later; you can change permission later. Turning off Location Services prevents apps from using that service in the foreground or background, but can limit app performance. See Apple’s Location Services guide. On other platforms, use the operating system’s app-permission controls; exact labels vary.
2. Reduce precision or background access if appropriate
On Apple platforms, Apple directs Maps users to Settings > Apps > Maps > Location to turn off Precise Location. Approximate location may be enough for some uses, but turning off location-based functionality removes features such as turn-by-turn navigation. To disable the described Maps improvement data, Apple directs users to Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services > System Services > Routing & Traffic. Menu labels can differ across releases. For Waze, check the operating system’s location permission and limit access while the app is not in use if you do not want background checks for planned-drive reminders, traffic updates or parking assistance.
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3. Review app-specific history and route features
- Google Maps: Review Timeline, its auto-delete setting and any saved Timeline data. Also inspect other account activity controls for Maps-related searches, interactions or photos.
- Apple Maps: Decide whether to use Visited Places and choose its retention period. Review whether Preferred Routes & Predicted Destinations suits your needs. To manage these features, use Maps settings on your Apple device; names and availability may vary by release.
- Waze: Remove navigation history or recent locations using Waze’s privacy controls. If you choose account deletion, understand that Waze says contributed map edits and statistical drive data remain, no longer linked to your account.
4. Match the setting to the privacy goal
- Reduce an app’s access to your device location: Change its operating-system permission.
- Remove saved trips or destinations: Use the app’s history or account deletion controls.
- Hide your position from other users: Use a visibility control such as Waze Invisible Mode, while recognizing it does not stop Waze’s collection.
Restricting location can affect turn-by-turn directions and other features. Check what the app says will stop working before changing access, and revisit the controls if a system or app update changes its menus.
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