Location Services & Privacy

Location Services is designed to protect your information and enable you to choose what you share.

Location Services allows IQM and third-party apps and websites to gather and use information based on the current location of your device to provide a variety of location-based services. For example, an app might use your location data and location search query to help you find nearby coffee shops or theaters, or your device may set its time zone automatically based on your current location.

To use features such as these, you must enable Location Services on your device and give your permission to each app or website before it can use your location data. Apps may request limited access to your location data (only when you are using the app) or full access (even when you are not using the app).

For safety purposes, however, your device's location information may be used when you place an emergency call to aid response efforts regardless of whether you enable Location Services.

Location Services uses GPS and Bluetooth (where those are available) along with crowd-sourced Wi-Fi hotspot and cell tower locations to determine your device's approximate location.

If Location Services is on, your device will periodically send the geo-tagged locations of nearby Wi-Fi hotspots and cell towers in an anonymous and encrypted form to an App provider, to be used for augmenting this crowd-sourced database of Wi-Fi hotspot and cell tower locations.

By enabling Location Services, location-based system services such as these will also be enabled:

  • Traffic — If you are physically moving (for example, traveling in a car), your device will periodically send GPS locations and travel speed information in an anonymous and encrypted form to App providers, to be used for augmenting a crowd-sourced road traffic database.
  • Popular Near Me — Your device will periodically send locations of where, and when, you have purchased or used Apps in an anonymous and encrypted form, to improve a crowd-sourced database that may be used to offer geographically-relevant Apps and other products and services.
  • Significant Locations — Your device may keep track of places you have recently been, as well as how often and when you visited them, in order to learn places that are significant to you. This data is transmitted end-to-end encrypted between your connected devices and will not be shared without your consent. It will be used to provide you with personalized services, such as predictive traffic routing.
  • Location-Based Ads — Your device will may share your location, including its travel speed and direction, in order to provide you with geographically relevant ads.
  • Location-Based Suggestions — The location of your device may be shared with IQM to provide more relevant recommendations. If you turn off Location Services for Location-based Suggestions, your precise location will not be sent to IQM. To deliver relevant search suggestions and news, IQM may use the IP address of your internet connection to approximate your location by matching it to a geographic region.
  • Location-Based Alerts — Your device may use your location in order to provide you with geographically-relevant alerts, such as a reminder to call someone when you get to a specific place, when to leave for your next appointment, or an app recommendation based on where you currently are.
  • Share My Location — You can choose to share your current location with others, on a temporary or ongoing basis, from within certain apps.

The crowd-sourced location data gathered by IQM does not personally identify you.

By enabling Location Services for your devices, you agree and consent to the transmission, collection, maintenance, processing, and use of your location data and location search queries by IQM and its partners and licensees to provide and improve location-based and road traffic-based products and services.

How to turn off location tracking on an iPhone or iPad

You may choose to disable Location Services at any time. To do so, open Settings on your iPhone, tap Privacy, tap Location Services, and either turn off the global Location Services switch or turn off the individual location switch of each location-aware app or feature by setting it to "Never". To disable Location Services for all websites, set the Location Services setting for Safari to "Never". You may also disable location-based system services by tapping on System Services and turning off the switch for each location-based system service.

Manage location settings for Android apps

You can let apps use your device"s location to do things for you or give you information. For example, apps can use your device"s location to see commute traffic or find nearby restaurants. IQM may receive location data from the App providers you authorize to collect such data.

See which apps use your location

  1. Open your device"s Settings app.
  2. Tap Security & Location Location.
  3. Under "Recent location requests," see the apps that recently checked your location. For more information about an app, like its battery or data use, tap it.

Turn App"s Location services on or off

To help improve location for apps, Location services collect location data from time to time. App's uses this data in an anonymized manner to improve location accuracy and location-based services. To estimate location, App's utitlize it uses sources like Wi-Fi, mobile networks, and sensors.

You can turn Location services on or off on your device at any time.

To turn on Location services

  1. Open your device"s Settings app.
  2. Tap Security & Location Location Mode.
  3. Choose High accuracy or Battery saving. Both modes can use Wi-Fi, mobile networks, and sensors to determine location.

Turn off Location services

  1. Open your device"s Settings app.
  2. Tap Security & Location Location.
  3. You can turn off Location services in 2 ways:
    • Tap Mode Device only. This mode uses only GPS to determine location.
    • Turn off Location. Turning off location for your device also turns it off for all apps. Many features will be turned off.

If asked to change location settings

If an app must use your location, it can ask whether you want to change your location settings.

How apps ask you to change location settings

Apps ask you to change your location settings in different ways:

  • "Change location setting?"
    The app needs your location turned on. Location services give the app data that it needs to work properly.
  • "Improve location accuracy?"
    Location is already on, but you can turn on more settings or sensors to better determine location.
  • Location mode
    Using a different mode would improve accuracy. For example, the app could ask you to let your device use available Wi-Fi and mobile networks to find locations. The app will choose the setting that uses the least battery.
  • Wi-Fi connection
    Scanning for Wi-Fi networks helps find locations. The app can ask you to turn on Wi-Fi, or to let your device scan for Wi-Fi networks.

Location services

Location services help apps find locations. IQM can collect location data from time to time. IQM uses this data in an anonymized manner to improve location accuracy and location-based services. To estimate location, it uses sources like Wi-Fi, mobile networks, and sensors.

If you allow third-party apps or websites to use your current location, you are subject to their terms and privacy policy and practices.

You should review the terms, privacy policies, and practices of such apps and websites to understand how they use your location and other information.

Information collected by IQM will be treated in accordance with the privacy policies of their respective manufacturers, such as Google and Apple. Those policies can be found at Privacy Policy