4 Waze Settings That Can Improve Your Privacy

It’s really no wonder that Waze is one of the most popular navigation apps, loved for its community approach to getting around. The platform does a great job finding the fastest routes and notifying you of speed cameras, accidents, and other issues while you drive. However, in order to provide this convenience, user data must be analyzed. As a crowdsourced app owned by Google, the software uses applied data, from your route preferences to the places you visit most, to optimize every journey. For people who are particularly concerned about their privacy, this type of data may not be something they want to bring to Waze.

You should know that Waze just needs to collect some data to work properly. The app relies entirely on real-time traffic updates and GPS positioning to give you step-by-step directions, so you can’t hide your live location from the software, otherwise it becomes useless. Unless you turn off Waze on your phone and don’t use any navigation apps, there’s no way around this requirement.

Other than that, you still have a lot of control over what additional information is shared. As you dig into the setup menus, you’ll discover powerful options designed specifically to lock down your personal data. Whether it’s hiding your public profile or stopping targeted marketing, changing these four privacy settings in Waze will make your daily commute more secure.

One of the most recognizable features of the Waze platform is the ability to see other active Waze users driving on your map in real time. These colorful avatars on your screen represent other real people sharing the road with you, bringing a unique type of gamified and social layer to everyday life. This makes being stuck in traffic a little more fun and is one of the reasons why Waze is better than Google Maps. However, not everyone wants their presence or other profile information broadcast to complete strangers.

Enabling invisible mode instantly fixes this problem and puts you comfortably back under the radar. Once you enable this setting, your avatar will soon disappear from the public map and hide your digital presence from all other drivers. And don’t worry: Waze still gives you driving directions and traffic alerts if you enable this option; Invisible mode does not affect this.

To enable this feature, press the three horizontal lines From the main application menu, select View profile (it will be right below your name), then activate the Become invisible to fall over. Just note that operating in stealth mode has a minor drawback: although invisible, Waze prevents users from reporting any problems on the road, such as an accident. You will therefore have to choose between enjoying your privacy and being able to send messages or report problems to your fellow drivers.

Waze relies on ad revenue to keep the virtual lights on since it’s a free app. Anyone who uses it regularly has probably noticed branded pins on the map and those pop-up banners that appear when you’re stopped at a red light. To make these ads more useful, Waze tracks your browsing habits, the places you frequently visit, and the times of day you usually drive. This behavioral data allows it to display ads that are more likely to match each driver’s routines and interests fairly well.

While some people might appreciate getting a discount at a coffee shop on their morning commute, others may find this hyper-targeted marketing invasive. The idea of ​​an app constantly analyzing you and your travel habits to help promote a sale might seem like a gross overkill. Luckily, Waze has a dedicated toggle just to turn this feature off. Opting out of personalized ads prevents Waze from using your historical location data and searches to serve you these targeted ads.

To deactivate them, press the three horizontal lines in the main application menu, then select Settings. From there, head towards the Confidentiality section, then turn off the toggle next to Personalize your ads. Be aware that turning off this switch does not magically eliminate all ads. Waze will still show ads, but then they will be generic, completely independent of your personal information.

Apps like Waze are designed to remember every place you go, all in the name of convenience. The app automatically saves your recent searches and trips, as well as saved addresses, to potentially speed up the start of your next trip. The problem is that over time, an extremely detailed diary of your life is created, mapping out your home, your job, your doctor’s offices, your favorite restaurants, and even your weekend hangouts.

Taking a moment every now and then to clear your browsing history is a great way to maintain that privacy. This ensures that no one else can open the app later and see a full list of places you’ve been. Waze allows users to completely erase this data, erasing any places you’ve recently searched for or individual trips you’ve taken.

To manage this information, tap the icon three horizontal lines from the Waze home screen, then select Settings. Scroll down and choose Confidentiality on the next screen, then select Browsing history. From here you can delete any entries you want. Just note that this means the app will no longer automatically suggest these locations – you’ll have to re-enter them manually the next time you need them.

An essential privacy setting for any navigation app is background location access. This is often a default setting for phones, and essentially means that these apps can track your movements even when they’re closed. Waze regularly uses this permission to be able to remind you of any upcoming trips or send alerts of unusual traffic before you leave. This can be useful, but an app that always tracks your location in the background isn’t totally necessary, even for everyday driving. This is also a pretty significant data vulnerability and one of the reasons why Waze consumes so much battery.

Limiting access to Waze’s location only when you’re actively using it is a good way to protect your privacy. By changing a system-level permission, the app can’t access your phone’s location data when you take a quick walk around your neighborhood, for example. Waze will then only know the location of your device once you launch it to retrieve your route.

Disabling this setting requires you to exit the app and dive into the main menus of your phone’s operating system. On Android or iOS, access the entire system Location Or Location Services menu in Settings will display a list of apps requesting GPS access. Find Waze on this list, then change its permission to Allow only when using the app (Android) or When using the app (iOS). You don’t have to worry about this interrupting your browsing: Android and iOS treat a browsing session as if you were actively using an app. So there’s no need to keep Waze in the foreground just to make sure it can give you precise step-by-step directions. Once the navigation session is over and you close the Waze app, it will no longer be able to access your location.