Blocking apps from accessing Bluetooth data

Bluetooth allows for wirelessly connecting accessories to an iPhone, including anything from AirPods to game controllers. Applications, when getting access to that connection, can track your location in physical space. The apps get this location data from beacons: small devices that can tell when you are nearby based on the Bluetooth signal the phone emits.

Beacons in and of themselves are not malicious. They allow for sending location-based alerts to the phone, for guiding you around a museum exhibit. And some apps have also been using these Bluetooth beacon location data for more nefarious purposes, like tracking you without your knowledge.

That’s why in iOS 13+, Apple created a new privacy setting showing you just what apps are using your Bluetooth data and gives you the ability to shut off those apps’ access to your Bluetooth connection.

• Go to Settings -> Privacy -> Bluetooth.

• You will see a list of all your apps that have access to your Bluetooth data.

• Toggle the switch next to an app to off (white) to deny it access to your Bluetooth data.