- Surfshark has done a review of location-hungry apps on social media including X, Instagram and Snapchat
- Of the 10 analyzed social media -Apps require x the most granular location data
- Data was collected in August 2025 from the Apple App Store
Do you think you have covered your privacy? It may be time to give it a reconsideration, especially if you are a regular user of X and other social media apps.
A study by the leading VPN provider Surfshark has analyzed the standard location permits required by the top 10 social media apps in the Apple App Store, and found that most of them are very data-hungry-if not stalker-y.
Elon Musk’s X and Mark Zuckerberg’s Instagram, Threads and Facebook know a lot about where you are … even if you use one of the best VPN apps.
Your smartphone detects two types of location data: Exact and coarse.
Rough data is a zoomed option for low resolution that shares your overall location in the world. The exact option depends on GPS, Bluetooth and even IP addresses to determine your exact location based on nearby network. These are the latter data used by X and other networks at varying degrees.
As Surfshark Chief Technology Officer, Donatas Budvytis, explains, precise precise location data falls under the most sensitive user data category because it can be linked to very personal behavior and routines.
“All of this can lead to building your profile, predicting behavior, or can be used for targeted manipulation and discrimination,” Budvytis said.
Location data can sometimes be useful. For example, it adds some useful context to photos (and helps you find a specific image years later). It can also help you find interesting sights and businesses nearby. However, social networks seem to enjoy just a little too much of it.
Surfshark has discovered that although eight popular social networks collect precise location data, X is especially eager for it. Instagram, threads and Facebook all need a lot, just like Pinterest. Snapchat needs less; LinkedIn and YouTube require almost none.
Collecting user information in this way allows social networks to offer advertisers a better range, ensuring targeted ads based on your location. They can even send you marketing outreach messages using this kind of data.
According to researchers, X and Pinterest can even use location data to track users. There is no clarity on how this information is used or whether they are available to data brokers. In such a scenario, different information from other apps could be used in Tandem to establish more specific and valuable data about your actions and interests.
Can’t you just use a VPN?
VPNs are good for specific use of privacy, but when it comes to location data collected using GPS and other networks, a VPN is less effective.
Because VPN encrypts your Internet access and routes it via a secure VPN server, only your IP address can be blurred. Social networks that depend on GPS and proximity to other networks – perhaps railway stations or city center networks – can overlook the notion that your IP address is set to Berlin if your GPS says London.
While a VPN is definitely recommended for public Wi-Fi, it will only prevent bad players with access to the network. Elon Musk and Co can still detect your location.
So can you prevent X from tracking you?
All Social Media apps have settings that you can use to finish what information is collected. So while you may be okay with sharing photos and (potentially embarrassing) thoughts and opinions, you can at least control some of these privacy opportunities.
In case of x, you can open Settings> Privacy and Security> Location Information and disable all three settings (press the third, explore settings, to turn it off) to reduce social network hunger for your activities.
Other apps should have similar options. Of course, you can also disable your phone’s GPS when not required and review your phone’s location services settings.
