Permission screens and privacy labels are full of jargon. This glossary translates the terms so you can decide what each app gets to see and do.

This article is general information about everyday health habits, not medical advice. If you have a health condition, are pregnant or take regular medication, talk to your doctor or another qualified health professional before making big changes to your diet, activity or sleep. Figures come from US public health sources such as the CDC, HHS and the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

Open the privacy settings on almost any phone and you meet a wall of jargon: MAIDs, background refresh, precise location, data sharing. This glossary translates the terms that show up in app permission screens, privacy labels and tracking settings, so you can decide what each app gets to see and do. None of it takes technical skill, just a few minutes in a settings menu. If you want the vocabulary of screen habits themselves too, our glossary of screen-time terms covers words like infinite scroll and blue light.

Why app permissions matter for your privacy

Apps can ask for access to information on your device, including your location, your contacts and your photos, and the answers live in your privacy settings. What you do across a normal day gives businesses information about your habits, tastes and activities. Some use it for targeted ads or location-based content like nearby stores and the weather forecast. Others sell or share what they collect.

The details are not always easy to find up front. When FTC staff surveyed 121 shopping apps across the Google Play and Apple app stores, the report found that many failed to give consumers important information before download, such as how the apps handle consumer data or payment disputes. The stakes are broad: more than three-quarters of Americans have a smartphone, and more than half of smartphone users collect some kind of health-related information with their phones.

Permissions are also a gate. The Federal Trade Commission has taken action against a company that bypassed the permissions process to install apps without permission, noting that once installed, such apps could access address books, photos, location and device identifiers. Knowing the terms below makes it easier to spot when an app asks for more than its job requires. If all this nudges you toward spending less time in certain apps, our piece on whether you need a digital detox walks through realistic ways to cut back.

The basics

App permission. The access you allow an app to have to your device’s data and features, such as the camera, microphone, contacts or location. Apps need some of these to work; a messaging app cannot find your friends without them.

Data minimization. The principle the FTC recommends to developers: collect only the information an app actually needs, and delete what it no longer has a clear reason to keep. You can apply the same test to permissions.

Sensitive information. Data such as medical, financial or precise geolocation information. The FTC advises developers to get a user’s clear agreement before collecting it, which makes permission prompts for these categories worth a closer look.

Privacy policy. A company’s own written account of what it does with your information. For voice assistants especially, the FTC suggests checking it to learn how your audio recordings are handled and who can listen.

Location access: precise, approximate and “only while using”

Precise location. Your exact position rather than a general area. A map or navigation app may genuinely need it; a puzzle game almost never does.

Approximate location. A coarser estimate, your general area instead of your exact spot. It is enough for weather forecasts and local features.

“Only while using the app.” A setting that lets an app see your location while it is open on screen, but not the rest of the time. For most apps, this is the option to reach for first.

Background location. Access that continues when the app is closed or out of sight. It is the version worth scrutinizing hardest, because it can keep reporting where you are with no visible sign.

Background activity and background refresh

Background app refresh. A setting that lets apps update their content when you are not actively using them. It is handy for messaging, and for news apps, although a constantly refreshed feed can pull you into doomscrolling, which our guide to doomscrolling unpacks. Reviewing the list and switching it off for apps that do not need live updates saves battery and limits what an app does out of view.

Tracking and the advertising ID

First-party tracking. Tracking done by the site or app you are using itself. The FTC uses this label to set it apart from tracking by outside companies.

Third-party tracking. When the app or site you visit lets another company track you, often across most sites and apps you use. That is the mechanism behind seeing ads for running shoes after visiting one fitness website.

Advertising ID. A unique, resettable identifier that your device’s operating system assigns to help advertisers track activity and personalize ads. Data brokers can use these IDs to link app activity, location and behavior, then sell the data to other businesses. Apple calls its version the Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA); Google’s Android version is the Google Advertising ID (GAID).

Personalized ads. Ads picked for you based on browsing history, activity or location. Opt out and you still see ads; they just stop being tailored to you.

Data broker. A business that collects and sells personal information about people. Starting January 2026, Californians can use the state’s Delete Request and Opt-out Platform to ask registered data brokers to delete their records, and a mobile advertising ID is one of the details the platform accepts.

Data collection versus data sharing

Data collection. What an app gathers about you, from what you type to sensor readings and usage patterns. Gathering is only half the story, which is why privacy labels list collection and sharing separately.

Data sharing. Passing your information to other companies, whether by selling it or handing it to partners. That step is what turns one app’s records into a wider profile.

De-identified data. Information stripped of details that would reasonably connect it to a specific person, such as date of birth or a five-digit ZIP code. Regulators caution that re-identification is always a risk, so treat the label as helpful rather than absolute.

Other settings worth a second look

“Allow Apps to Request to Track” (iOS). The master switch, under Privacy and Security in iPhone settings, that controls whether apps can even ask to track you across other companies’ apps and websites. With the switch off, an iPhone currently has no IDFA for advertisers to use.

Opt out of personalized ads. A phone setting, in the advertising section of your privacy settings, that stops the operating system maker from personalizing ads based on your browsing history. The settings search bar is the fastest route to it.

Small step: On Android phones, advertising settings usually sit under Settings, then Privacy, then Ads, though menus vary by model and brand. When in doubt, open Settings and search for “ads” rather than hunting through menus.

Wake word. The sound pattern a voice assistant listens for so it knows when you are talking to it. These devices can mishear and start recording when you least expect it, and recordings usually go to the manufacturer’s servers. Most assistants let you set how long recordings are kept, delete old ones, opt out of human review of audio, or flip a physical switch that stops the device from listening.

Connected TV and streaming device settings. The FTC recommends reviewing privacy settings and permissions on internet-connected TVs and streaming devices as well, since those platforms run apps with the same appetites as the ones on your phone. Safety guides also warn that some apps allow someone to track another person through their phone without permission, so unexpected permission changes deserve a closer look.

Still wondering?

What is an app permission?

It is the access you allow an app to have to your device’s data and features, such as the camera, microphone, contacts or location. Some permissions are needed for the app to work, while others are worth questioning.

What is an advertising ID?

It is a unique, resettable identifier that your phone’s operating system assigns to help advertisers track activity and personalize ads. Apple calls its version the IDFA and Google calls the Android version the GAID.

How do I find my phone’s ad settings?

On Android, advertising settings usually sit under Settings, then Privacy, then Ads, though menus vary by model. On either type of phone, searching the settings for ads or advertising is the fastest route.

If I opt out of personalized ads, will ads disappear?

No. You will still see ads, but they stop being tailored to your browsing history, activity or location.