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Your phone shares data at night: Here’s how to stop it
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If your smartphone stays on your bedside table overnight, it stays busy long after you fall asleep.
Even while it appears idle, your phone continues to send and receive data in the background. Some of that activity is expected. Your device checks for security patches, syncs system settings and keeps essential services running. Other data transfers are far less obvious and far less necessary.
Experts warn that smartphones routinely transmit tracking and advertising signals without you fully realizing it. In many cases, that data includes information that should only be shared with clear and informed consent.
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Even while you sleep, a nearby smartphone can continue sending and receiving data in the background. (Getty Images/monkeybusinessimages)
What data your phone sends while you sleep
Your phone is not just charging overnight. It operates in a continuous data loop that generally falls into two categories.
Legitimate system data
This includes updates, crash reports and basic diagnostics. Operating systems rely on this information to fix bugs, improve stability and protect against security threats. In most cases, this data collection is disclosed and configurable.
Tracking and advertising data
This is where concerns grow. Smartphones also transmit location signals, device identifiers, advertising IDs, usage patterns and app behavior data. Companies combine this information to build detailed user profiles and deliver targeted ads that promise higher engagement. The problem is that the line between necessary diagnostics and commercial tracking is often blurry. Many of us never realize how much data flows out of our phones overnight.
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Phones often stay active overnight, syncing apps, checking networks and refreshing data unless you limit background activity. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
What we know about phone tracking today
Independent academic investigations found that some Android devices transmitted data linked to tracking behaviors involving major companies like Meta and Yandex. The research, conducted by teams from IMDEA Networks Institute and European universities, showed that certain apps and services continued communicating with external servers even after users attempted to limit tracking. The researchers observed data flows that could link web activity with app identifiers, raising concerns about how effectively privacy controls were enforced at the system level.
There is also long-standing concern around smartphones appearing to “listen” to conversations. While no public evidence shows that phones actively record private speech for advertising, many users report ads that closely mirror recent conversations. At a minimum, aggressive data collection combined with location, app usage and search history can make these moments feel unsettling.
Despite years of scrutiny, most smartphones still operate this way today. The good news is that you can reduce how much data leaves your device.
How to protect yourself from overnight data sharing
You do not need to give up your smartphone to regain control. Small settings changes can make a real difference.
1) Review app permissions
Start with your installed apps. Focus on those with access to your location, microphone, camera and tracking data. Only allow sensitive permissions while the app is in use. Be especially cautious with apps that run continuously in the background.
How to review app permissions on iPhone
- Open Settings
- Tap Privacy & Security
- Tap Location Services, Microphone, Camera or Tracking
- Select an app from the list
- Choose While Using the App or Never when available
For tracking controls:
- Go to Settings
- Click Privacy & Security
- Tap Tracking
- Turn off Allow Apps to Request to Track
This prevents apps from accessing your advertising identifier and sharing activity across apps and websites.
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Turning off app tracking on your iPhone blocks apps from linking your activity across other apps and websites. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
How to review app permissions on Android
Settings may vary depending on your Android phone’s manufacturer.
- Open Settings
- Tap Privacy & Security or Security and privacy
- Click More privacy settings
- Tap Permission Manager
- Select Location, Microphone, Camera or Sensors
- Tap an app and choose Allow only while using the app or Don’t allow
To review background access:
- Go to Settings
- Click Apps
- Select an app
- Tap Mobile data & Wi-Fi
- Turn off Background data if the app does not need constant access
This limits silent data transfers when the app is not actively open.
2) Limit background activity
Disabling background activity reduces how often apps sync data when you are not using them. This also limits automatic cloud activity. Keep in mind that this may affect real-time backups or notifications. Weigh the convenience against the privacy trade-off.
How to limit background activity on iPhone
Turn off Background App Refresh
- Open Settings
- Tap General
- Tap Background App Refresh
- Tap Background App Refresh at the top
- Select Off or Wi-Fi
To disable it for specific apps:
- Stay on the Background App Refresh screen
- Toggle off apps that do not need to update in the background
This prevents apps from quietly syncing data when they are not open.
How to limit background activity on Android
Settings may vary depending on your Android phone’s manufacturer.
Restrict background data
- Open Settings
- Tap Apps
- Select an app
- Tap Mobile data & Wi-Fi
- Turn off Background data
Restrict background battery usage
- From the app’s settings screen, tap Battery
- Select Restricted or Limit background usage
This reduces background syncing and prevents apps from running silently when you are not actively using them.
3) Turn off personalized advertising
Personalized ads rely on device identifiers and activity data collected across apps. Turning this off limits how your behavior is used for ad targeting, even when your phone is idle.
How to turn off personalized ads on iPhone
- Open Settings
- Tap Privacy & Security
- Tap Tracking
- Turn off Allow Apps to Request to Track
To limit Apple ads:
- Go to Settings
- Click Privacy & Security
- Tap Apple Advertising
- Turn off Personalized Ads
This reduces ad targeting based on your activity within Apple services.
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Disabling personalized ads reduces how your behavior is used to target ads, even when your phone is idle. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
How to turn off personalized ads on Android
Settings may vary depending on your Android phone’s manufacturer.
- Open Settings
- Tap Privacy & Security or Security and privacy
- Click More privacy settings
- Tap Ads or Advertising
- Tap Delete advertising ID or Opt out of Ads Personalization
- Click Delete advertising ID
You can also reset your advertising ID from this menu to break the link between past activity and future ads.
This limits how apps and advertisers track behavior across apps and websites.
4) Consider a VPN
A reputable VPN can help obscure your IP address and reduce certain forms of network-based tracking. It does not stop all data collection, but it adds a layer of protection, especially on shared or public networks.
For the best VPN software, see my expert review of the best VPNs for browsing the web privately on your Windows, Mac, Android and iOS devices at Cyberguy.com.
5) Remove your data from broker sites
Even if you lock down your phone, much of your personal information already exists online. Data brokers collect and sell details like your name, address, phone number and browsing behavior.
Using a reputable data removal service can help locate and remove your information from these sites. This reduces how easily advertisers and third parties can link your phone activity to your real identity.
For ongoing protection, these services do all the work for you by actively monitoring and systematically erasing your personal information from hundreds of websites. It’s what gives me peace of mind and has proven to be the most effective way to erase your personal data from the internet. By limiting the information available, you reduce the risk of scammers cross-referencing data from breaches with information they might find on the dark web, making it harder for them to target you.
Check out my top picks for data removal services and get a free scan to find out if your personal information is already out on the web by visiting Cyberguy.com.
Get a free scan to find out if your personal information is already out on the web: Cyberguy.com.
6) Use airplane mode or power off at night
If overnight data sharing concerns you, the simplest option is also the most effective. Turning your phone off or using airplane mode cuts off wireless communication while still allowing alarms to work.
How to turn on airplane mode on iPhone
- Open Control Center by swiping down from the top right corner
- Tap the airplane icon so it turns orange
- Confirm that cellular, Wi Fi and Bluetooth turned off
How to turn on airplane mode on Android
Settings may vary depending on your Android phone’s manufacturer.
- Swipe down from the top of the screen to open Quick Settings
- Tap the airplane mode icon
- Check that mobile data, Wi Fi and Bluetooth are disabled
If you still want Bluetooth for a watch or headphones, you can turn it back on manually after enabling airplane mode. This keeps most background data transfers blocked while you sleep.
Take my quiz: How safe is your online security?
Think your devices and data are truly protected? Take this quick quiz to see where your digital habits stand. From passwords to Wi-Fi settings, you’ll get a personalized breakdown of what you’re doing right and what needs improvement. Take my Quiz here: Cyberguy.com.
Kurt’s key takeaways
Your smartphone works around the clock, even when you do not. Some background data sharing keeps your device secure and functional. Other data collection exists primarily to fuel tracking and advertising. The key is awareness and control. By tightening permissions, limiting background activity and disabling ad personalization, you reduce how much of your personal data leaves your phone while you sleep. Privacy is not about fear. It is about informed choices.
Do you leave your phone fully on overnight, or will tonight be the night you finally switch it off? Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com.
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Copyright 2026 CyberGuy.com. All rights reserved.
Today’s launch of AST SpaceMobile’s BlueBird 7 satellite aboard Blue Origin’s reusable New Glenn rocket was a partial success. The New Glenn touched down on its landing pad without incident, making it the second launch and landing for the first stage booster, and officially giving Jeff Bezos a reusable launch vehicle. Unfortunately for AST SpaceMobile, the mission was less successful. Its cell-tower-in-space was delivered to a lower orbit than expected by the second stage of the launch vehicle, rendering it functionally useless.
While the satellite separated from the launch vehicle and powered on, the altitude is too low to sustain operations with its on-board thruster technology and will de-orbited.
Bezos, for his part, posted a video of the landing on X without comment.
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Most people treat their phone flashlight like a basic on and off switch. You tap it when you drop something under the couch or walk through a dark parking lot. That’s it.
But with the latest software updates, both iPhone and Samsung phones have quietly turned the flashlight into something much more useful. You can control how bright it is. On some devices, you can even change how wide the beam spreads.
Once you know where to look, it feels like you just upgraded your phone without spending a dollar.
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Both iPhone and Samsung phones have quietly turned the flashlight into something much more useful. (Silas Stein/picture alliance)
iPhone flashlight features you’re probably missing
Your iPhone flashlight does more than turn on and off, and a few hidden controls can completely change how you use it.
How to adjust iPhone flashlight brightness
On almost all iPhones:
- Swipe down from the top right to open Control Center
- Press and hold the flashlight icon
- Drag the vertical slider up to increase brightness or down to lower it
This has been around for years, but many people still tap instead of holding. That’s where the real control lives.
How to change iPhone flashlight beam width (Pro models)
This is the feature most people have never seen. On newer Pro iPhones running the latest software:
- Swipe down to open Control Center
- Press and hold the flashlight icon
- When the flashlight control appears at the top of the screen, swipe left or right to adjust the beam width
You can go from a narrow, focused beam to a wide flood of light.
That means:
- Narrow beam = better for seeing farther ahead
- Wide beam = better for lighting up a full area
This feature was introduced in iOS 18 and is still available in iOS 26.4, but it only works on iPhone 14 Pro and newer Pro models, including iPhone 15 Pro and later versions. You won’t see it on standard models.
How to turn on iPhone flashlight from the Lock Screen
You don’t even need to unlock your phone:
- Press and hold the flashlight icon on the Lock Screen
It turns on instantly, which is faster than digging through menus.
How to use Siri to control your iPhone flashlight
You can say:
- “Hey Siri, turn on the flashlight.”
- “Set flashlight to 50 percent.”
- “Hey Siri, turn off the flashlight.”
It’s one of the fastest hands-free options when your hands are full.
The flashlight is one of the most used features on your phone, yet most people never go beyond the basics. (Anna Barclay/Getty Images)
Bonus: Use iPhone flashlight for alerts and notifications
Your iPhone can use the flashlight as a visual alert:
- Go to Settings
- Tap Accessibility
- Tap Audio/Visual
- Scroll down and turn on Flash for Alerts
Your flashlight will blink for calls and notifications, which helps if your phone is on silent or in a noisy place.
Samsung flashlight features you should know
Samsung takes a different approach and, in some ways, gives you more flexibility right out of the box.
Note: Settings may vary depending on your Samsung device model and One UI version.
How to adjust Samsung flashlight brightness
On most Samsung Galaxy phones:
- Swipe down to open Quick Settings
- Press and hold the flashlight icon
- Use the brightness slider (labeled “Brightness”) to adjust the light level
Many people miss this because a quick tap only turns the flashlight on or off. The brightness controls appear after you press and hold, giving you more control depending on your situation.
How to turn on the Samsung flashlight with your voice
If you use Google Assistant:
- “Hey Google, turn on the flashlight.”
- “Hey Google, turn off the flashlight.”
It works well when your hands are full or when you need quick access.
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How to customize Samsung flashlight access
Samsung gives you a few ways to keep the flashlight within easy reach. To keep it in your main Quick Settings panel:
- Swipe down from the top of the screen to open Quick Settings
- If you do not see the flashlight icon in the main panel, tap the pencil icon to edit
- Tap Edit
- Find Flashlight in the available buttons
- Hold and drag the flashlight icon into the main Quick Settings area
- Tap Done or Save if prompted
Bonus: Use the Samsung flashlight for alerts and notifications
Samsung phones can also use the flashlight for visual alerts:
- Go to Settings
- Tap Accessibility
- Tap Advanced settings
- Tap Flash notifications
- Turn on Camera flash notification
You can also turn on Screen flash notification if you want your display to light up instead.
When iPhone and Samsung flashlight features actually matter
This is where it becomes practical:
- Walking at night: a narrow beam helps you see farther ahead
- Power outage: a wide beam lights up more of the room
- Looking for something nearby: lower brightness avoids harsh glare
- Emergency situations: faster access can save time
Once you start adjusting the light instead of just turning it on, it becomes far more useful.
Take my quiz: How safe is your online security?
Think your devices and data are truly protected? Take this quick quiz to see where your digital habits stand. From passwords to Wi-Fi settings, you’ll get a personalized breakdown of what you’re doing right and what needs improvement. Take my Quiz here: Cyberguy.com
Apple improved control with hardware and software, while Samsung focused on flexibility and customization. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
Kurt’s key takeaways
The flashlight is one of the most used features on your phone, yet most people never go beyond the basics. Apple improved control with hardware and software, while Samsung focused on flexibility and customization. Both approaches make a simple tool far more capable.
Have you ever discovered a hidden feature on your phone that made you wonder what else you’ve been missing? Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com
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Copyright 2026 CyberGuy.com. All rights reserved.
A long time ago, in 2004, the Federal Communications Commission laid down a rule designed to prevent a monopoly: No one company could broadcast to more than 39 percent of all the TV households in the United States. But then Donald Trump returned to the White House in 2025. Brendan Carr became FCC chairman and immediately kicked off a deregulatory initiative called “Delete, Delete, Delete,” in which Carr vowed to get rid of “every rule, regulation, or guidance document” that placed “unnecessary regulatory burdens” on companies. And within months, Nexstar, which already owned over 200 stations nationwide and had hit its ownership cap, announced that it had entered an agreement to purchase its rival, Tegna, for an estimated $6.2 billion — something that could only happen, however, if Carr agreed to change the FCC’s rules.
If you ask Nexstar why it’s pursuing a merger that would give it control of over 80 percent of the market, it’d point to Big Tech as the culprit. As advertisers take their money to Netflix, YouTube, and other digital streamers, linear television — the local television news, the broadcast affiliates, the basic cable networks — has suffered, forcing them to consolidate and shut down newsrooms. In that sense, Nexstar argued, the merger would help it compete for ad revenue with the streaming services, thereby building more robust local journalism. However, the merger’s opponents believe that this is a basic violation of antitrust laws and principles — not to mention the danger of letting one company have editorial control over the vast majority of America’s local television newsrooms.
But the second Trump administration handles regulatory hurdles a little differently than others, and companies have found that it’s faster to get what they want if they bypass the agencies and talk (read: suck up) to Trump directly. And when Nexstar did so publicly, it confirmed its opponents’ fears about political influence. Last September, in the fraught weeks after the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk, Nexstar announced it would no longer broadcast Jimmy Kimmel Live! — a response to Carr’s claim that the FCC could revoke the broadcast licenses of TV stations that aired the comedian’s comments related to Kirk. It briefly led to ABC suspending Kimmel’s show, though ABC and Nexstar soon reversed their decision after a massive nationwide backlash and an ABC boycott.
However, Nexstar’s loyalty to Trump himself was not enough to win over his most powerful MAGA supporters. Newsmax, a cable news network with a deeply pro-Trump bent, and its CEO, longtime Trump donor and outside adviser Chris Ruddy, filed a lawsuit objecting to the merger, claiming that Nexstar’s anticompetitive behavior would force channels like his off the air with steeper carriage fees. He specifically accused Nexstar of jacking up the fees for stations to carry Newsmax, while offering its similar network, NewsNation, for much cheaper.
The Nexstar-Tegna MAGA makeover then took a more subtle turn. NewsNation hired the pro-Trump Fox News commentator Katie Pavlich and gave her her own primetime show. (The network had already hired a slew of former Fox journalists as well.) Around this time, a political group called Keep News Local began airing ads in DC that seemed to directly address Trump, praising him for having “defeated the fake news monopolies before through independent voices and local news” and claiming that the Nexstar-Tegna merger was “crucial for MAGA to survive.” (A little self-contradictory and mildly illogical, but it’s the kind of stuff that Trump likes to hear.) When I last spoke to Ruddy in February, I asked if he’d worried that the dark money going into Keep News Local would sway Trump, and he chose his words carefully: “I think at the end of the day, Trump makes up his own mind. I’m not sure he’s going to be influenced by an ad campaign.”
For months, no one could accurately predict if Trump would override Carr’s wishes and bless the deal, as he’s often done for other companies facing regulatory scrutiny. Trump’s Truth Social posts about the merger have been a good indicator of how precarious the merger has been and who’s been able to influence him at any given moment: Last November, he blasted the deal as an “EXPANSION OF THE FAKE NEWS NETWORKS,” but by February, he posted that the deal would “help knock out the Fake News because there will be more competition.”
Several current and former NewsNation employees told Status at the time that they feared that the parent company was steering NewsNation away from the centrist, “unbiased” reputation they’d long cultivated. “A lot of people within the network believe that the network has gone hard right to appeal to Trump and Brendan Carr,” one former employee told Status. Coincidentally, days before the deal was finalized, NewsNation began ramping up its explicitly pro-Trump content, tweeting a clip of CNN’s Kaitlan Collins being berated by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, along with the comment “Just going to leave this here.”
When Trump greenlit the merger in mid-March, but before the FCC’s three commissioners could vote on whether to waive the ownership cap, Nexstar and Tegna immediately announced a new complication: Tegna and Nexstar had already started merging. Tegna was no more and CEO Mike Steib had already sold $22.6 million of his company stock.
In response, eight state attorneys general and satellite TV operator DirectTV, which had already been planning to file separate federal antitrust suits against the merger, asked US District Judge Troy Nunley in Sacramento for an emergency restraining order that would prevent Nexstar from taking over Tegna’s assets. The order was granted on March 27th and on April 17, Nunley issued a formal injunction, ruling that Tegna must be operated as an independent financial entity, and Nexstar must take steps to ensure it remains separate from Tegna before further legal proceedings.
For now, Nunley has allowed the states and DirecTV to combine their cases, in which both argue that the merger was a clear violation of antitrust laws and would crush news competition.
Meanwhile, Republicans and Democrats in Congress are furious at Carr. On March 30th, Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA) sent the chairman a joint letter admonishing him for allowing his staff to waive the regulations to let the merger pass, instead of having the full commission of political appointees — one from the Biden administration — vote on it. “Under these circumstances,” they wrote, “any subsequent vote risks being largely procedural rather than a genuine exercise of commission responsibility.” They also pointed out that their hasty approval without the commission’s approval would now complicate the merger financially: “In a transaction of this scale, where integration proceeds quickly and unwinding becomes impractical, delay in judicial review can insulate the decision from meaningful challenge.” Notably, though they share similar ideological views on the media and deregulation, Cruz and Carr have frequently clashed over how to achieve their objectives. Cruz previously slammed Carr as a “mafioso,” for instance, for the way he’d used the FCC to silence Kimmel.
But even if it’s legally paused, the journalistic merger’s fallout has started to hit local news. NPR’s David Folkenfirk reported on Tuesday that Tegna journalists had already started receiving orders to stop broadcasting content from major broadcasters like ABC, CBS, and NBC — media outlets being targeted by Carr — and instead begin airing content from Nexstar’s NewsNation.
- Brendan Carr’s views on using the FCC to punish major broadcasters was outlined pretty extensively in the chapter he authored in Project 2025, an initiative led by the conservative Heritage Foundation on how to reform the federal bureaucracy to be more favorable to the American right.
- Exactly how much is local television losing to digital? According to industry publication NewscastStudio, in an investor call defending the purchase, Nexstar chairman Perry Sook cited a market research study from Borrell Associates, which found that “digital advertising in local markets exceeds $100 billion, compared to just $25 billion for local linear television advertising, with nearly two-thirds of digital ad dollars flowing to five major technology companies.”
- If you want to see exactly how much Keep Local News was trying to suck up to Trump, the ads are archived here.
- The Vergecast has a long-running segment called “Brendan Carr is a dummy.”
- The LA Times reported on last week’s preliminary hearings in front of Nunley, and how lawyers for Nexstar, the states, and DirecTV plan to argue their case.
- The Desk has insights from Kirk Varner, a former TV newsroom director, on how the case could go.
- Andrew Liptak covered Nexstar’s previous acquisition sprees for The Verge in 2018.
- Adi Robertson walks through exactly how the Kimmel suspension was an attack on free speech.
- Brendan Carr keeps trying to convince people that he’s not threatening to suspend broadcast licenses for reporting on unfavorable things like the Iran war, reports Lauren Feiner.
- The Vergecast has a long-running segment called “Brendan Carr is a dummy.”
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