Does Airplane Mode Stop Location Tracking?

Most people believe that switching on airplane mode is the quickest way to protect their privacy. With one tap, your phone stops sending out cellular, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth connections. Airlines require it to prevent interference with cockpit systems, and travelers use it to save battery or avoid roaming charges. Because of this, many assume airplane mode also shuts off location tracking, but that’s not the case. 

Airplane mode only prevents your device from transmitting signals. It does not stop your phone from receiving signals, such as the Global Positioning System (GPS). Your phone can still log your location in the background, even when you’re offline. Once you reconnect to a network, the phone can transmit those stored records to apps, services, or third parties.  

This gap between what airplane mode does and what people think it does leave a big risk for privacy. 

GoDark Faraday Bags protects your privacy by actively blocking all incoming and outgoing wireless signals. Unlike airplane mode, they stop your device from recording location data in the first place, which means there’s nothing to share later. 

To understand why airplane mode gives a false sense of privacy, let’s unpack the ways your phone tracks location when it’s switched to airplane mode.  

 

How Location Tracking Workson Airplane Mode 

Below, you'll find how your phone keeps logging location even when you turn on airplane mode. 

GPS Is Receive-Only 

GPS is made up of at least 24 satellites orbiting Earth. Each one constantly sends out time-stamped signals. Your phone listens to signals from several satellites at once and calculates how long each signal takes to arrive. By comparing those times, it can triangulate your position within a few meters. 

This works since your phone can, in principle, determine your location anywhere in the world if it has a clear, unobstructed view of the sky. That’s why hikers, sailors, and pilots can use GPS in remote areas without cell service. GPS keeps logging your position because it only needs to receive satellite signals. 

Assisted GPS (A-GPS) and Airplane Mode 

Normally, your phone uses Assisted GPS (A-GPS). It is a faster version of GPS that uses extra help from the internet, cell towers, or Wi-Fi networks. Instead of waiting for your phone to find satellites on its own, A-GPS checks with nearby towers or servers to quickly figure out which satellites to use. 

In airplane mode, that assistance disappears, forcing the phone to rely only on satellites. The result is slower positioning and sometimes less accuracy, but your location is still tracked. 

Background Logging Continues 

Even in airplane mode, your phone keeps building a record of your location. Apps such as fitness trackers, offline maps, or location-history tools store that information locally and upload it later when a connection returns. 

When you reconnect to a Wi-Fi or mobile network, your device transmits those stored logs to apps, cloud services, or other third parties. 

 

Location Data Can Affect Your Privacy 

Location data can make life more convenient by giving you accurate directions, helping you find nearby restaurants, tracking your workouts, or showing local weather updates. 

The same information, however, also creates privacy risks. Each log builds a record of where you live, work, shop, or exercise. More sensitive associations can also appear, such as visits to clinics, places of worship, or large gatherings.

Because GPS signals are tied to precise timestamps, this timeline becomes highly valuable to third parties.  

For instance: 

• Data brokers can package and sell insights about how often you travel, commute, or shop. 
   
• Mobile apps can turn the logs into detailed lifestyle profiles, from your coffee stops to your daily routine. 
   
• Organizations may analyze this information to track patterns, predict behavior, or link you to specific places and events. 

Location services clearly improve convenience, but the tradeoff is that you often share far more than you realize, which are details that can paint a complete picture of your private life. 

Why Airplane Mode Isn’t a Privacy Feature 

Now that you understand how location data affects your privacy, it’s easier to see why airplane mode doesn’t solve the problem.  

This brings us to what works: signal-blocking. 

Signal Blocking Works Better Than Airplane Mode 

Airplane mode cuts off your phone’s ability to send data, but it doesn’t stop the device from listening or recording.  

Signal blocking, on the other hand, cuts all wireless signals at the source, preventing your phone from connecting, receiving, or logging anything at all. It prevents location history from ever being created, not just postponed.  

That’s where a Faraday bag becomes the reliable solution. 

How Faraday Bags Work 

At the heart of a Faraday bag lies the principle of electromagnetic shielding, which has been extensively studied in scientific literature: 

• A Faraday cage (or bag) uses conductive material to redistribute electric charges and cancel incoming electromagnetic fields, protecting anything inside from external signals.¹ 
   
• Practical testing confirms that well-designed Faraday cases block signals like GPS, Wi‑Fi, and cellular effectively.² 
   
• Academic studies have shown Faraday cages can produce over 99 dB of attenuation, nearly eliminating wireless interference.³ 

These findings reinforce why airplane mode falls short. Airplane mode depends on the phone’s software-controlled switch to disable transmit functions, which is something you have to trust is working correctly. A Faraday bag, by contrast, relies on the laws of physics to block signals, not software settings. 

That difference is what makes proper shielding far more effective at preventing tracking and protecting your privacy. 

Note that Faraday bags don’t block the apps themselves. What they block are the signals apps rely on like GPS, Wi-Fi, and cellular. Without those inputs, internal functions such as alarms still work, but tracking apps have no data to record or share later.

 

How GoDark Bags Ensure Nothing Gets Logged 

GoDark Faraday Bagsapply these same scientific principles with precision. Designed with amulti-layer of proprietary RF shielding fabric capable of more than100–105 dB attenuation across 200 MHz to 40 GHz, they effectively block GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and cellular signals so your phone cannot send or receive. 

With an inner protective liner surrounding the shielding fabric, the GoDark bag resists everyday wear and tear, keeping the signal-blocking layer intact even under heavy use. This makes the protection not only effective but also reliable – whether you’re traveling, working in the field, or storing devices long term. 

 

Frequently Asked Questions 

Does Airplane Mode Protect Privacy? 

No. Airplane mode was designed for flight safety, not privacy. It disables transmissions like calls and Wi-Fi. Your phone still receives GPS reception, so your location can still be determined. 

Can I Be Tracked if I’m on Airplane Mode? 

Yes. Even without cell or Wi-Fi signals, your phone can pinpoint your position through GPS satellites. GPS works in receive-only mode, meaning your phone still calculates where you are even without a network connection. Airplane mode only delays the transfer of data. 

Does Airplane Mode Delete History? 

No. Turning on airplane mode does not erase location logs already collected on your phone. Those records remain and can be uploaded when you go back online.  

Why Not Just Turn Off the Phone? 

Turning the phone off reduces activity, but it isn’t foolproof. Many modern devices keep certain low-power components active, such as the baseband processor or power-management circuits, to support features like Find My Device or quick boot. These subsystems can still interact with networks or resume logging once the phone powers back on. 

GoDark Bags prevent this altogether by blocking incoming signals so your phone cannot record movements in the first place.