Constant Location Tracking Icon Appearing in Safari Private Browsing - showing location has been shared?

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Level 1

26 points

Constant Location Tracking Icon Appearing in Safari Private Browsing - showing location has been shared?

I am wondering why is my location arrow (filled icon symbol) in safari constantly activating when I have set it location tracking to never?

Safari is constantly advertising my loctation.

Not nearly private as advertised???

Maybe it’s another OS security flaw that is being exploited, or an App running outside of its supposed privilege settings?

IPadPro M4 - Running iPadOS 26.5.

Safari location is set to never in privacy & security settings - so wondering why the location symbol is activated at the top right of my screen every time a navigate to a website, obviously compromising user privacy?

iPad Pro, iPadOS 26

Posted on Jun 10, 2026 10:15 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Mac Jim ID

Community+ 2026

Level 10

86,100 points

Jun 11, 2026 3:12 PM in response to Huelo

When you click on the symbol, does it show Safari or System Services. System Services has a variety of options that can use your location that have nothing to do with Safari and periodically run for a short period of time all throughout the day.

As far as locations known when browsing, every website gets your IP Address provided by your internet provider and that can be used for a general location. It can be anywhere in a 50 mile radius or even more and will never be your exact location. That will not prompt a Location warning in the menu bar and is how the internet works, the website needs to know an IP Address to return the results of your request.

If you use iCloud Private Relay, that location is hidden further by providing an extra hop in your internet communications where the IP Address seen from the website is not the one from your internet provider. You can learn more about that here:

About iCloud Private Relay - Apple Support

You can provide a screenshot of what you see after tapping the location arrow in the menu bar for more information.

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Answer 2

Huelo Author

Level 1

26 points

Jul 7, 2026 8:50 PM in response to Mac Jim ID

Thank Jim, You are Correct. I rang Apple for Support and after a long consultation, they finally figured I had enabled to advise everytime an app performed a location check. So it wasn’t actually Safari executing a location check. I live on a boat at anchor and it is constantly swinging around in the wind and tide, so I think the system is constantly rechecking locations I think.

I found the same thing with my Apple pencil- it always reactives and discharges battery quickly unless I remove / unpair the Pencil in the settings sadly.

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Answer 3

Jul 7, 2026 9:21 PM in response to Huelo

You are welcome. It is always best to not jump to conclusions when not understanding something and stick to the information you have for an explanation. Otherwise you end up going in the completely wrong direction where it is sometimes difficult to find your way back or to rationally troubleshoot what is going on.

Thanks for the update.

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