I’m pretty sure that by taking my iPad with me when I go shopping, I’m probably giving out all kinds of information on my location.
I saw a video where a guy used people’s location data that they were posting themselves and tracking them down to ask questions about stuff they had themselves posted on twitter, Facebook, etc. He was trying to illustrate just how careless a lot of people are with their personal information. Some of them were really mad at him, yet he had only used the information that they had willingly publicized to find them. Others were surprised, because they really had no clue.
In short, if you want privacy, you have to think about all of your activities. The social media is obvious, but other activities like going into a store and allowing its app to find your location. (Actually, one local store always gets it wrong.) Many people broadcast a lot of information about themselves daily.
EVERY device made today has a GPS chip in it. It’s required by law for the purposes of 911 calls. There’s no avoiding it. Your iPAd, if it’s non-cellular, is a good idea, but even if you just have a “burner” phone still has that GPS chip, even if it can’t do GPS map guidance. You call 911, they know where you are. . . But they can also still track where your phone is, because that chip location is always sent along with the tower pings.