If you’ve been an iPhone user for a few years, you likely know how important it is to protect yourself and your data.
While it’s normal to sometimes feel powerless in terms of who and what apps or sites get access to your data, there are many things in your control. Our iPhones hold a huge amount of personal information, from messages and photos to banking details and location data. That’s why making sure your privacy settings are properly adjusted is more important than ever. To help you stay protected, we spoke with cybersecurity and tech expert Amy Mortlock with ShadowDragon about four privacy settings you should know and use as an iPhone owner. Read more about them below.
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1. Turn Off App-Tracking
If you have and use many different apps on your device, then it's a good idea to check this setting, as it allows your apps to track your activity and data across other apps, which means they're collecting and sharing your data.
"To turn off app tracking, you can go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Tracking and toggle off 'Allow Apps to Request to Track,'" explains Mortlock. "This will prevent apps from tracking your activities across other apps and websites in order to build detailed profiles about your interests. Companies can then use this data for targeted ads or sell it to data brokers."
2. Disable Significant Locations
If you get extra concerned about your privacy and your iPhone checking your location, and believe you've turned off most of your location services, you may want to double-check this one. Significant Locations on your iPhone is a feature that keeps track of places you visit most often, like your home, work, or other frequently visited spots. Your device then uses this data to provide personalized services, like predicting traffic on your commute, suggesting routes in Maps, and more.
"Significant Locations of your iPhone can be turned off by going to Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services > System Services > Significant Locations," says Mortlock. "This feature creates a log of places you visit regularly, for example, your home or your work, which means your daily routine can be easily tracked by someone if your phone is ever stolen or compromised."
3. Stop Share iPhone Analytics
Share iPhone Analytics is a setting on your iPhone that lets Apple collect data about how you use your phone and its apps. This information can include details about app usage, battery life, and other reports. Apple has stated in the past that this helps them improve iOS features, services, and overall device performance. However, keeping it on does mean you're sending extra information from your iPhone back to Apple.
"To stop the iPhone analytics sharing, you can go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Analytics & Improvements and then toggle off 'Share iPhone Analytics,'" explains Mortlock. "This will prevent the iPhone from sending usage data to Apple regarding how you use the device and which apps you use most."
4. Limit Siri Data Collection
If you ever get a little worried about the Siri feature and your smartphone 'listening' to you, especially when you're not actively using it, this is a good setting to pay attention to.
"To limit the data collected by Siri, you can go to Settings > Apple Intelligence & Siri and turn off 'Allow Access When Locked,'" notes Mortlock. "This prevents anyone from using Siri to access your messages or contacts when they pick up your locked phone. You can also turn off 'Improve Siri & Dictation' in Analytics settings if you want to stop Apple from storing your voice recordings."
"These four changes can take just a few minutes but significantly reduce how much of your personal information gets tracked and shared," she continues. "Most of these features are on by default, so you may need to actively disable them to protect your privacy."
