A smartphone is a compact version of a person’s life. From images to audios, from office data, school data, private messages, family details, there is nothing that a smartphone doesn’t have access to. Even personal and highly valuable information like bank details and other confidential information is accessible by your android or iOS device. So, as it is, every user worries about the privacy that their device offers, and rightly so.
How do you maximize privacy on iPhone?
- Is my iPhone secure?
- How do I make sure my iPhone is secure?
- How do you maximize privacy on iPhone?
These are a few of the several questions regarding privacy that plague every iPhone user across the globe. There isn’t a single thing or a single setting that you can perform to ensure privacy on your iOS device. There are several things on a device or several things related to web browsing or location tracking that can easily disrupt your device’s privacy or share your data without your knowledge.
Using a smartphone, be it android or smartphone, can be a risk if you don’t ensure that your phone’s privacy is properly protected. It is impossible to identify what kind of data each app or feature collects and transmits. So, to be on the safe side and to make sure your privacy is protected, it is wise to revoke unnecessary permissions to any kinds of apps.
To help all users identify an app’s usage and what kind of data it collects, below is a list of dos and don’ts for all users that will help them protect their devices and their privacy.
Update your app permissions and delete apps
What is it?
Several apps are formulated to perform a certain level of corporate surveillance. If the permissions of the app are accepted when it is installed, then those apps will discreetly harvest away your data in the background.
Some apps must acquire your personal information to run smoothly. But these apps that you install on your iPhone give the developers who coded them a window into your activities. Sometimes, these developers acquire information from a device that is unnecessary for the basic functioning of the app.
Tracking occurs in many browsers. But, to stop these trackings from occurring in the browser, you can use anti-tracking protection for iOS, such as Firefox Focus. In the case of apps, once the permissions are granted, it means consent is automatically given to them to track your data. This will continue unless the app permissions are revoked.
What to do?
- Head over to the iOS settings.
- Click on ‘Privacy’.
- You can turn off location services for apps that don’t need it in the menu that follows.
- Next, go ahead and check thoroughly what other permissions have been granted to your apps.
- Alter the permission settings as required.
If any app has permissions that you cannot revoke, then deleting that app will be necessary to stop it from accessing your data, location, camera, microphone, or anything else. It is recommended that you delete any app that you do not frequently use to maximize your iOS device’s privacy.
Turn Off Location Tracking Services
What is it?
IOS has a feature which is known as the “Significant Locations”. This is one of the most criticized features of iOS. This location tracking feature tracks your location at all times, and the amount of time you remain in a certain location.
This location tracking feature works using a combination of Bluetooth, WiFi, GPS, and cell phone tower data to continually track your device’s whereabouts. Though Apple has stated that this feature does not access location data, you will find it quite hard to believe with all the things this feature can do.
What to do?
To turn off this “Significant Locations” feature, you have to do the following
- Head over to your settings.
- Click on ‘privacy’.
- Under this menu, you will find ‘location’.
- After clicking on ‘location’, you will find ‘system preferences’.
- To access this, you will have to authenticate yourself first by typing in your passcode or using your Face ID or Touch ID.
- After doing this, you will be able to turn off the ‘Significant Locations’ feature.
“Share my location” is another feature that can be considered to be invasive by many iOS users. To turn off this location tracking, you can head over to privacy settings and turn this feature off.
Turn off iPhone analytics
What is it?
This is a present feature so that Apple can improve its products and services by getting usage data from the users. When iPhone analytics is turned on, the iPhone automatically sends data to the Apple servers about your phone usage habits. Other than giving rise to privacy issues, whenever iPhone analytics sends data from your iOS device to Apple, it drains your battery. Turning this feature off will improve your iPhone’s battery life and provide you with more privacy.
What to do?
If you prefer not to be tracked, then it is better to turn off this feature. You might do so in the following way:-
- Head over to your settings and click on ‘privacy’.
- You will get the option ‘Share iPhone Analytics’.
- You just have to click on it and turn it off.
Switch off iCloud Analytics
What is it?
iCloud analytics is a feature that is very similar to iPhone analytics. iCloud analytics is another feature that helps Apple develop its services and products. This feature, just like the iPhone analytics, sends data to the Apple servers regarding your usage and stuff. Along with this data sharing, this feature is also guilty of sending telemetry back to apple. Telemetry means the automatic recording and transmission of data from certain sources to any IT system for monitoring and analysis. It has also been found that the iCloud feature can send fragments of your texts back to the Apple servers. This includes content from emails or any kind of message.
What to do?
The iCloud is a highly invasive data collection feature, and more than most users are uncomfortable with sharing such private data. So, to turn off this feature, the following steps will suffice:-
- Head over to the settings of your iPhone.
- In settings, click on ‘Privacy’.
- Under the privacy menu, you will find ‘Analytics.’
- In this analytics section, you will have an option where you can turn off your iCloud feature.
Use a VPN for iOS
What is it?
A virtual private network, also popularly known as VPN, is a feature that establishes an encrypted connection over the internet between a device and the network. This encrypted connection disguises your IP address when you use the internet. This makes its location invisible to everyone. This also helps ensure that all sensitive data is safely transmitted. It also prevents unauthorized sources from eavesdropping on the traffic and allows the user to conduct work securely.
Therefore, no matter how many privacy settings you enable on your iOS device, your IP address will be trackable unless you use a VPN. This is because your Internet Service Provider is your gateway to the internet. All the data should compulsorily pass through its servers to all the websites and services you visit.
A VPN is also a necessary security tool for when you connect your device to public hotspots. The encryption that a VPN provides will stop hackers from hacking and stealing your valuable data as it passes over any public network.
What to do?
To encrypt the data and to ensure that your IP address isn’t tracked and to browse securely, you need to install any VPN app on your phone. Some of the best VPN for iPhone are:
After installing a VPN, you will get several region options. You just have a click and connect to a certain region.
Is Apple really better about privacy?
It is always a common query of every person worldwide that “Are iPhones better than Androids?” Well, the answer to that would be ‘yes’.
“We believe that privacy is a fundamental human right”- this is what we find written at the top of Apple’s privacy page. Even the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Apple, Tim Cook, has recited these words on several occasions. This is a world where platforms like Facebook and Google seem to be quite less concerned about data privacy. So, in a world like this, it is important to address the claim of Apple that whether it holds the privacy values to heart.
But yes, no matter how many questions arise, if you look at it from a business angle, you will see that it will benefit Apple if it is legitimate about its privacy claims. Apple profits off its privacy stance, and as every business worries about its profits, so does Apple. Hence, it is safe to believe that Apple devices are more secure than Androids.