5 Little-Known iPhone Features You Should Enable for Better Privacy

Data privacy falls into the “boring but important” category or, realistically, just “boring” for many people.

But you ignore it at your peril. Most people don’t realize how valuable their personal data is. Not just to criminals who might try to trick you into transmitting them on fake websites, but also to legitimate websites you visit, social networks you use, and companies that send you marketing emails.

They don’t just want to know your name, age, and address: they want to know you much better than that. They would like to know what products you plan to buy, what cafe you went to last week, where you plan to go on the weekend, who your friends are and even details like what time you usually check your emails.

They want to track your online activity and advertise products, services, vacations – you name it – in hopes that you will buy whatever they are selling. And you probably don’t want that.

You also don’t want your contacts to know your location and other information, without you knowing that they can see it.

The good news is that if you have an iPhone, you can turn on five features that should help stop those annoying targeted ads, prevent companies from knowing if you’ve opened their emails, and ensure you only share sensitive information. with contacts you trust. .

1. Tracking

By default, Safari – the built-in web browser on an iPhone – tries to block websites from tracking you as you browse between sites. To verify that this option is enabled, go to:

Settings > Safari > Prevent Cross-Site Tracking

Underneath is Hide IP address, which should be set to “From trackers”. This again helps prevent websites from identifying you.

Some apps track your activity when you use other apps and websites. You can choose whether you want to allow this or not, or ask them to ask permission. To do this, go to:

Settings > Privacy & Security > Tracking

Make sure this one is to extinguish to block all apps from tracking you.

2. Location

Some apps need to know your location to work properly. Others don’t, but will still ask to know your location. When an app asks you for the first time, you’ll see a pop-up allowing you to choose between: Never, When using the app, Always, Ask next time, or When I share. You might see all or just some of them.

But if you later decide to change the setting you originally chose, you can do so in Settings. It works well by ensuring that you’re not sharing location data with an app you don’t want. You will find the parameters of each application on:

Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services

To see if you share your location with your contacts, open the Find My app, tap Me, and check the Share my location box.

3. Mail Protection

You might assume that emails can’t be used to track you, but you’d be wrong. Senders can tell whether you’ve opened an email or not, and whether you click on any links in it. They could then use this information to advertise products.

The iPhone’s built-in Mail app can hide your IP address, which helps prevent the sender from tracking your online activity. It also prevents them from seeing your location and whether or not you’ve opened an email.

To make sure you get it, go to:

Settings > Messaging > Privacy Protection

4. Access keys

Passkeys is a relatively new feature, added in iOS 16, that provides a way to sign in to websites, apps, and services without needing to enter a username and password. This makes it a simpler and more secure option, as it uses a unique digital key that only works with the site or app it was created for, and means you can use Face ID or Touch ID for yourself. connect.

It works with iCloud Keychain and the only problem is that you can only use passkeys with apps and websites that support it. Some examples include Microsoft, PayPal, eBay, Google, Kayak, Go Daddy, and Best Buy.

You should be able to save a passkey on your iPhone when creating a new account on any site or app that supports them. For existing accounts, log in using your password, then visit the account management section, usually under security settings, to create a password for that account.

5. Security check

It’s not so much a feature you should enable, but it’s very useful when you need to quickly stop sharing your information with one or more contacts.

It’s also useful for periodically reviewing what you share with people.

Contacts won’t be notified of any changes you make, so you can do it discreetly and avoid any potential conflicts.

You will find this feature under:

Settings > Privacy & Security > Security Control

If you’d rather be shown how to make full use of these settings in person, Apple has added a new 30-minute session that you can register for online and attend at any Apple store worldwide.

It’s aptly called taking charge of your iPhone privacy.

The sessions are completely free and you can either register individually or as a group.

Use a VPN

Another way to increase your privacy on your iPhone is to use a VPN. Currently, Apple does not have its own VPN service, so you will need to sign up and install its app before you can use it.

To learn more, check out the VPN services we recommend.