IPhone Privacy and Security – The Complete Guide

Apple increases the level of security and privacy for iPhone users with every new iOS update. You can know when an app is using the camera, microphone, or even reading data and files on your iPhone. Indeed there is much more, in this article we will explain not only how to protect your data, but also how to protect the iPhone from hackers and viruses. Check out the powerful security features ready to defend you on your iPhone.

1. Limit trackers, eliminate annoying ads

The apps track your activities and show you targeted ads. This is normal, but it hinders your privacy. Now you can limit app tracking on iPhone. Apps can ask to track you on your iPhone, but in addition to your phone, you can turn off the tracking request on apps as well.

1. You open Settings sull’iPhone.
2. Go to Privacy.
3. Touch Monitoring and deactivate Allow apps to request the monitoring.

If you leave this option enabled, apps will ask to track you. If you accidentally consent, they will show you advertisements based on your Internet behavior.

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2. Set a private MAC address for WiFi

Masking the MAC address on your iPhone in public WiFi networks is tricky. People often do this with Windows PCs and Android phones with some tweaks. If you are an iPhone user, you find the option to periodically change the MAC address on your device. Now you can change the MAC address of your iPhone and set a masked private address.

1. Open the WiFi settings on your iPhone.
2. Tap the “i”On the connected WiFi network.
3. Activate “Private address“.
4. Disconnect and reconnect to the WiFi network.

All owners of public WiFi networks will not be able to see the MAC address of your iPhone. This feature gives you an extra layer of security in public WiFi networks.

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3. Decide which photos each app can access

Apple just moved from privacy settings for batches of photos to privacy for individual photos. This means that you can now set privacy for individual photos on your iPhone.

When an app asks for permission to access photos, you can select individual photos that the app can access. This prevents the app from accessing the rest of your photos on your iPhone. Later, you can also decide which of the apps can access which photos on your iPhone.

1. Open the app Settings sull’iPhone.
2. Go to option Privacy.
3. Touch Photo.
4. Select the app and choose the photo privacy option for you.

You can choose to allow access to selected photos, all photos, or no photos. When you choose the selected photos, the app will only see the selected photos on your iPhone.

4. Find out which apps use the microphone and camera in real time

Do you think that some apps are spying on you and that someone is listening to your conversations? Apple’s new feature lets you see whenever an app accesses the microphone and camera.

You can find the colored dot in the upper right corner of your iPhone, just above the cellular network indicator. Here’s what the dots mean.

• Orange: access to the microphone
• Verde: access to the camera

This feature helps you find out if an app is trying to spy on you.

5. How to take out sharing of precise location on iPhone

You no longer have to share your precise location with apps. For apps like Weather, they just need the approximate location of your area to show the weather conditions. Here’s how to turn off precise location sharing with apps.

1. You open Settings and go up Privacy your iPhone.
2. Tap Services of location.
3. Go to the app you want to turn off accurate location data for.
4. Deactivate “Precise location“.

Precise location can be disabled in the location services settings for individual apps. The app will receive inaccurate but approximate data about your location.

6. Find out when apps are using the clipboard

Like Android devices, any app can access your clipboard right when the app is opened. We weren’t all aware of this security issue until the last update to iOS 14. You can now see when an app accesses clipboard content.

When an app accesses clipboard data, you will receive a message at the top of the screen. It shows you details about the clipboard data, where it was copied and which app was accessed.

7. Block apps from using camera and microphone on iPhone

You can grant or revoke permissions for individual apps to access the camera and microphone on iPhone. If you’ve found any apps that presumably use your camera or microphone, you can remove their microphone and camera access. To block app access to microphone and camera, on iPhone do this:

1. Settings sull’iPhone.
2. Go to Privacy.
3. Touch Microphone.
4. Turn on or off to allow or prevent apps from accessing the microphone.
5. Go back and go to the camera.
6. Deactivate the apps you want to remove camera access for.

8. Block websites from monitoring iPhone

Websites use certain elements called cookies to track your Internet activities. However, sometimes these can be harmful. Additionally, they may snoop into your research activities and understand your interests for advertising purposes. To prevent websites from tracking iPhone with cookies, you need to disable them or change how they are stored. That’s how.

1. You open Settings sull’iPhone.
2. Go up Safari.
3. Activate “Block all cookies“.
4. Confirm for block everything.

Some websites require cookies to function properly. Without cookies, you will not be able to save login information for sites. Many other things could get blocked if you completely block cookies on websites.

9. Enable two-factor authentication

Have you enabled 2FA protection for your Apple ID? If not, you need to do it right away to protect your sensitive personal information. Use your Apple ID to sign in to iTunes, App Store, or other places. In case someone hacks your Apple ID, they will be able to access your personal information such as credit card, email, messages, contacts and more. However, if you have 2FA enabled, your Apple ID can only be used to log into your account from your trusted devices.

1. Touch Settings on your iPhone and then tap on your account iCloud.
2. Then, tap Password and security from the list of options.
3. Then, tap Enable two-factor authentication.
4. Next, enter the phone number on which to receive the authentication code.
5. Select how you want to receive the code: Message / Call.
6. Tap Next and enter the 6-digit code to complete the two-factor authentication setup.

Now, if you log into your iCloud account from another device, you will be notified with two options Consented e Do not allow. If you tap Allow, you must enter the 6-digit authentication code (received on the current device) on another device to provide access to your account. This will help prevent unauthorized access to your iCloud account.

10. Clear data after 10 unsuccessful attempts

Most iOS users may not have found this option as it is hidden in your iPhone’s settings. According to the name, enabling this option will erase all data on your iPhone, if wrong passcode is entered for 10 times (iPhone will be disabled after 6 wrong passcode attempts).

You can activate this option provided if you don’t share your device with children. Go to Settings-> Touch ID and passcode and enter your passcode. Then scroll down to locate Clear data and move the switch to the right.

Apple has taken every step to make iOS secure. However, the hackers are smart and can steal data from the iPhone. The best thing you can do to protect your iPhone is to make sure that you have activated all the security features offered by Apple’s iOS.

11. Protect passwords with Touch / Face ID

Now you no longer need to remember passwords as you can use a Password Manager to access frequently visited websites / apps. However, you need to protect your login password with your Touch ID or Face ID to prevent others from seeing your passwords.

Go ahead and go up Settings-> Touch ID and passcode and enter your passcode for authentication. Then, move the switch position Password autofill right, if you’ve never done this before.

Now, only you can view your passwords after authenticating with your fingerprint and no one else can see your credentials.

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To conclude

Bottom line, these are some of the best security and privacy features built into iPhone if you’re using iOS 14 or higher. I hope you have found them useful in protecting your data on your iPhone.