Our privacy is increasingly important, especially in a world where almost all the services and sites we use ask for consent to be able to collect personal data and information (both for purely functional purposes and to pass them on to the best bidder). Not least is Apple, which informs all users when turning on any device (with a contract to be accepted) and has always worked to illustrate as clearly as possible the use it makes of the data collected during the use of any Apple product (iPhone first). Just to meet the needs of the most scrupulous users in terms of privacy we will show you in this guide all the settings to increase privacy on the iPhone to be activated for the protection of personal data, so that you can always have maximum control over the information that Apple can provide to apps and who can collect them for their own purposes.
READ ALSO: Privacy settings for smartphones (Android and iOS)
1) Localization of installed apps
One of the components that could collect more information is certainly the location of the phone, consisting of both the GPS antenna and the triangulation system via telephone cells. Although not directly visible, many installed apps require location access in order to function properly. If these features are not appreciated and we want to prevent the apps from finding out where we are (without completely deactivating the location), simply go to the Settings menu -> Privacy -> Location .
In the central part of this menu we will see all the apps that have access to location services; just tap above to choose whether to grant access ( Never ) or use location only if requested at the moment ( While using the app ). Obviously we leave the best settings for map apps such as Google Maps or Apple Maps otherwise we will not be able to use the satellite navigator on the iPhone in the best way (no map or wrong coordinates). The use of location features is indicated by 3 types of arrows: transparent (for apps that may receive your location), full (for apps that have recently used your location) and gray (apps that have used location in the last few 24 hours).
2) Localization of system services
In addition to the installed apps, some system services can also access the location, without being indicated in any way during use. You can check these settings from the Settings -> Privacy -> Location -> System services path.
As we can see, there are many Apple services that require (or may require in the future) access to the position in order to function properly (or only for some of the required features). Also in this case the color of the arrows next to the items will allow you to understand who is using the location and from when: transparent (for apps that may receive your position), full (for apps that have recently used the position) and gray (apps that have used location in the past 24 hours). We can disable the location for the services that we consider superfluous and, at the bottom of the page, we can also get a GPS icon whenever one of the services that are active accesses the position (by default the iPhone does not show anything).
3) Sharing your personal position
Our real-time location can be easily shared with family and friends with iPhone and iPad using the Share my location option, available in the Settings -> Privacy menu .
In this menu you can disable the item that allows your family and friends to find you (via the Messages app and the Find my friends function ) and to see who has the authorization to know our position in real time. Since this option could often be considered a violation of privacy, we might as well disable it if you don't use it.
4) Access to photos, address book, microphone, camera etc.
The apps installed on the iPhone can access the hardware components of your device and the most sensitive information (such as address book and messages) with extreme simplicity. Although many of these functions are necessary for some apps to function, some can be considered dangerous for privacy. We can check it by going to the Settings -> Privacy menu and checking all the items present.
If we find any apps that access the address book or calendar, we can decide to stop this privacy violation!
The app in question may also stop working, so let's carefully choose what to disable.
5) Analysis to improve the products
Apple collects anonymous smartphone usage data so we can improve the user experience.
Although anonymous, this information can still indicate to Apple how we use the iPhone, which apps we often use and how they behave during use. We can minimize the information transferred to Apple by going to the Settings -> Privacy -> Analysis menu.
We disable the Share iPhone analysis and Share iCloud analysis entries to prevent this data collection.
Apple will no longer collect any data, even anonymously, on how we use the device. If we want to read the reports on the analyzed data, just press on the Analysis Data item in the same menu.
6) Targeted Apple advertising
Apple personally manages the advertising for all the apps present in the App Store, collecting useful information for advertisers to generate targeted advertising. Among the things they control is the type of advertising you click on, browsing habits and installed apps (as a list).
If we want to limit this activity (it is not possible to completely block it unfortunately) we will only have to go to the Settings menu -> Privacy -> Advertising .
We activate the item Limit data collection, so as to prevent Apple from collecting too much information about our habits while using the iPhone. Some information will still be collected, but will be anonymous and not easily associated with our browsing style or with our installed apps.
7) Camera and Microphone privacy settings
Numerous apps on the iPhone have probably requested and obtained access to the phone's camera and microphone. For some of these apps, this type of permission is mandatory, for others, the reason remains a mystery. Since it is possible for an app to spy on the user from the camera and microphone, it is worth checking the apps that have this access and denying permission to those that do not need it. Then go to Settings> Privacy> Camera and Settings> Privacy> Microphone and check which apps have access to it.
8) Other privacy settings to be configured on the iPhone
Three other settings that should be checked for the protection of private data.
First of all, the Live Photos, which are not photos but three-second mini videos. If these have been activated, you should be careful when taking a photo to share, because we may have said something during the photo that other people can listen to.
The second is that of the notification previews on the lock screen, which everyone can read. in Settings> Notifications it would be better to disable notifications on the lock screen for apps such as that of SMS messages or Whatsapp.
Set a password to voicemail, the voicemail, which can otherwise be easily opened by a hacker. This can be done in Settings> Phone
