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When you use devices that are always connected to the Internet, It's difficult to completely protect your privacy. Luckily, there are plenty of great iPhone privacy hacks you can use to make it harder for trackers and spies to collect your data and spy on your business. From built-in solutions like adjusting app permissions to purchasing screen protectors, here are 10 tips every iPhone user should consider protecting their privacy.
Buy yourself a privacy screen protector
No privacy hacking software can protect you from people looking over your shoulder to remember your password or snooping to see what you're doing. What can protect you, however, is This is a privacy screen protector film. I've seen this with my own eyes: one of my friends recently tried to show me something on her iPhone, and I realized that I couldn't see anything at all until her phone was right in front of me.
These screen protectors will make it easier to use your phone in public without worrying about who is looking at your screen. However, there are a few potential deal breakers. These screen protectors are quite floppy and aren't as nice and smooth as your iPhone's touch screen. These products also reduce screen brightness. I don't mind it, but it can be a problem if you're trying to use the phone in bright light. If you can live with these cons, this is a cheap privacy hack that's definitely worth considering.
Don't let Apple collect your data (as much as possible)
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Apple is known for its privacy policies, but its resolve seems to be waning a bit in recent years. Company advertising in your applications and your notifications, and actively encourages iPhone users to sign up for Apple services. There's not much you can do to block advertising material coming directly from a company, but it's still worth it. Changing a few settings to limit Apple's own advertising. This also includes reducing Apple's data collection. Many of these options are available in the Settings > Privacy and Security on your iPhone. From this page you can go to the following pages to disable some of the tracking:
Carefully reviewing all the options on these pages and turning off unnecessary features will go a long way toward limiting Apple's data collection.
Deny (or restrict) app permissions whenever you can.
Previously, I allowed all the permissions that the application asked for when I first opened it. Over time, I realized that this results in a lot of notification spam, unnecessary data collection, and significant battery drain if the app is tracking my location. That's why I developed a new strategy: deny all permissions unless absolutely necessary for the application. In general, I almost always deny permission to send notifications, access to contacts, location, camera, microphone and photos.
New versions of iOS allow you share just a few contacts or photographs and even limit GPS access to approximate location instead of a precise marker. All this is available in the section Settings > Privacy and Security in case you missed them when setting up the application.
Consider deleting apps that are known to track you.
While App Tracking Transparency Option on your iPhone reduces data collection from many apps, but it is far from reliable. In general, apps have access to much more data than their web versions, so you should try switching between apps and mobile websites if possible. If you uninstall apps like Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok and switch to logging in through Safari, you'll transfer much less data, and some of the data you'd otherwise transfer to web apps will be blocked or enhanced by Safari privacy featureswhich provides additional protection for your data. As an added bonus, since web apps tend to perform worse than dedicated apps, you're much less likely to fall into the scrolling trap. I've used this quite effectively with social media apps, but you can't always uninstall apps like WhatsApp.
Install an ad blocker (or use a better DNS)
Credit: Justin Poth
Installing an ad blocker and a DNS app can do wonders for your iPhone's privacy. Ad blockers such as uBlock Origin They do a pretty good job of blocking invasive tracking on your iPhone, but their effect is limited to Safari. To increase the privacy of your internet traffic, you should consider installing an encrypted DNS application such as NextDNS, AdGuard DNSor ControlD. All of this will block ads or trackers in most apps on your iPhone, and will also protect you from some types of online security threats.
Security check required
Everyone Should Use Security Check on iPhone. This feature lets you know at a glance who you're sharing information with, including passwords, exercise data, your current location, calendars, notes, and more. To check this, go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Security Check > Manage sharing and access.. You can view the prompts to review app permissions and set up an emergency contact that will keep your data (and you) safe. While you can manually access all of these options in the Settings app, security check request allows you to find all the features without going through multiple pages, which will save you a lot of time.
What are your thoughts so far?
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Good password manager this is also mandatory. Free password managers such as built-in application “Passwords” or BitWarden allow you to create unique, strong passwords for each website, significantly reducing the likelihood of your accounts being compromised. You can also use these apps to store two-factor authentication codes to add an additional level of security for your accounts.
Moreover, these apps can manage access keys to help you log into your online accounts. Access keys eliminate the need to remember passwords and are much more resistant to phishing attacks that could compromise your accounts. For more information about access keys, see check out our full guide here.
Encrypt your data backups responsibly
You should seriously consider enabling encryption for your data backups. This includes your iCloud backupand backups of your messaging apps such as Telegram or whatsapp. Encryption greatly reduces the chance of someone else reading what's on your iPhone because the data is completely encrypted without a key, which in this case is either your password or PIN. However, this is where the danger lies. If you forget your backup password, even You you will not be able to access the backup to restore data if you need to. Again, use a password manager to store these passwords so you never forget them.
This isn't so much an iPhone privacy tip as it is a general privacy hack, but it's worth mentioning. Today, trackers and hackers effectively use social media posts, photos, and videos to build your profile. While there are many steps you can take to limit the data you share on social media, you may not be aware of it. you can remove identifying information from photos you post online. Exif data includes a variety of statistics about the equipment that captured the image, including your camera make and model, shutter speed, focal length, and, perhaps most importantly, location. However, you don't have to avoid sharing photos to protect this data: just remove the exif data before publishing.
Blocking mode protects you from extreme attacks
Most people will never need to use Lock modebecause it is designed to protect your data when it is under attack from the government or espionage. However, this tool is still worth knowing about in case you ever experience a cyber attack or suspect your iPhone is infected with spyware. Blocking mode turns off message attachments, links and link previews, most incoming FaceTime calls, many Apple services, some web technologies and fonts in Safari, and many other features.
Again, most people don't need this level of extreme protection, but if you ever need it, you can go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Lock Mode to turn it on.
