Your smartphone is a copy of your thoughts, filled with all your things you don’t necessarily want to share with others such as emails, search history, and chats with other people. Regardless of whether you’re concerned about corporations collecting your data to monetize your habits or a snooping roommate with a penchant for side-eyeing your incoming messages, or you just don’t want some random stranger to gain access to everything in your phone, here are some tips to make your iPhone more secure and private.
Location services are one of the most valuable pieces of data readily available whenever someone or some app accesses your iPhone, physically, trough design, or through malware. Apple’s apps are usually transparent with what they do with the data they collect from you but the same cannot be said about third-party apps. With third-party apps asking to know your location, there is a risk that your location data may be used for undesired, even shady purposes. While location services come with many benefits, like GPS navigation, Apple Watch fitness features, Wi-Fi Calling, local weather information, and more, giving too many services and apps access to your location means you never really know how those services and apps are using your location data. So, choose wisely which apps you allow, and when, to see your location.
The web browser Safari is one of the biggest culprits allowing your information to be snooped on when using an iOS device to browse the web. A lot of websites track their vistors and record the information they find. This can mean the tabs that you have open or even your login info. Fortunately, Apple gives you a handful of useful options to protect yourself, such as private browsing mode, and some configurable settings for fine-tuning Safari’s privacy. With a good limiting of Safari permissions, you can make yourself more anonymous and less trackable by sites you don’t want tracking you.
Another layer of security you can add is the Face ID or Touch ID for doing important things such as purchases from the App Store or doing transactions on apps that support such ID. Face ID and Touch ID can be used for logging in to your Apple devices with those features, for downloads and purchases, and for when third-party applications ask you to log in. Apple advises that your facial and fingerprint data is not recorded as an image but as a mathematical expression and is never uploaded to the Internet.
There’s also always the option to make your passwords strong in the first place. This means having a mix of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters. Avoid using the same password for multiple accounts so that one compromised account does not mean all of your accounts are. Also use two-factor authentication where available to add an extra layer of security on your accounts.
If you still need help, please visit us at our store at 26 Thao Dien Street, Thao Dien Ward, District 2 for a free consultation.
