15 Privacy Protection Tips Every IPhone User Should Know

When you use devices that are constantly connected to the internet, it’s difficult to completely protect your privacy . Fortunately, there are many excellent privacy protections for your iPhone that you can use to make it more difficult for trackers and spies to collect your data and track you. From built-in solutions like adjusting app permissions to purchasing screen protectors, here are 10 ways every iPhone user should consider protecting their privacy.

Purchase a screen protector to ensure privacy.

No privacy software will protect you from someone looking over your shoulder to remember your password or from peeking at your activity. However, a screen protector can protect you. I learned this firsthand: recently, one of my friends tried to show me something on her iPhone, and I realized I couldn’t see anything until her phone was right in front of me.

These screen protectors can make using your phone in public easier, without worrying about who’s looking at your screen. However, there are a few potential downsides. These screen protectors are quite plasticky and don’t feel as nice to the touch as your iPhone’s touchscreen. They also reduce screen brightness. This doesn’t bother me, but it could be an issue in bright light. If you can live with these downsides, this is an inexpensive privacy protection option that’s definitely worth considering.

If possible, try to prevent Apple from collecting your data.

Apple is known for its privacy policies, but its commitment seems to be weakening somewhat in recent years. The company aggressively injects advertising into its apps and notifications, and persistently encourages iPhone users to subscribe to Apple services. Blocking advertising directly from the company is nearly impossible, but it’s worth changing a few settings to limit Apple’s own ads . This also includes reducing Apple’s data collection. Many of these options are available in Settings > Privacy & Security on your iPhone. From this page, you can navigate to the following sections to disable significant tracking:

• Analytics and improvements

• Apple advertising

• Location Services > System Services

Carefully reviewing all the options on these pages and disabling unnecessary features will significantly limit Apple’s data collection.

Whenever possible, deny (or restrict) app permissions.

I used to allow all permissions requested by apps upon first launch. Over time, I realized this resulted in a lot of notification spam, unnecessary data collection, and significant battery drain if the app was tracking my location. So I developed a new strategy: deny all permissions unless the app absolutely needs them . In general, I almost always deny permissions for the following: notifications, contact access, location, camera, microphone, and photos.

In newer versions of iOS, you can share only a few contacts or photos, and restrict GPS access to approximate locations instead of precise locations. All these features are available in Settings > Privacy & Security if you missed them when setting up the app.

Consider removing apps that are known to track your activity.

While the App Tracking Transparency feature on your iPhone does reduce data collection by many apps, it’s far from a guarantee of complete protection. In general, apps have access to much more data than their web counterparts, so try to switch from apps to mobile websites whenever 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 would otherwise transfer to web apps will be blocked or deleted by Safari’s privacy features , further protecting your data. As an added bonus, since web apps tend to provide a worse user experience than dedicated apps, you’ll also be much less likely to fall into the trap of endless scrolling. I’ve used this quite effectively with social media apps, but apps like WhatsApp aren’t always easy to uninstall.

Install an ad blocker (or use a more secure DNS).

Installing an ad blocker and DNS app can significantly improve your iPhone’s privacy. Ad blockers like uBlock Origin are effective at blocking intrusive tracking on your iPhone, but their effectiveness is limited to Safari. To improve the privacy of your internet traffic, consider installing an encrypted DNS app like NextDNS , AdGuard DNS , or ControlD . All of these block ads and trackers in most apps on your iPhone and protect you from certain types of online security threats.

Use a VPN to hide your IP address.

A good VPN protects your web browsing by routing your traffic through an encrypted network and hiding your device’s IP address. This makes anonymous web browsing much easier and makes it much more difficult for websites and internet service providers to track your activity.

While VPNs can be a great tool for privacy and security, you should exercise caution when using them. If the VPN company is legitimate, your data won’t be tracked. However, if it’s not, the VPN company may log all your data and sell it to advertisers or data brokers. While there are several reputable free VPN providers , I always recommend using a paid VPN for maximum privacy. Mullvad VPN is one of the best paid VPNs on the market , and it allows you to create an account even without an email address. You can also pay a monthly fee of €5 ($5.80) using anonymous payment methods, such as cash, making Mullvad one of the best VPNs for privacy and anonymity.

If you subscribe to Apple’s iCloud plan, you should also consider enabling iCloud Private Relay to add an extra layer of privacy to your Safari activity. iCloud Private Relay doesn’t work with traffic from other apps, making it less useful than a VPN, but if you only need to reduce browser data tracking by advertisers and your ISP, it’s sufficient.

Security check is mandatory.

Everyone should use the Security Checkup feature on their iPhone . This feature instantly identifies who you’re sharing data with, including passwords, activity data, your current location, calendars, notes, and more. To check, go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Security Checkup > Manage Access & Sharing . You can follow step-by-step instructions to check app permissions and add an emergency contact, ensuring the safety of your data (and yourself). While you can access all of these options manually in the Settings app, Security Checkup lets you find all the features without having to sift through multiple pages, saving you a lot of time.

Use the “Hide My Email” feature to protect your email address.

Every time you log in to a website, you provide your real email address. If the site is hacked, your email address becomes available and can become a target for hackers. To protect your email address, use a nickname for each website. This way, if one of the sites is hacked, you can simply disable that nickname or avoid phishing attacks targeting that nickname alone.

There are many ways to create an email alias , but few compare to Apple’s “Hide My Email” feature . This feature is available to anyone who subscribes to iCloud. On your iPhone, go to Settings > [YOUR NAME] > iCloud > “Hide My Email” to create a new alias. When creating an account on various websites or apps, you’ll also see a prompt to use “Hide My Email” above the keyboard, allowing you to create an email alias with a single tap.

A password manager is a great tool for maintaining privacy.

A good password manager is also essential. Free password managers, such as the built-in Passwords app or BitWarden, allow you to create unique, strong passwords for each website, significantly reducing the chances of a single hacker hacking your accounts. You can also use these apps to store two-factor authentication codes for an additional layer of security .

What’s more, these apps can manage passwords to help you log into your online accounts. Passwords eliminate the need to remember passwords and are much more resistant to phishing attacks that could compromise your accounts. For more information on passwords , check out our full guide here .

Encrypt your backups to protect your data from hacking.

Having backups of any important data is crucial, but the method you use to back them up is also crucial. Therefore, backups should be encrypted whenever possible. This applies to both iCloud backups and backups of your messaging apps, such as Telegram or WhatsApp . Encryption significantly reduces the likelihood of someone else reading the data on your iPhone, as it is completely encrypted without the key—which in this case is your password or PIN. However, this is where the danger lies. If you forget your backup password, even you won’t be able to access it to restore the data if necessary. Therefore, use a password manager to store these passwords so you never forget them.

For added security, back up your data outside the cloud.

Always have at least two backups of your data. If iCloud is down or Apple blocks your account for any reason, you won’t be able to recover the data stored on their servers. However, having an encrypted offline backup will allow you to access it even without a working internet connection. To do this, you’ll need a laptop or desktop computer running Windows or macOS.

You can connect your iPhone to your Mac and open Finder to start a backup. Select your iPhone in the left pane and choose ” Back up all data on your iPhone to this Mac” in the right pane. Be sure to check “Encrypt local backup,” add a password, and save it in a good password manager. Again, if you lose this password, you won’t be able to access the backup at all. On Windows, you can download iTunes and follow the same steps, or use the built-in Apple Devices app .

Removing identifying information from social media photos

This isn’t so much an iPhone privacy tip as a general life hack, but it’s worth mentioning. These days, 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 amount of data you share on social media, you may not know that you can remove identifying data from photos you post online . EXIF ​​data includes a wealth of statistics about the equipment that took the photo, including your camera’s make and model, shutter speed, focal length, and, perhaps most importantly, location. However, you don’t have to avoid posting photos to protect this data: simply remove the EXIF ​​data before posting .

Use encrypted messengers to protect your conversations.

For private messaging on iPhone, it’s recommended to use only end-to-end encrypted apps , meaning only you and the recipient can read your messages. Popular messaging apps with end-to-end encryption include WhatsApp and Signal , although Apple’s iMessage protocol also uses end-to-end encryption. However, unless you send messages through the Messages app on iPhone, your messages won’t be encrypted, as SMS and RCS aren’t currently encrypted protocols on iPhone. This will change soon, at least for RCS: Apple will add support for RCS encryption in iOS 26.4 , meaning your text messages will also be encrypted after the update is released.

Use Guided Access to prevent unauthorized access to your iPhone.

When you allow someone else to use your iPhone briefly, you should enable Guided Access to prevent unauthorized access . Guided Access prevents users from leaving the current app on the screen, so if you allow someone to use the Google app on your phone, they won’t be able to see your messages or photos. Go to Settings > Accessibility > Guided Access and enable this feature. You can use your passcode or Face ID to turn Guided Access on or off.

The next time you hand over your iPhone to someone, open the app they need access to, then quickly press the side button three times to enable Guided Access. Here, you can disable touch input in certain areas of the screen, set a time limit for the other person to use the phone, disable the keyboard, and more. Once you’re all set, you’re ready to hand over your phone. You can disable Guided Access by entering your passcode or using Face ID. If you only have a few apps you want to keep private, you can always lock them individually using Face ID .

Use lockdown mode to prevent radical attacks on your iPhone.

Most people will never need to use Lockdown Mode , as it’s designed to protect your data from government surveillance or spying. However, it’s still worth knowing about in case of a cyberattack or if you suspect your iPhone is infected with spyware. Lockdown Mode disables message attachments, links and link previews, most incoming FaceTime calls, many Apple services, certain web technologies and fonts in Safari, and many other features that attackers could exploit to obtain your personal data.

Again, most people don’t need this level of extreme protection, but if you ever do, you can go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Lockdown Mode and turn it on.

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