10 iPhone privacy settings to change now

A weak four-digit PIN is the single biggest gap in iPhone privacy. Switching to a custom alphanumeric passcode and requiring it immediately means physical access to your phone gives an attacker almost nothing to work with, no matter how sophisticated their other tools are.

1. Go to Settings, then Face ID & Passcode (or Touch ID & Passcode on older models).
2. Tap Change Passcode, enter your current passcode, then choose Custom Alphanumeric Code. Pick something long and unique.
3. Set Require Passcode to Immediately.
4. Enable Erase Data to wipe the device after ten failed attempts.

Apps regularly ask for Always On location access when they only need it once. That means your whereabouts are being logged in the background, continuously, even when you haven't opened the app in weeks. Cutting that back takes five minutes and stops a surprising amount of quiet data collection.

1. Go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services.
2. Work through each app. For most, While Using the App is plenty. Set anything that has no clear reason to track you to Never.
3. Turn off Precise Location for apps that only need a rough area, such as weather apps.
4. Scroll to System Services at the bottom and disable location use for analytics, suggestions, and iPhone analytics.

Without this switched off, apps can follow your identifier across other apps and websites to build an advertising profile of you. It's one toggle. Flipping it means advertisers get far less signal about your behaviour across the internet.

1. Go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Tracking.
2. Toggle off Allow Apps to Request to Track. This silently denies all future tracking requests system-wide.
3. Scroll down to see individual app decisions already made and deny any you missed previously.

Apps with microphone or camera access can collect sensitive information in ways you'd never expect. Doing a quick sweep of what's been granted, and removing anything without an obvious ongoing reason, is one of the fastest wins in this entire list.

1. Go to Settings > Privacy & Security.
2. Open each category: Camera, Microphone, Contacts, Photos, Bluetooth, and Calendars.
3. Revoke access for any app that has no clear, current reason to need it.
4. On iOS 14 and later, watch for the orange dot (microphone in use) and green dot (camera in use) in the status bar. If they appear unexpectedly, check which app triggered them in Control Centre.

Your Apple Account controls your iCloud backups, location history, payment details, and messages. If someone gets into it, they effectively get into your phone, even from the other side of the world. Two-factor authentication is the most important single lock you can add.

1. Go to Settings > [Your Name] > Sign-In & Security.
2. Enable Two-Factor Authentication if it isn't already on.
3. Set a strong, unique password not used on any other service.
4. Review trusted phone numbers and trusted devices. Remove anything you don't recognise.

Safety Check is a single dashboard that shows every person, app, and device that has access to your location, account, or data, and lets you cut that access in one place. If you're in a situation where your safety is at risk, the Emergency Reset option stops all sharing instantly.

1. Go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Safety Check.
2. Tap Manage Sharing & Access for a guided, step-by-step review of permissions granted to people and apps.
3. Or tap Emergency Reset to immediately revoke all sharing and sign out of iCloud on other devices.
4. Follow the prompts to revoke specific access for individual people, apps, or devices.

Standard Safari browsing stores cookies, history, and site data that anyone with access to your device can read, and which syncs across your Apple devices. A few setting changes cut the tracking considerably without meaningfully changing how the browser feels to use.

1. In Settings > Apps > Safari, enable Prevent Cross-Site Tracking and Hide IP Address.
2. Consider switching the default search engine to DuckDuckGo under Search Engine.
3. Go to Settings > Apps > Safari > Advanced > Website Data and clear stored data periodically.
4. For sensitive browsing, tap the tabs button in Safari, then tap Private to open a private session where history and cookies aren't saved.

Your iPhone sends usage patterns and diagnostic data to Apple and app developers by default. Turning this off takes thirty seconds and has no effect on how your phone performs. It does mean considerably less behavioural data leaving your device every day.

1. Go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Analytics & Improvements.
2. Disable Share iPhone Analytics, Share iCloud Analytics, and Improve Siri & Dictation.
3. Go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Apple Advertising and disable Personalised Ads.

Configuration profiles can grant a third party deep control over your device, including the ability to monitor your internet traffic and install apps without your knowledge. Most people have never looked at this screen. If there's a profile on your phone you don't recognise, remove it.

1. Go to Settings > General > VPN & Device Management.
2. Review any listed profiles. Tap each one to see exactly what permissions it grants.
3. Remove any profile you don't recognise or no longer need by tapping Remove Profile.

Security patches fix vulnerabilities that stalkerware and spyware actively exploit. Running an old version of iOS is one of the highest-risk things you can do, and it's also the easiest to fix. Enable automatic updates and you'll almost never need to think about it again.

1. Go to Settings > General > Software Update and install any pending updates immediately.
2. Tap Automatic Updates and enable both iOS Updates and Security Responses & System Files.