The Best iPhone Privacy and Security Settings You Can Change on Your Apple Device (2025)
By Jacob Roach | Published: 2025-11-03 14:30:00 | Source: WIRED
Next is advertising. Apple Advertising focuses on privacy more than other platforms, preventing ads from tracking you across websites and services. You can turn it off Personalized ads Switch. You’ll still get ads, but they’ll be generic. If you run Apple ads, you can click Ad targeting information A screen to see what data is being shared, such as your year of birth, zip code, and categories of apps you’ve downloaded.
This isn’t actually a setting, but the iPhone has built-in privacy reporting tools that can give you insight into what data apps are requesting and using. in Privacy and security The menu, near the bottom, you’ll see Application privacy report and Apple Intelligence Report.
For the first, you’ll see the domains the app connects to each time you use it, as well as a chart of how many domains the app connects to. For Apple Intelligence, you’ll see private computing requests and the data that was shared with the request. This report is exported as a JSON file, and you will need a text editor to view it. Regardless, these two reports are rather technical, and do not help maintain your privacy; They just give you more information.
ScreenshotApple via Jacob Roach
Apple automatically stores and syncs anything you put in the Notes app through iCloud, so no, those random thoughts you jotted down five years ago aren’t completely private. Fortunately, you can keep them private using an “On My iPhone” account, which, as the name suggests, doesn’t sync your notes and keeps them local on your device.
To set it up, open Settings And scroll down the list for Applications. Search for Notes Application and toggle On my iPhone account Setting on. Just above it, you can also set a password if you want to encrypt and lock any highly sensitive notes. Remember, you won’t be able to drag these notes onto another Apple device because they won’t sync, and if you lose your iPhone, you may not be able to access your notes completely without a recent backup.
Hide (or lock) apps and photos
You can press and hold any application icon, select Edit home screen, Tap an app to hide it. This will keep the app on your phone, but it won’t appear on your home screen. (You can search for it via Spotlight.) You can also hold down and select Requires Face ID To lock the app, which means it will require biometric authorization every time you open the app.
This is great for apps, but you can do the same for photos as well. Press and hold any photo in the Photos app and select it Hides. It will be placed in your Hidden Album, which is locked behind your Face ID or password. You can find the hidden album in Groups tab, at the bottom under Facilities to divide.
iPhone security settings to change
The iPhone is quite secure right out of the box, and Apple is trying to entice users to take advantage of its security features while setting up a new device. Just like privacy settings, the specific settings you use here are up to you. Many security settings will sacrifice privacy, and vice versa. You cannot locate a stolen device if you do not use location services, for example.
ScreenshotApple via Jacob Roach
You need to set up Face ID when you set up your iPhone, and you’re probably using it anyway. But I’ve seen some misconceptions about how Face ID (and biometric authentication more broadly) works. Your Touch ID fingerprint and Face ID photos are not sent to Apple, and are generally more secure than a password or simple PIN.
Instead, your fingerprint or face is used to create an ID, which is encrypted and stored in Apple’s Secure Enclave, locally on your device. When you unlock your device, Face ID or Touch ID is checked against that ID, and if there’s a match, your device is unlocked. If you’re avoiding Face ID because of privacy concerns, you’re not protecting yourself as much as you think.
Set up two-factor authentication
You and I know this – you should be using two-factor authentication (2FA). I hate typing code or pulling out a second device as much as the next person, but it’s hard to overstate how secure an account is using two-factor authentication instead of one. And you can easily set up two-factor authentication for your Apple account from your iPhone.
Choose your name at the top Settings app, which will unlock your Apple account information. He chooses Login and security, Then choose Two-factor authentication. Here, you’ll see the devices you can use for two-factor authentication, including the iPhone you’re using. When you sign in to your Apple account on another device, you can use any of the listed devices as your second agent, whether that’s another Apple product or a text message sent to a verified phone number.
ScreenshotApple via Jacob Roach
Encrypt your iPhone’s cloud storage
iCloud encrypts your data, but it doesn’t use end-to-end encryption, at least by default. Out of the box, Apple manages your encryption keys so you can, technically, decrypt the data you store in iCloud. Although this is unlikely, you can still set up end-to-end encryption and manage your encryption keys with Advanced Data Protection.
To play it, open Settings And specify iCloud. Then scroll down and choose Advanced data protection. To turn it on, you’ll need to set up some account recovery options. Apple won’t be able to decrypt your data, so if you don’t have any recovery options set up, you won’t be able to decrypt or recover your data.
Turn on stolen device protection
ScreenshotApple via Jacob Roach
Apple includes stolen device protection with your iPhone, but it’s turned off by default. This feature requires you to verify with Face ID or Touch ID when taking certain actions without a password to fall back on, and it imposes a security delay, where critical actions like changing your Apple password are only possible after a one-hour delay.
There are two types of stolen device protection. You can either have these features all the time, or only when you’re away from familiar locations. Note that if you choose the latter option, you’ll need to keep the file Important sites and roads The previously mentioned setting is turned on.
If you set up stolen device protection to only run when you’re away from familiar locations, it turns on automatically. However, Stolen Device Protection doesn’t secure everything about your iPhone. It appears in certain situations, namely Apple details on its support page. You can turn the setting on Privacy and security List at the bottom of the page.
You often have to trade privacy for better security, and that’s the case with both Stolen Device Protection and Apple’s Find My feature. To make sure you’re wearing it, open it settings, Select your account at the top, then choose Look for me. make sure Find my iPhone It was turned on. If you click, you can also play it Send last location, Which will update your iPhone’s location if it is about to die.
Although you’ll need to turn on Location Services, Apple says devices using iOS 17 and later don’t need to share that location data. Offline, at least, Apple can’t see location information when Find My is turned on.
Finally, a bit of operational security. If you have sensitive information that could appear in notifications, you can hide how notifications appear while your iPhone is locked. It’s a small change, but it can keep you protected from someone over your shoulder or grabbing your phone while it’s locked.
It opens Settings And headed to Notifications. There, switch the view to number And change Show previews Either When it is locked or never. If you have a particularly sensitive app — for example, an encrypted messaging app — you can also customize individual app notifications on this screen.
Privacy and security apps for iPhone to download
iPhone offers a surprising number of privacy and security tools, from app privacy reports to a built-in password manager via the Passwords app. Some functions are better served by a third-party app, either for improved security or more features. Although all of the apps I recommend here have paid options — and I recommend these paid plans — they all also have a free version if you’re short on cash.
Photo: Jacob Roach
ProtonVPN is the best VPN you can use, and it’s free to get started. While most free VPNs are questionable at best, Proton’s free service is very solid. You are limited to slower speeds and can only access a few servers, but it still works. I’d be concerned if a free VPN didn’t impose any restrictions, honestly. It’s also one of the best VPNs for iPhone, mainly because of its excellent speed. The Proton tops the charts in our speed tests, although other tests e.g NordVPNClose, Proton maintained its leadership across desktops and mobiles.
The iPhone has a built-in VPN, but it’s not like commercial VPNs as most people know them. It’s even a configuration tool if you want to set up your own VPN. If you want a tool to hide your IP address and help you maintain your privacy online, you’ll need a third-party VPN, and Proton VPN It is the best.
Courtesy of Petwarden
Betwarden
Password manager
However, Bitwarden ranks as the best password manager you can use Proton corridor Takes a close second. Both offer free options, and will give you more flexibility when storing and sharing credentials than Apple’s built-in password app.
Although Apple’s Passwords app is very secure, it has limitations. An app like 1Password has apps for Windows and Android, for example, which lack passwords. Third-party password managers allow you to store a wide range of data as well, from passwords and passkeys to encrypted documents and medical insurance.
Photo: Jacob Roach
You have secured your messages. Now it’s time for email. Google recently started offering end-to-end encryption for Gmail, but only for Google Workspace customers. If you want end-to-end encryption for personal use, you’ll need an encrypted email service like Proton Mail, which is my preferred option.
There’s a lot to like Proton mailbut from a security standpoint, it does some things right. First, if you’re sending emails to another Proton Mail user, you’ll get the convenience of a service like Gmail, but with true end-to-end encryption. Your emails are encrypted before they leave your device, and are only decrypted after they are delivered.
You can also send emails to non-Proton users with end-to-end encryption, either using Proton’s password-protected email feature or by sharing your public key, although this requires a little technical knowledge on both ends.
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