The Best iPhone Privacy and Security Settings to Change on Your Apple Device (2025)

Next ad. Apple Ads is more privacy-focused than other platforms, blocking ads from tracking you across websites and services. you can close Personalized advertising Toggle You’ll still get ads, but they’ll be generic If you turn on Apple Ads, you can tap Ad targeting information Screen to see what data has been shared, such as your year of birth, zip code and the categories of apps you’ve downloaded.

It’s not really a setting, but the iPhone has Built-in privacy reporting tools This can give you insight into what data applications are requesting and using in Privacy and security Menu, near the bottom, you will see App Privacy Report And Apple Intelligence Report.

For the former, you’ll see the domains the app interacts with each time you use it, as well as a layout of how many domains an app contacts. For Apple IntelligenceYou can see personal count requests and what data is shared with requests This report is exported as a JSON file, and you will need a text editor to view it However, both of these reports are fairly technical, and they don’t help your privacy; They just give you more information.

Apple automatically stores and syncs anything you give In the Notes app With iCloud, no, those random thoughts you wrote down five years ago aren’t completely private. Thankfully, you can keep them private with an “On My iPhone” account, which, as the name suggests, doesn’t sync your notes and keeps them local to your device.

To set it up, open settings And go to the bottom of the list for that apps. find Note App and toggle to my iPhone account Just above Setting On, you can also set a password if you want to encrypt and lock any highly sensitive notes. Remember, you can’t take these notes to another Apple device because they won’t sync, and if you lose your iPhone, you won’t be able to fully access your notes without a recent backup.

You can press and hold any app icon, select Edit home screen, and tap This is an app to hide. This will keep the app on your phone, but it won’t appear on your home screen. (You can search for it through Spotlight.) You can also hold down and select Face ID is required from Lock the appMeans it will require biometric authorization every time you open the app.

This is great for apps, but you can do the same thing for photos Hold and select any photo in the Photos app hide It will be placed in your hidden album, which is locked behind Face ID or your password. You can find hidden albums collection tab, below the bottom utilities department

iPhone security settings must be changed

The iPhone is pretty secure out of the box, and Apple urges users to take advantage of its security features when you set up a new device. Just like privacy settings, however, the specific settings you use here are up to you. Many security settings will sacrifice privacy, and vice versa. You can’t locate a stolen device if you don’t use location services, for example.

You’ll need to set up Face ID when you set up an iPhone, and you’re probably already using it. But I’ve seen some misconceptions about how Face ID (and biometric authentication more broadly) works. Your fingerprint for Touch ID and photo for Face ID are not sent to Apple and are generally more secure than passwords or simple PINs.

Instead, your fingerprint or face is used to create an ID, which is encrypted and stored locally on your device in Apple’s Secure Enclave. When you unlock your device, Face ID or Touch ID is checked against this ID and if there is 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.

You and I both know it – you Should use two-factor authentication (2FA). I hate to type in a code or drag out a second device like the next person, but it’s hard to overstate how secure an account is with two authentication factors instead of one. And, you can easily set up 2FA for your Apple account from your iPhone.

Select your name at the top settings app, which will open your Apple account information. select Sign-in and security, and then select Two-factor authentication. Here, you’ll see the devices you can use for 2FA, including the iPhone you’re using. When signing in to your Apple account on another device, you can use any device listed as your second factor, whether it’s another Apple product or a text sent to a verified phone number.

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 it can, technically, decrypt the data you store in iCloud. Although it’s unlikely, you can still set up end-to-end encryption and manage your own encryption keys with it. Enhanced data protection.

To turn it on, open settings and select iCloud Then, scroll down and select Enhanced data protection. To turn it on, you need to set up some account recovery options Apple won’t be able to decrypt your data, so if you don’t have a recovery option set up, you won’t be able to decrypt or recover your data.

Apple includes stolen device protection with your iPhone, but it’s turned off by default. The feature requires you to authenticate with Face ID or Touch ID to return when taking certain actions without a password, and it enforces a security delay, where important actions like changing your Apple password are only possible after an hour’s delay.

There are two forms of stolen device protection. You can either keep these features on all the time, or only when you’re away from known locations. Note that if you choose the latter, you have to keep Notable locations and routes The previously mentioned setting is turned on.

If you set up stolen device protection to only work when you’re away from a known location, it will turn on automatically. However, Stolen Device Protection doesn’t lock down everything about your iPhone. It crops up in certain situations, which Apple details on its support page. You can turn on the setting Privacy and security Menu at the bottom of the page.

You often have to trade off privacy for good security, and that’s the case with both stolen device protection and Apple.find me” feature. To make sure you have it turned on, open settings, Select your account at the top and select Find me. make sure Find My iPhone is launched. If you tap, you can turn on send last position, Which will update the location of your iPhone if it keeps dying.

Although you must have location services turned on, Apple says that devices using iOS 17 And no need to share that location data later While offline, at least, Apple can’t see location information when you turn on Find My.

Finally, a bit of operational security. If you have sensitive information that might pop up in notifications, you can obfuscate how notifications appear when your iPhone is locked. It’s a small change, but it can keep you safe from someone picking up your phone or over your shoulder while it’s locked.

open settings and the head Notice There, switch to Display count and change show preview is When unlocked or never If you have a particularly sensitive app—say, an encrypted messaging app—you can also customize individual app notifications on this screen.

iPhone Privacy and Security Apps to Download

iPhone offers a surprising number of privacy and security tools, from app privacy reports to a built-in password manager through the Password app. Some functions are better served with a third-party app, though, either for better security or more features. While all of the apps I recommend here have paid options—and I recommend those paid plans—they all also have a free version if you don’t have the extra cash.

ProtonVPN is Best VPN You can use, and you can start with it for free. Most free VPNs though Suspicious at bestProton’s free service is rock solid. You are limited to slow speeds and only have access to a few servers, but it still works. I’d be worried if a free VPN imposed no restrictions, frankly. This is one Best VPN for iPhoneMainly because of its excellent speed. The Proton tops the charts in our speed tests, and although others, such as NordVPNNearby, Proton maintains its lead across desktop and mobile.

The iPhone has a VPN built in, but it’s not the same thing as commercial VPNs as most people know them. Rather, it’s a configuration tool if you want to set up your own VPN. If you want a tool to mask your IP address and help you stay more private online, you’ll need a third-party VPN and Proton VPN the best

Rank as Bitwarden The best password manager You can use , though proton pass Takes a close second. Both offer free options, and they’ll give you more flexibility when storing and sharing credentials than Apple’s built-in Password app.

While Apple’s Password app is secure enough, it’s limited. An app like 1 Password There are apps for Windows and Android, as well, that lack passwords. Third-party password managers allow you to store passwords and a wide range of data passkey Encrypted documents and medical insurance.

You have locked down your messages; Now it’s email time. Google recently launched the offer End-to-end encryption for GmailBut only for Google Workspace customers. If you want end-to-end encryption for personal use, you’ll need an encrypted email service e.g. Proton MailWhich is my favorite option.

There’s a lot to like Proton MailBut from a security perspective, it does a few things right. First, if you send email to another Proton Mail user, you get the benefit of a service similar to Gmail, but with true end-to-end encryption. Your emails are encrypted before they leave your device and decrypted only after they are delivered

You can send email to non-Proton users with end-to-end encryption by using Proton’s password-protected email feature or by sharing your public key, although both parties require some technical knowledge.

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