Apple also provides its own location-based features. If you don’t want them to affect you, open Settings>Privacy>System Services and disable Location-Based Alerts, Location-Based Apple Ads and Location-Based Suggestions.
Be warned: Alerts and suggestions may already be very useful to you – if you use Siri for directions to local points of interest, for example.
Apple works hard to protect your data, but if you really want to be protected, you’ll trade convenience for privacy. Though you need to be aware that’s what you are doing.
Think about those Analytics
iOS also has a set of controls in the Settings>Privacy>Analytics section.
These are the items you’ll find there:
- Share iPhone & Watch Analytics
- Analytics Data
- Share With App Developers
- Share iCloud Analytics
- Improve Health and Activity
- Improve Health Records
- Improve Wheelchair Mode.
Traditionally, I’ve allowed Apple and App Developers access to Analytics, as I want to help both to improve the apps I use.
However, recent reports that app developers have been indulging in fingerprinting and other ways to track what users do has driven me to cease sharing data with developers, in case this is used to enhance fingerprinting.
I continue to share data with Apple, and would enable Health Records if I were working with a medical facility that supported these.
One more thing
When you are online do you tend to stay logged into services that you use? So long as you are logged in, those services have a much easier time tracking you. Solution? Log out. You can always log in again when you need to.
More information
- Computerworld’s iOS Security Guide
- Apple’s own privacy guides.
- EFF
- Duck Duck Go
- The Mac Security blog
- Restore Privacy
Want to help?
I’m keen that this article provides as much help as possible and that it should remain up to date. Please help me achieve this — drop me a line with suggestions I may have missed by getting in contact via one of the social networks below. (MeWe being private by design.)
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More privacy tips
- Online privacy: Best browsers, settings, and tips
- How to protect your privacy in Windows 10
- How to stay as private as possible on the Mac
- The ultimate guide to privacy on Android
- How to go incognito in Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari