privacy safari iphone 13

How to use private browsing on your iPhone, and turn it off when you're done browsing

• To turn off private browsing on your iPhone , or turn it on, you just need to press a single button in Safari.
• The iPhone's private browsing feature is a convenient feature for those who don't want their online activity listed in their browsing history. 
• Private browsing prevents your iPhone from creating any browsing history for the sites you visit, but will also log you out of most sites.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Private browsing prevents people who have access to your iPhone from seeing your internet history, because it stops the browser from recording your search and site visit history at all. 

It also prevents your iPhone from storing most cookies for websites, however, which means that you'll be logged out of most sites you visit.

The private browsing feature is exceedingly easy to turn on and off at will, and you won't lose any tabs in the process — your regular tabs stay put when you open private mode, and likewise, your private tabs will stay until you close them.

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Iphone 11 (from $699.99 at best buy), how to use private browsing on your iphone in safari.

1. Open Safari.

2. Tap the icon in the bottom right corner that looks like two boxes stacked on top of each other. This will open your tabs.

3. Tap the "Private" button in the bottom left corner to turn on private browsing mode.

4. Tap the + button at the bottom of the screen to open a private tab.

5. When you're done browsing and want to go back to regular browsing mode, first close any tabs you don't want to be there the next time you open private browsing mode.

6. Tap the same tabs button you pressed before.

7. Tap the word "Private" again to turn off private browsing mode.

Related coverage from  How To Do Everything: Tech :

How to reset the safari browser on your iphone in 2 different ways, how to stop pop-ups from appearing on your iphone's safari browser, how to add bookmarks and favorites on an iphone's safari browser for quick access to your preferred webpages, how to delete or edit the saved bookmarks on your iphone's safari browser.

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Watch: How to use the iPhone's new spam-call-blocking feature

• Main content

iOS 15: How to switch to Private Browsing on iPhone with Safari

Safari got an overhaul with iOS 15, and while there are a number of improvements and changes, some features aren’t found where they used to be. Read along for a look at how to switch to iPhone Private Browsing in Safari with iOS 15.

As a refresher, here’s how Apple describes Private Browsing mode:

Safari won’t remember the pages you visited, your search history, or your AutoFill information after you close a tab in Private Browsing Mode.

Private Browsing in iOS 15 may be a “who moved my cheese?” moment for a lot of users as it’s more buried than in iOS 14 and earlier – unless you know the shortcut.

And going beyond what Private Browsing offers, Apple also launched iCloud Private Relay with iOS 15 , which is available on iPhone, iPad, and Mac .

Switch to iPhone Private Browsing in Safari with iOS 15

• On your iPhone running iOS 15, open Safari
• Do a long-press on the two-square icon in the bottom right corner (top right corner for landscape view)
• Choose New Private Tab

• In iOS 15, open Safari
• Tap the two-square icon in the bottom right corner (top right corner if using landscape view)
• Tap the “1 Tab” button (or “X Tabs”)
• Choose Private
• Tap the + icon in bottom corner
• You can tell you’re using Private Browsing as the address/search turns dark
• Follow the same steps and tap Private again to stop using the feature

Here’s how that looks on iPhone:

Now, just tap the + icon. When using light mode in iOS 15, the address/search bar will turn from white to gray, and when using dark mode, it will turn from gray to black while using iPhone Private Browsing.

Read more 9to5Mac tutorials:

• How to take a scrolling screenshot on iPhone
• Hands-on: Here’s how Background Sounds work in iOS 15
• iPhone: How to set a custom Safari background in iOS 15
• Apple Watch: Four advanced health features you’re probably not using

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A collection of tutorials, tips, and tricks from…

Michael is an editor for 9to5Mac. Since joining in 2016 he has written more than 3,000 articles including breaking news, reviews, and detailed comparisons and tutorials.

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How to use tabs and private browsing in Safari for iPhone and iPad

Become a tab master.

• How to open a new tab in Safari
• How to switch tabs in Safari
• How to close a tab in Safari
• How to view recently-closed tabs in Safari
• How to view websites from your other devices in Safari

How to use Tab Groups in Safari

• How to use private browsing in Safari

Tabs in Safari let you keep multiple web pages open so you can switch between them efficiently or refer back to them whenever you want. You can open links in new tabs, so you don't lose where you're currently surfing, and even go into Private Mode to give you some privacy on the internet.

Safari has been around for a couple of decades now, and there's a lot to learn — especially for power users. As a first-party app, there are some excellent iOS features Apple's browser can offer, and it integrates seamlessly with your other Apple devices, making it the best web-browser to navigate seamlessly between iPhone, iPad, and Mac. 

How to open a new tab in Safari on iPhone and iPad

Note: We have our Safari Tab Bar at the bottom of our iPhone screen, but all the steps in this guide work if you have yours at the top except from gesture-based manoeuvring. For more on moving the Safari address bar, check out our guide: How to change the Safari address bar on iPhone .

• Open Safari
• On an iPhone, tap the show pages icon in the bottom right of the screen (it looks like two squares). A quick swipe up from the Bottom Tab Bar on iOS 15 and newer gets you there even quicker.
• Tap the + button.

Alternatively, tap and hold the show pages icon, then tap New Tab . For those who like gestures, a quick swipe to the left on the Bottom Tab Bar opens a new tab while a swipe to the right goes back to your previous one. 

You can also open links you come across in a new tab by doing the following:

• Tap and hold (long press) the link you want to open in a new tab.
• Tap Open in New Tab (or Open in Background on iPad).

If you're on an iPad, you can open a link in a new window with Split Screen in Safari . Instead of tapping Open in Background, hit Open in Split Screen to have both tabs side by side -- great for when you're working on an essay for example.

How to switch tabs in Safari on iPhone and iPad

• On an iPhone, tap the show pages icon in the bottom right of the screen (it looks like two squares). On iPad, this looks like four squares and appears in the top right of the screen.
• Tap the tab you want to view.

You'll also benefit from Mac-like tab dividers beneath the URL field on the iPad's larger display. You can tap these to switch between tabs too.

Master your iPhone in minutes

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How to close a tab in Safari on iPhone and iPad

• Tap the X in the top right of a tab to close it. (You can also swipe the card to the left to throw it away).

While the above steps work on an iPad, it is easier to tap the X next to your tab in the toolbar to close it and save yourself an extra tap.

How to quickly close all tabs in Safari on iPhone and iPad

• On an iPhone, tap and hold the show pages icon in the bottom right of the screen (it looks like two squares). On iPad, this looks like four squares and appears in the top right of the screen.
• Tap Close All X Tabs .

How to view recently-closed tabs in Safari for iPhone and iPad

• On an iPhone, tap the show pages icon in the bottom right of the screen (it looks like two squares). On iPad, you can skip this step.
• Tap and hold the + button to bring up the Recently Closed Tabs menu.

How to view tabs open on your other devices in Safari on iPhone and iPad

Safari's iCloud Tabs feature lets you quickly and easily access web pages you've already opened in Safari on any of your other Apple devices — iPhones, iPads, or Macs. It's a very useful tool for getting the most out of your Apple ecosystem.

• On iPhone or iPad, tap the URL field in the Bottom Tab Bar .
• Scroll down to the bottom of the page to see tabs open on your other devices.
• Click on the tab you want to access from your other device.

Each device linked to your iCloud account is sorted alphabetically -- if you don't see your iPhone, iPad, or Mac make sure you sign in with the same Apple ID credentials across all devices. Note: tabs created in Private Browsing mode do not appear in iCloud Tabs, so you won't see those.

In iOS 16 , Apple improved upon Tab-Groups in Safari. Tab-Groups are a great way to combine several tabs together and organize them to make them easy to find. The feature also saves you from leaving a ton of tabs open for later reference.

We have a dedicated guide on how to use Tab Groups in Safari , so check that out to get the most out of the organizing tool. 

How to use private browsing in Safari on iPhone and iPad

Private browsing works just like regular browsing, except Safari won't cache your search terms or add the pages to your browser history -- this can be useful around the holiday period when gift shopping. Here's how to open private browsing on iPhone or iPad.

• Tap Private or New Private Tab .

To exit private browsing mode, press and hold the show pages icon and tap (number) Tabs to return to your previously open regular tabs.

You can also start and stop a private browsing section from the sidebar menu on the iPad.

Become a tab master

Using Safari on iPhone and iPad is similar to using Safari on Mac , however, the interface has some differences to account for smaller screens and touchscreen input. With the above guidance, you'll be well on your way to browsing Safari like a pro on your iOS devices making sure you're getting the best iPhone and best iPad experience possible.

John-Anthony Disotto is the How To Editor of iMore, ensuring you can get the most from your Apple products and helping fix things when your technology isn’t behaving itself. Living in Scotland, where he worked for Apple as a technician focused on iOS and iPhone repairs at the Genius Bar, John-Anthony has used the Apple ecosystem for over a decade and prides himself in his ability to complete his Apple Watch activity rings. John-Anthony has previously worked in editorial for collectable TCG websites and graduated from The University of Strathclyde where he won the Scottish Student Journalism Award for Website of the Year as Editor-in-Chief of his university paper. He is also an avid film geek, having previously written film reviews and received the Edinburgh International Film Festival Student Critics award in 2019.  John-Anthony also loves to tinker with other non-Apple technology and enjoys playing around with game emulation and Linux on his Steam Deck.

In his spare time, John-Anthony can be found watching any sport under the sun from football to darts, taking the term “Lego house” far too literally as he runs out of space to display any more plastic bricks, or chilling on the couch with his French Bulldog, Kermit. 

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How to use Locked Private Browsing in Safari

Lock your private windows, so that you can keep them open and private even when you step away from your device.

Browse privately in Safari on your Apple device

When you use Private Browsing, Safari doesn't remember the pages that you visit, your search history, or your AutoFill information. Private Browsing also protects you from tracking by blocking known trackers from loading and by removing tracking used to identify individual users from URLs as you browse.

For additional privacy, your private windows can lock when you're not using them.

When your device is locked or asleep, or if you aren't actively using Safari, your private windows in Safari will lock.

When you unlock or wake up your device, or start using Safari again, just unlock your private window with Touch ID, Face ID, or your device passcode or password.

Locked Private Browsing is available starting in iOS 17, iPadOS 17, and in Safari 17 on macOS Monterey, macOS Ventura, and macOS Sonoma. If you don't find the option to lock private windows, update your device to the latest software version.

Turn on Private Browsing on iPhone

Turn on Private Browsing on Mac

Locked Private Browsing is turned on by default in macOS. In iOS and iPadOS, you have the option to turn on Locked Private Browsing when you use Private Browsing for the first time after updating to supported software, or you can turn it on in Settings.

How to turn Locked Private Browsing on or off on iPhone or iPad

Open the Settings app.

Scroll down and tap Safari.

Scroll down to Privacy & Security, then turn on Require Face ID (or Touch ID) to Unlock Private Browsing. Or turn it off, if you don't want your private windows to lock.

How to turn Locked Private Browsing on or off on Mac

Open Safari.

From the Safari menu, choose Settings.

Click Privacy.

Next to Private Browsing, select "Require Touch ID to view locked tabs." Or unselect it, if you don't want your private windows to lock.

When private windows lock

On iPhone or iPad, private windows lock when Safari isn't running in the foreground or when you switch from Private Browsing. They also lock when your device locks.

On Mac, private windows lock when Safari isn't the active window for a period of time. They also lock when you lock your Mac, when it goes to sleep, or when a screensaver starts.

On Mac, you can lock all private windows manually: From the Safari menu bar, choose Window > Lock All Private Windows.

Private windows don't lock if you haven't loaded a web page.

Private windows don't lock if you're playing audio or video.

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iOS 17 Safari makes private browsing more secure — here's how

You can use Face ID to lock private browsing tabs in Safari

The private browsing feature in iOS 17 Safari gets an extra layer of privacy, as the your private browsing tabs can now lock when you're not using the feature. But to make sure prying passersby don't see your browsing activity, you've first go to turn on locked private browsing in iOS 17 .

When you turn on locked private browsing, you're setting things up so that your open tabs can only be unlocked with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode. The advantage of having that safeguard in place should be clear — no one will be able to see your private browsing tabs except for you. That way, you can keep those tabs open when you need to move on to other things, secure in the knowledge that whatever sites you've visited in Safari will remain private.

Here's how to turn on locked private browsing in iOS 17, as well as as a guide to the updated interface for private browsing in mobile Safari.

How to turn on locked private browsing

1. go to safari settings.

Launch the Settings app , and scroll down until you find Safari. (It's in the block of settings that contain the other built-in iOS apps.) Tap Safari .

2. Turn on locked private browsing

In the Safari setting screen, scroll down to the Privacy & Security section. There's an entry for Require Face ID to Unlock Private Browsing. Move the slider right to turn on the feature.

For phones without Face ID — essentially the iPhone SE, at this point — the menu item lets you require Touch ID instead.

Once that slider is set, your private browsing sessions will now require you to unlock the page using Face ID (or Touch ID) before you can view any open tabs. You can also unlock pages by tapping Unlock and entering your passcode.

As a reminder, here's how to enter private browsing in Safari on your iPhone.

1. Go to the tabs page

In Safari, tap the tabs button . (It's the one on the far right of Safari's menu bar at the bottom of the screen.)

2. Launch private browsing

Swipe right on the tab menu so that the private browsing tab now appears on the center of the page. Tap Done to begin private browsing.

3. Turn on iCloud Private Relay (optional)

If you subscribe to iCloud Plus, you've got access to Private Relay . That's a a VPN-esque proxy service that encrypts your data and masks your IP address and DNS requests. That way, website and network operators can't build a profile using your browsing history.

Safari was just one of the apps to get an update as part of iOS 17, as you can see in our iOS 17 review . We can also show you how to take advantage of other new iOS 17 features, such as how to download offline maps in iOS 17 Maps , how to use the new Check In features in Messages and how to use gestures in FaceTime video chats.

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Philip Michaels is a Managing Editor at Tom's Guide. He's been covering personal technology since 1999 and was in the building when Steve Jobs showed off the iPhone for the first time. He's been evaluating smartphones since that first iPhone debuted in 2007, and he's been following phone carriers and smartphone plans since 2015. He has strong opinions about Apple, the Oakland Athletics, old movies and proper butchery techniques. Follow him at @PhilipMichaels.

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Apple Privacy Features

We’re committed to protecting your data..

Our products and features include innovative privacy technologies and techniques designed to minimize how much of your data we — or anyone else — can access. And powerful security features help prevent anyone except you from being able to access your information. We are constantly working on new ways to keep your personal information safe.

Safari includes state-of-the-art features to help protect your privacy, defending you against cross-site tracking and minimizing the data passed to third parties. And Private Browsing adds even more protections, such as locking your windows when you’re not using them.

Intelligent Tracking Prevention

You may have noticed that when you look at something to buy online, you suddenly start seeing it everywhere else you go on the web. This happens when a third party tracks cookies and other website data to show you ads across various websites.

Intelligent Tracking Prevention uses the latest in machine learning and on-device intelligence to fight this cross-site tracking. It hides your IP address from trackers so what you look at on the web remains your business — not an advertiser’s. And you don’t have to change any settings for these protections because Intelligent Tracking Prevention is on by default.

Private Browsing

Safari protects your privacy automatically. Private Browsing adds even more protections. When it’s activated, Safari won’t add the sites you visit to your history, remember your searches, or save any information from forms you fill out online — and advanced tracking and fingerprinting protections go even further to help prevent websites from tracking or identifying your device. Known trackers are completely prevented from loading on pages, and link tracking protection removes tracking added to URLs as you browse. Content blocker support is designed so that it can’t send developers information about what you’re looking at. And private browsing windows automatically lock — requiring your device password to be unlocked — when you’re not using them.

Passkeys replace passwords with an easier and safer sign-in method. Your private key is never kept on a web server, so you don’t have to worry about website leaks compromising your accounts. And passkeys never leave your device and are specific to the site you created them for, making it almost impossible for them to be phished. Passkeys are end-to-end encrypted and sync across your Apple devices through iCloud Keychain. On Apple devices, simply use Face ID or Touch ID to sign in. For websites or apps on non-Apple devices, use your saved passkey by scanning the QR code with your iPhone or iPad and using Face ID or Touch ID to authenticate.

Privacy Report

Your Privacy Report shows you all the cross-site trackers that are being blocked by Intelligent Tracking Prevention in Safari. You can access your report from the Safari toolbar and the Safari start page.

Password monitoring

Safari checks to see whether your saved Keychain passwords have been compromised in data breaches. It uses secure and private cryptographic techniques to regularly check derivations of your passwords against a publicly available list of breached passwords. If Safari identifies a potentially compromised password, your device will notify you. Your password information is never revealed as part of this process — not even to Apple.

Social widget tracking prevention

Social widgets embedded on websites, such as like buttons, share buttons, and comment fields, can be used to track you even if you don’t click them or use them. Safari blocks this tracking by default, and it prevents social widgets from accessing your identity unless you grant them permission.

Fingerprinting defense

Safari works to prevent advertisers and websites from using the unique combination of characteristics of your device to create a “fingerprint” to track you. These characteristics include the device and browser configuration, and fonts and plug-ins you have installed. To combat fingerprinting, Safari presents a simplified version of the system configuration so more devices look identical to trackers, making it harder to single yours out. This protection is on by default, so there are no extra steps for you to take.

With the Smart Search field in Safari, you can type website names, web addresses, and search queries all in one place. Safari minimizes the amount of data sent to third-party search engines — for example, it won’t share cookies or your precise location, which may happen if you search by other means. Safari also offers the option to set DuckDuckGo as your default search engine, allowing you to search the web without being tracked.

Extension controls

Browser extensions can help you do many things, like saving money on purchases or improving your grammar. However, they can also be used to track you, taking note of what you browse and even what you type. With Safari extension controls, you can grant extensions access to your information just for one day, just for this current website, or always.

Safari Privacy Overview

Like all of our products and services, Safari has built-in technologies designed to safeguard your personal information. Your privacy is protected automatically — without having to change your default settings.

Personalized features are created using data on your device. And data that is sent from your device to the Maps service is associated with random identifiers so Apple doesn’t have a profile of your movements and searches.

Personalization

Many helpful features, like finding your parked car, are created using data on your device. This helps minimize the amount of data sent to Apple servers.

End-to-end encryption

Maps keeps your personal data in sync across all your devices using end‑to-end encryption. Your Significant Locations and collections are encrypted end‑to‑end so Apple cannot read them. And when you share your ETA with other Maps users, Apple can’t see your location.

Random identifiers

There is no sign-in when you start using Maps. The data that Maps collects while you use the app — like search terms, navigation routing, and traffic information — is associated with random identifiers, not your Apple ID. These identifiers reset themselves as you use the app to ensure the best possible experience and to improve Maps. When you share ratings or photos with Maps, the information that you share is associated with your Apple ID.

Location fuzzing

Maps goes even further to obscure your location on Apple servers when you search using a process called “fuzzing.” Because your location can give away your identity, Maps converts the precise location where your search originated to a less-exact one within 24 hours. Apple doesn’t retain a history of what you’ve searched for or where you’ve been.

Maps extensions

Maps extensions that are used in ride-booking and reservation apps run in their own sandboxes and share permissions with their parent apps. For ride-booking apps, Maps shares only your starting point and destination with the extension. And when you reserve a table at a restaurant, the extension knows only the point of interest you tapped.

Face recognition and scene and object detection are done completely on your device rather than in the cloud. This allows Apple to provide you with these advanced features without accessing your photos. And apps can access your photos only with your permission.

Lock Hidden and Recently Deleted albums in Photos

The Hidden and Recently Deleted albums in Photos are locked by default. You can unlock them using your device’s authentication method — Face ID, Touch ID, or your passcode.

Memories and Sharing Suggestions

The Memories and Sharing Suggestions features in the Photos app use on-device intelligence to analyze your photos and organize them by faces, places, and more to help you find them easily. Because this all happens on your device, Apple can provide you with these advanced features without accessing your photos.

iCloud Photos

If you choose to back up your photo library to iCloud Photos, Apple protects your photos on our servers with encryption. Photo data, like location or albums organized by places, can be shared between your devices with iCloud Photos enabled. And if you choose to turn off iCloud Photos, you’ll still be able to use on-device analysis.

Sharing controls

macOS, iOS, and iPadOS let you decide if you want to include the photo’s location, edit history, and depth data when you share a photo — whether you’re sharing it with a friend or with an app.

Third-party app permissions

Photo pickers help you select which photos to share with an app while keeping the rest of your library private. When apps ask for your entire photo library, you’ll be able to see how many photos and videos they can access and a sample of what they can use and share. You’ll also receive occasional reminders so you can check what you’re sharing — and make changes if you like.

If an app requests access to your photos, you can choose which images you’d like to share without granting access to your entire library. Or if an app wants to add a photo to your library, you can allow it to do so without accessing your photos. You can also choose to grant an app general access to your photos.

FaceTime, Messages, and More

Your iMessage and FaceTime conversations are encrypted end-to-end, so they can’t be read while they’re sent between devices. Mail helps hide your activity from unwanted senders.

Mail Privacy Protection helps protect your privacy from prying email senders. It hides your IP address so senders can’t create a profile with your other online activity or see where you are, and they can’t tell if you’ve opened their email.

End-to-end encryption protects your iMessage and FaceTime conversations across all your devices. With watchOS, iOS, and iPadOS, your messages are encrypted on your device so they can’t be accessed without your passcode. iMessage and FaceTime are designed so that there’s no way for Apple to read your messages when they’re in transit between devices. You can choose to automatically delete your messages from your device after 30 days or a year or keep them on your device indefinitely.

Apple doesn’t store your FaceTime and Group FaceTime calls on our servers. And during transit, these calls are protected with end‑to‑end encryption. Anyone can now join you in one-on-one and Group FaceTime calls from their browsers instantly with the same privacy protections. No Apple device or login required.

And starting with iOS 15, iPadOS 15, and macOS Monterey, you can send friends and family a link to connect on FaceTime — even if they’re using Windows or Android. 1 It’s still end-to-end encrypted, so your call is as private and secure as any other FaceTime call.

Live Voicemail

When someone leaves a phone message, Live Voicemail shows a live transcription as soon as the caller starts to speak. When Silence Unknown Callers is turned on, calls from unknown numbers will go directly to Live Voicemail without ringing. Calls identified as spam by carriers won’t appear as Live Voicemail, and will instead be instantly declined. Thanks to the power of the Neural Engine, Live Voicemail processing occurs entirely on your device, and isn’t shared with Apple.

NameDrop is a feature in AirDrop that lets you hold your iPhone near another iPhone to share contact information with only your intended recipients. You can also choose the specific contact information you want to share — and just as important, which information you don’t want to share.

iMessage apps

iMessage apps — which let you share stickers, songs, and more without leaving Messages — do not have access to participants’ actual contact information or conversations. iOS and iPadOS provide each app with a random identifier for each participant, which is reset when the app is uninstalled.

Link Tracking Protection

When you share links in Messages, the extra information that some websites add to their URLs will be removed to prevent them from tracking you or the person you shared the link with.

iCloud Backup

iMessage and SMS messages are backed up on iCloud for your convenience, but you can turn iCloud Backup off whenever you want. And Apple never stores the content of FaceTime calls on any servers.

SharePlay allows you to share experiences from Apple or third-party apps in FaceTime calls. The content that apps exchange over SharePlay is end-to-end encrypted, just like other FaceTime calls.

Siri is designed to do as much learning as possible offline, right on your device. Searches and requests are associated with a random identifier — a long string of letters and numbers — not your Apple ID.

On-device suggestions

When you ask Siri to read or search for information on your device, such as in Messages and Notes, and when Siri provides suggestions, like through widgets and Siri Search, all your personal information is kept on your device rather than being sent to Apple servers. Siri Suggestions in the QuickType keyboard are made possible by an Apple-developed neural network language process that also runs directly on your device.

Although Apple attempts to do as much as possible on your device, when you use certain features — like making a voice request to Siri or searching in Spotlight or Safari — real-time input is needed from Apple servers. When we do send information to a server, we protect your privacy by using random identifiers, not your Apple ID. Information like your location may be sent to Apple to improve the accuracy of responses, and we allow you to disable Location Services at any time.

On-device processing

The audio of your requests is processed entirely on your device unless you choose to share it with Apple. The Apple Neural Engine enables speech recognition models with the same high quality as server-based speech recognition. 2

Siri and Dictation

The longer you use Siri and Dictation, the better they understand you and improve. To help Siri and Dictation recognize your pronunciation and provide better responses, certain information such as names of your contacts or music, books, and podcasts you enjoy is sent to Apple servers using encrypted protocols. Siri and Dictation do not associate this information with your Apple ID, but rather with a random, device-generated identifier. You can reset that identifier at any time by turning Siri and Dictation off and back on, effectively restarting your relationship with them. When you turn Siri and Dictation off, your Siri data associated with the Siri identifier is deleted. The learning process starts over when you turn Siri back on. On-device dictation helps protect your privacy further by performing all processing completely offline.

Improving Siri and Dictation

By default, Apple does not retain audio recordings of Siri and Dictation interactions. Computer-generated transcripts are used to improve Siri and Dictation. You can opt in to help Siri improve by allowing Apple to store and review audio of your Siri and Dictation interactions, and you can opt out at any time. These audio samples are associated with a random identifier instead of your Apple ID. In addition, you can delete all the Siri and Dictation requests, including audio recordings and computer-generated transcripts, associated with the random identifier from Apple’s servers at any time. Note that requests more than six months old and the small sample of requests that have been reviewed may not be deleted, as they are no longer associated with the random identifier.

Suggestions in Spotlight and Safari

When you use Safari or Spotlight in iOS, iPadOS, or macOS, your searches are sent to Apple servers along with contextual information like your location or actions taken in the search session to provide you with the most relevant suggestions. This information is associated with a random identifier, not your Apple ID, so that searches and locations are not connected to you personally. For suggestions in Spotlight and Safari, a new random identifier is generated every 15 minutes, and your precise location is never shared with the server. Instead, an approximate location from your device is sent using location fuzzing. You can choose to disable suggestions in Spotlight and Safari. If you choose to disable location-based suggestions, Apple will still use your IP address to determine a general location to make suggestions more relevant.

Wallet helps keep your ID cards, keys, credit and debit cards, transit cards, boarding passes, tickets, and more secure.

Adding cards

When you add a credit, debit, prepaid, or transit card (where available) to Apple Pay, information that you enter on your device is encrypted and sent to Apple servers. Apple decrypts the data, determines your card’s payment network, and reencrypts the data with a key that only your payment network (or any providers authorized by your card issuer for provisioning and token services) can unlock.

After your card is approved, your bank, your bank’s authorized service provider, or your card issuer creates a device-specific Device Account Number, encrypts it, and sends it along with other data to Apple. The Device Account Number can’t be decrypted by Apple and is stored in the Secure Element on your device.

Keys and ID

Corporate passes and home, hotel, and car keys can all be added to one convenient location in Wallet. You can add your driver’s license or state ID to Wallet on your iPhone and a paired Apple Watch and present it securely at TSA checkpoints. Your passes, keys, and ID are protected and stored in the Secure Element on your device, just like your cards. 3

Apple doesn’t know what you buy, including where you bought it or for how much, when you pay with a credit or debit card.

Unique Device Account Number

When you add a credit, debit, or prepaid card to Apple Pay through the Wallet app, your device securely sends your card information, along with other information about your account and device, to your card issuer. Your actual card numbers are never stored on the device or on Apple servers. Instead, a unique Device Account Number is created, which is encrypted in a way that Apple can’t decrypt, and stored in the Secure Element on your device. The Device Account Number in the Secure Element is walled off from your operating system and is not stored on Apple Pay servers or backed up to iCloud. Your Apple Pay purchase history is yours, and isn’t used by Apple to serve you ads.

In-store merchant transactions

In stores, payments are processed by using the Device Account Number and a transaction-specific, dynamic security code. Neither Apple nor your device shares actual credit or debit card numbers with merchants. If you use a rewards card, Apple requires any personally identifiable information — like your email address or phone number — to be encrypted when it’s sent. No rewards information is ever shared without your permission.

In-app and website purchases

When you make payments in an app or on a website, Apple receives your encrypted transaction information and reencrypts it with a developer-specific key before it’s sent to the developer. When you make payments on a Mac with Touch ID or the Touch Bar, the payment is processed in the Secure Element, a certified chip designed to store your payment information safely. On other Mac computers, your Mac and any iOS or iPadOS device signed in to the same iCloud account communicate over an encrypted channel either locally or via Apple servers. Apple requires all apps and websites using Apple Pay to have a privacy policy you can view, so you know how your data is being used.

When you use Apple Cash in apps and on the web, your actual Apple Cash account number isn’t shared with the merchant. And Apple created Apple Payments Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary, to protect your privacy by storing how much you sent, to whom, and your balance separately from the rest of Apple.

The unique security and privacy architecture created for Apple Card prevents Apple from knowing where you shopped, what you bought, or how much you paid.

On-device transaction history

Apple Card provides useful features like your transaction history and spending summaries right in the Wallet app on your iPhone using on-device intelligence. So that data doesn’t need to be sent to Apple servers.

Issuing bank

The issuing bank for Apple Card, Goldman Sachs, will never sell your data to third parties for marketing or advertising.

Apple’s health products are designed to help keep your data secure and protect your privacy. You have control over which information is placed in the Health app and which apps can access your data through it.

Encrypted data

You decide what information is placed in the Health app as well as who can access your data. When your phone is locked with a passcode, Touch ID, or Face ID, all your health and fitness data in the Health app — other than your Medical ID — is encrypted. Any Health data backed up to iCloud is encrypted both in transit and on our servers. And if you use a recent version of watchOS and iOS and turn on two-factor authentication and a passcode, your health and activity data will be backed up in a way that Apple can’t read.

Activity sharing and deletion

You can choose to share your Activity data from your Apple Watch with other users. If you later decide to stop sharing, then the other user’s iPhone will delete historical data stored in the Fitness app. You also have the ability to temporarily hide your activity.

Health sharing

Share your health data with people important to you or those who are caring for you. Choose which data and trends to share, including heart health, activity, labs, vitals, Medical ID, cycle tracking, and more.

HealthKit allows developers to create health and fitness apps that can share data with the Health app or with each other. As a user, you have control over which elements of your HealthKit information are shared with which apps. Apple requires every app in the App Store to provide a privacy policy for you to review, including apps that work with HealthKit. Apps that work with HealthKit are prohibited from using or disclosing HealthKit data to third parties for advertising or other data mining purposes, and apps can only share data for the purpose of improving your health, fitness, or health research with your permission. When you choose to share that data with trusted apps, it goes directly from HealthKit to the third-party app and does not traverse Apple’s network.

ResearchKit and CareKit

ResearchKit and CareKit are open source software frameworks that take advantage of the capabilities of iPhone. ResearchKit enables developers to create apps that let medical researchers gather robust and meaningful data for studies. And CareKit is a platform for developers to create apps that help individuals take a more active role in their own well-being.

With ResearchKit, you choose which studies you want to join, and you control the information you provide to individual research apps. Apps using ResearchKit or CareKit can pull data from the Health app only with your consent. Any apps built using ResearchKit for health-related human subject research must obtain consent from the participants and must provide information about confidentiality rights and the sharing and handling of data.

These apps must also be approved by an independent ethics review board before the study can begin. For certain ResearchKit studies, Apple may be listed as a researcher, receiving data from participants who consent to share their data with researchers, so we can participate with the larger research community in exploring how our technology could improve the way people manage their health. This data is received in a way that does not directly identify the participants to Apple.

Apple Research app

Apple’s research platform makes it simple to bring together researchers with people eager to help advance medical discovery. You can sign up for a study (or studies) right from your iPhone. If you meet the criteria for a given study, then with your consent you can join. Any data collected through the Apple Research app will be encrypted if you have a passcode set on your device. Once shared, the data is stored securely within Apple in a system designed to meet the technical safeguard requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Apple will not have access to any contact information or other data that directly identifies you through the Research app. And you can withdraw from any study at any time, ending any future data collection.

Improve Health & Activity and Improve Wheelchair Mode

Improve Health & Activity and Improve Wheelchair Mode send data from iPhone and Apple Watch to Apple so we can increase the effectiveness of our health and fitness features. This includes data that is shown in the Health, Activity, and Fitness apps, movement measurements, which other fitness apps you have installed, your approximate location, and how long you have been using Apple Watch. The data is not used for any other purpose and does not include personally identifiable information.

Location Services

Location Services privacy controls are a powerful way to manage which apps have access to your location.

App location permissions

Location permissions help you control the location data that you pass to apps using fine-grained controls. You can choose to grant an app access to your location once or anytime you use it.

Approximate location

Starting with iOS 14, iPadOS 14, and watchOS 7, you can choose whether apps can see your approximate location — within an area of about 10 square miles — rather than your exact location. So you can use apps to find nearby restaurants or check the local weather without providing more information than you need to.

Background tracking notifications

Receive notifications when an app is using your location in the background, so you can decide whether to update your permission. Background tracking notifications include a map that shows you the places where an app used your location in the background.

Wi-Fi and Bluetooth location privacy enhancements

Starting in iOS 13 and iPadOS 13, API changes limit the kinds of apps that can see the names of Wi-Fi networks you connect to, which makes it harder for apps to determine your location without your consent. To protect you against apps using Bluetooth to determine your location without your consent, iOS and iPadOS include controls so that an app must ask before accessing Bluetooth for any other purpose than playing audio. And Bluetooth settings allow you to change whether an app has access at any time.

Location controls for shared photos

macOS, iOS, and iPadOS let you decide if you want to include the location when you share a photo, whether you’re sharing it with a friend or with an app.

Sign in with Apple

Sign in to apps and websites quickly and easily without having your activity tracked or profiled by Apple.

Sign in using your Apple ID

Sign in with Apple lets you sign in to apps and websites using the Apple ID you already have. When you use Sign in with Apple, the most information websites and apps can ask for is your name and email address. And Apple won’t track or profile you when you use Sign in with Apple.

Hide your email

If you don’t want to share your email address with a particular app or website, you can choose to hide it. You can also choose to have Apple create a unique email address that forwards to your real address.

Two-factor authentication

Sign in with Apple requires your Apple ID to be protected with two-factor authentication, so that access to accounts in your favorite apps is more secure.

Upgrade to Sign in with Apple

Developers can offer you the option to upgrade existing app accounts using Sign in with Apple. You can quickly and easily sign in to your accounts using Face ID or Touch ID and take advantage of Apple’s two-factor authentication for improved privacy and security, without having to set up a new account.

News and Entertainment

Our news and entertainment services use information about what you read, listen to, and watch to help personalize your experience. But Apple doesn’t build a comprehensive profile of your activity across services.

Random identifier in Apple News

The more news articles you read, the more personalized the Apple News app becomes. Information Apple collects about articles you read is used to improve Apple News. This information is linked to an Apple News–specific identifier and is not linked to other services. You can reset your Apple News identifier at any time by clearing your history in Saved Stories. Recommendations for channels, topics, and content are created on your device. By default, Apple News uses iCloud to sync the channels and topics you follow, your reading history, and your reading preferences across your devices.

On-device suggestions in Apple News

Siri suggests stories, channels, and topics you may like based on on-device information pulled from the apps you use and the websites you visit in Safari. And when you search in Apple News, your query is combined with information about recently used and popular apps on your device to provide you with relevant search results.

Apple News subscriptions

If you buy a third-party subscription in Apple News, you can choose whether to share your personal information with the publisher. If you have enabled notifications for an Apple News channel, Apple stores that information to notify you about breaking events, including from your subscription publications.

Apple Music

Apple Music doesn’t contain advertisements from other companies. To help personalized features like Listen Now, Autoplay, personal mixes, and new release notifications reflect your musical tastes, Apple collects some information about your activity when you play or browse music. This is detailed during setup in “About Apple Music & Privacy.” Apple Music is obligated to share some aggregated data with partners, like record labels, for purposes such as royalty payments to artists, but it only does so with industry‑leading privacy protections.

Apple Music does not share data with partners using any user or device identifiers. And if you don’t want to keep your music collection on our servers, you can opt out of iCloud Music Library. iOS and iPadOS put you in control of which apps can access your Music account and associated details. The opt‑in Apple Music Friends feature lets you share your favorite music — and decide which friends can see the music in your profile. Apple Music only has access to the contacts you choose to add to Apple Music Friends specifically, not your entire contact list.

To offer personalized recommendations and improve your Apple TV experience, Apple collects information about your purchases, downloads, and activity in the Apple TV app, including what you watch on the Apple TV app, connected apps, and your location. You can choose to share what you watch in connected apps to bring all your content together, and you have control over the viewing history used by Apple to provide you with personalized recommendations. You can delete the viewing history Apple holds from connected apps entirely, or choose to delete it app by app.

Apple Arcade

Apple Arcade games do not collect any personal data about you or track any information about how you play without your permission. Games in Apple Arcade contain no in-game advertising and no third‑party tracking.

Every app in the App Store is required to follow strict guidelines on protecting your privacy and to provide a self-reported summary of how it uses your data. And apps must ask for your permission before accessing things like your photos or location.

App guidelines

On the App Store, Apple requires app developers to adhere to specific guidelines designed to protect user privacy and security. Apple also requires them to provide a privacy policy that you can review. When Apple becomes aware of an app that violates our guidelines, the developer must address the issue or the app will be removed from the App Store. Apps go through a review process before becoming available on the App Store.

Privacy Nutrition Labels

Developers are required to self‑report how they are using your data –– such as usage data, contact information, or location –– and whether that data is used to track you. You can view each self-reported Privacy Nutrition Label on the app’s product page on the App Store at any time, including before you choose to download. This is part of ongoing work to increase transparency and control over your data, and Apple will continue to update this feature and work with developers to ensure that users can make informed choices.

App permissions

Once an app is installed on your device, you are prompted for permission the first time it tries to access information such as your location or photos. You can make changes to the permissions you’ve granted. And iOS 11 or later and iPadOS give you the control to provide your location to any app only while you’re using it. Apple also makes sure that there are certain types of data on your device that apps simply can’t access, and that there is no way for an app to ask for complete access to all your data.

When you use an App Clip, developers can only ask for a limited set of data. When an App Clip requires access to your location, camera, or other sensitive data, it will require the same consent as a full app. You can also choose to grant permission to all App Clips. App Clips aren’t allowed to ask your permission to track you across other companies’ apps and websites –– only full apps can do that.

App tracking

An app tracking section in Settings lets you easily see which of your apps have been given permission to track you, so you can change your preferences and disable apps from asking in the future. iOS 14.5 and iPadOS 14.5 or later require developers to get your permission before tracking your activity across other companies’ apps and websites for ads or data brokers.

What you store in iCloud is protected with industry‑leading encryption, privacy, and security. Developers do not have access to your Apple ID.

Data encryption

iCloud secures your information — like photos, contacts, and notes — by encrypting it when it’s in transit, storing it in an encrypted format, and safeguarding your encryption keys in Apple data centers. Both Apple and third‑party data centers may be used to store and process your data. When processing data stored in a third‑party data center, encryption keys are accessed only by Apple software running on secure servers, and only while conducting the necessary processing. For additional security, you can enable Advanced Data Protection, which uses end‑to‑end encryption to ensure that iCloud data in many categories can be decrypted only on your trusted devices, protecting your information even in the case of a data breach in the cloud.

Two-factor authentication is an extra layer of security for your Apple ID. It’s designed to help ensure that you’re the only person who can access your account, even if someone else knows your password. It’s easy to set up and easy to use.

iCloud sharing

With iCloud sharing, the identities of participants are not made available to anyone who has not been invited to and accepted a private share. The names of your shared files and the first and last name associated with your Apple ID are available to anyone who has access to the sharing link, including Apple. In iOS 11 or later, iPadOS, and macOS High Sierra or later, end‑to‑end encryption in iCloud syncs certain types of personal data, such as your Health data, across all your devices in such a way that Apple cannot read or access it.

CloudKit is a way for third-party developers to use iCloud storage in their own apps. CloudKit helps keep your preferences, settings, and app data up to date across your devices. Developers use CloudKit to make it easier for you to use their apps because you don’t have to sign in separately. By default, developers don’t have access to your Apple ID, just a unique identifier. If you give your permission, developers can use your email to let others find you in their app. You’re always in control of these permissions and can turn them on or off at any time. Your data associated with CloudKit isn’t shared with developers unless you choose to share or post publicly.

Account Recovery Contacts

Choose one or more people you trust to become an Account Recovery Contact to help you reset your password and regain access to your account. Apple does not know who your trusted contacts are, only whether you have any.

Digital Legacy program

The Digital Legacy program lets you designate people as Legacy Contacts so they can access your account and personal information in the event of your death. Apple does not know who your Legacy Contacts are, only whether you have any.

iCloud+ includes great features to help protect your privacy when browsing the internet and using email.

Hide My Email

Hide My Email allows you to create unique, random email addresses that forward to your personal inbox so you can send and receive email without having to share your real email address.

iCloud Private Relay

iCloud Private Relay is an internet privacy service that uses an innovative multihop architecture in which users’ requests are sent through two separate internet relays operated by different entities. This way, no single party — including Apple — can view or collect the details of users’ browsing activity. 4

All the rigorous privacy measures built into your iPhone and apps carry over to CarPlay. And iOS privacy updates apply to CarPlay, too.

Data minimization

When you use CarPlay, every app you see is powered from your iPhone rather than by the car. This means that Apple gives only limited metadata to the car to make the experience seamless, and only when that metadata is essential to delivering the service. For example, song information may be shared to display the current song you’re listening to, and the contact or call time for your current call may be displayed on an instrument cluster or head‑up display to help you see helpful information.

Third-party apps

Third-party audio, messaging, voice dialing, and navigation apps work in CarPlay, as well as apps that automakers create for their own cars. Because they run on your iPhone, all the protections that apply to third-party apps in iOS apply to CarPlay, too. And Apple always requires third-party apps to provide a privacy policy for you to review.

The Home app uses encryption to protect the information you transmit to HomePod and all your HomeKit- or Matter-enabled smart home accessories. Apps that use HomeKit or Matter are subject to requirements as part of our developer agreement.

Data related to your home is encrypted and stored in a way that Apple can't read it. It’s also encrypted in transit between your Apple device and the devices you’re controlling in your home, even when you control your accessories from a remote location. Recordings from security cameras that use HomeKit Secure Video are analyzed privately on your Apple devices at home and then sent securely to iCloud through end-to-end encryption.

Location protections

When apps perform automatic actions based on your location, such as turning on house lights, these actions are initiated by the Apple Home ecosystem, which makes your location invisible to the app. You can also disable use of your location at any time.

App protections

Apps that use HomeKit or Matter are restricted by our developer guidelines to using data solely for home configuration or automation services.

Requests made using Siri, including those to control your smart home accessories, are associated with a random identifier — not your Apple ID. So your identity is protected.

HomeKit Secure Video

In iOS 13 and iPadOS 13 or later, HomeKit Secure Video ensures that activity detected by your security cameras is analyzed and encrypted by your Apple devices at home before being securely stored in iCloud.

Apple’s Matter implementation includes innovative privacy and security features designed to put you in control of your smart home experience and to enhance interoperability between apps and ecosystems.

When pairing a new Matter accessory, iOS and iPadOS maintain the highest levels of privacy and security, ensuring that you are always aware of which accessories join your home and that you are in full control of your smart home network. Just as with your location information, contacts, calendar, and photos, apps must request access to add an accessory to your home.

HomeKit-enabled routers

HomeKit-enabled routers let you see and manage your other accessories’ internet traffic, both within your home and through the internet.

Children and Families

Features like Communication Safety, Screen Time, Family Sharing, and Apple-designed education apps help keep kids safe and give parents and teachers control over what children can access and share.

Children’s safety

Communication Safety adds protections for children who may receive or attempt to send photos or videos containing nudity. Parents can manage Communication Safety through their Family Sharing plan.

Content containing nudity will be blurred and the child will be warned, presented with helpful resources, and reassured that it is OK if they do not want to view the photo or video. Similar protections are available if a child attempts to send photos or videos that contain nudity. In both cases, children are given the option to message someone they trust for help. The warnings work across the Messages app, FaceTime video messages, and AirDrop, and when using the Phone app to receive a Contact Poster and the Photos picker to choose content to send.

All image and video processing for Communication Safety occurs on the device, meaning neither Apple nor any third party gets access to the content. Photos and videos are analyzed to determine if they contain nudity. End-to-end encryption is maintained, and no indication of the detection of nudity leaves the device. Apple does not get access to the messages, and no notifications are sent to the parent or anyone else.

Family Sharing

With Family Sharing, parents have visibility into their children’s activity and content on their Apple devices, and children can have their own Apple IDs with the consent of the family organizer. In addition to Communication Safety features that help parents protect children from accessing or sharing content containing nudity, Apple has developed tools such as Ask to Buy. This feature allows parents to approve app downloads or in‑app purchases to give them control over their children’s purchases using their Apple ID.

Screen Time

You can use Screen Time to better understand and make choices about how much time your children spend using apps and websites. Activity Reports give you a detailed look at all their app usage, notifications, and device pickups — and only you, your children, and those you choose to share it with can view this information. You can also set the amount of time your kids can spend each day on specific apps and websites.

Education apps

Apple doesn’t sell student information, and we don’t share it with third parties to use for marketing or advertising. Apple doesn’t collect, use, or disclose student information from Apple School Manager, the Schoolwork app, the Classroom app, iTunes U, or Managed Apple IDs other than to provide relevant educational services. And Apple does not track students or build profiles based on their email or web browsing. Parents can decide if they want their child to participate, and students have access to their own data on their devices.

Student Privacy Pledge

To provide the best privacy protections for students and teachers, all relevant agreements and processes are aligned with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). In addition, Apple has signed the Student Privacy Pledge, further underscoring our commitment to protecting the information students, parents, and teachers share in schools.

Kids apps and the App Store

Apple has guidelines that are designed to protect user privacy and security for all apps. For apps in the Kids category, we require additional safeguards to help protect children’s data and prevent improper advertising. We believe that when parents download an app for their children from the Kids category, they should have visibility into how their children’s device usage may be transmitted and confidence that their children won’t be subjected to inappropriate advertisements.

Privacy protections are built in.

Privacy is a foundational part of the design process. We incorporate these protections throughout Apple products, apps, and services.

At Apple, we believe in collecting only the personal data required to deliver what you need. Whenever possible, Apple processes and analyzes personal data on your device. In instances where specific personal information is necessary, we minimize the amount we use to provide the intended service — like your location when searching in Maps. Apple does not maintain a comprehensive user data profile of your activity across all our products and services to serve you targeted advertising.

On-device intelligence

Apple uses machine learning to enhance your experience — and your privacy — by using on-device processing so other people don’t see your data. We’ve used it for on-device image and scene recognition in Photos, predictive text in keyboards, and more. For example, the A13 Bionic and later chips and the Neural Engine in iPhone can recognize patterns, make predictions, and learn from experience, similar to the way you do. So your device can create personalized experiences without having to analyze personal information on Apple servers. Developers can use our frameworks, such as Create ML and Core ML, to create powerful new app experiences that don’t require your data to leave your device. That means apps can analyze user sentiment, classify scenes, translate text, recognize handwriting, predict text, tag music, and more without putting your privacy at risk.

Transparency and control

When Apple does collect personal data, we’re clear and transparent about it. We make sure you know how your personal information is being used, and how to opt out anytime you like. Data and privacy information screens help you understand how Apple will use your personal information before you sign in or start using new features. We also provide a set of dedicated privacy management tools on our Data and Privacy page. For example, in iOS 14 or later you can choose to grant an app access to just the images you want. And you’ll receive a notification when an app is using your location in the background, so you can decide whether to update your permission.

Protecting your identity

Apple has developed technologies to help obscure your identity when data must go to Apple servers. Sometimes we use random identifiers so your data is not associated with your Apple ID. We have also pioneered using Differential Privacy to understand patterns of behavior while protecting an individual user’s privacy. If you choose to send Apple analytics about your device usage, the collected information does not identify you personally. When it’s collected, personal data is either not logged at all, removed from reports before they’re sent to Apple, or protected by techniques such as Differential Privacy. Techniques like these help us deliver and improve services while protecting your privacy.

Data security

Without security protections, there is no privacy. Every Apple device combines hardware, software, and services designed to work together for maximum security and a transparent user experience. Custom hardware — such as the Secure Enclave in iPhone, iPad, and Mac — powers critical security features like data encryption. Software protections work to help keep the operating system and third-party apps safe. Services provide a mechanism for secure and timely software updates; power a safer app ecosystem, secure communications, and payments; and provide a safer experience on the web. Apple devices help protect not only the device and its data at rest, but the entire ecosystem, including what you do locally, on networks, and with key web services.

Learn more about privacy at Apple.

• Go to privacy overview
• Control what you share
• See how apps from Apple handle your data

Our values lead the way.

Accessibility.

Our built-in accessibility features are designed to work the way you do.

Environment

We’re committed to bringing our net emissions to zero across our entire carbon footprint by 2030.

Racial Equity and Justice Initiative

We’re addressing systemic racism by expanding opportunities for communities of color globally.

We empower students and educators to learn, create, and define their own success.

Supply Chain Innovation

We prioritize providing safe, respectful, and supportive workplaces for everyone.

Inclusion and Diversity

We’re holding ourselves accountable for creating a culture where everyone belongs.

How to Turn Off Private Browsing on iPhone: A Step-by-Step Guide

Turning off private browsing on your iPhone is a simple task. To do so, open your Safari browser, tap the tabs icon at the bottom right corner, and then tap “Private” to disable it. Your Safari browser will then return to regular browsing mode where your history and website data will be saved.

Step by Step Tutorial to Turn Off Private Browsing on iPhone

Private browsing on your iPhone is a handy feature for when you don’t want your browsing history to be saved. However, there may be times when you need to disable this feature. Here’s how to do it:

Step 1: Open Safari

Open the Safari app on your iPhone. This is usually found on the home screen or the dock at the bottom of the screen.

Safari is the default browser on iPhones, and it’s represented by a blue compass icon. Make sure you’re on a browsing window and not on the settings or any other page within the app.

Step 2: Go to the Tabs Section

Tap the tabs icon at the bottom right corner of the screen. This icon looks like two overlapping squares.

In the tabs section, you’ll see all the open tabs in your Safari browser. If you’re in private browsing mode, the background of the tabs section will be a darker color.

Step 3: Disable Private Browsing

If the “Private” button at the bottom left corner is highlighted, tap it to turn off private browsing.

Once you tap the “Private” button, a message will pop up letting you know that you’re about to exit private browsing mode. Tap on “Done,” and your browser will switch to regular browsing mode.

After completing these steps, your iPhone will no longer be in private browsing mode. This means that your browsing history, cookies, and website data will now be saved. If you need to switch back to private browsing at a later time, you can follow the same steps and tap “Private” to enable it.

Tips to Turn Off Private Browsing on iPhone

• Double-check if you have actually disabled private browsing by looking at the color of the tabs section; it should be a lighter color.
• If you can’t find the Safari app, swipe down on your home screen and use the search function to locate it.
• Remember that disabling private browsing will save your browsing history, so be mindful if you’re using a shared device.
• For added privacy, regularly clear your browsing history and website data in Safari settings.
• You can also use content blockers or VPN services for increased privacy while browsing.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is private browsing.

Private browsing is a feature that allows you to browse the internet without saving your browsing history, cookies, and website data.

Can I disable private browsing on all my Apple devices at once?

No, you need to disable private browsing individually on each device.

Will disabling private browsing affect my saved bookmarks and reading list?

No, your bookmarks and reading list will not be affected.

Can websites track me when private browsing is turned off?

When private browsing is off, websites can use cookies and other tracking methods to collect data about your browsing activity.

Is private browsing completely anonymous?

No, private browsing doesn’t make you anonymous on the internet. Your internet service provider, employer, or the websites themselves can still track your activity.

• Open Safari
• Go to the Tabs Section
• Disable Private Browsing

Private browsing is a great feature to have at your fingertips when you need it, but it’s just as important to know how to turn it off on your iPhone. Disabling private browsing will ensure that your browsing history and data are saved, which can be useful to keep track of your online activities or to easily return to previously visited websites. Remember that while private browsing offers increased privacy, it doesn’t offer complete anonymity. It’s always a good idea to be aware of your digital footprint and take additional privacy measures if needed. For now, enjoy your regular browsing experience, and keep in mind that you can always switch back to private browsing on your iPhone whenever you feel the need.

Matthew Burleigh has been writing tech tutorials since 2008. His writing has appeared on dozens of different websites and been read over 50 million times.

After receiving his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Computer Science he spent several years working in IT management for small businesses. However, he now works full time writing content online and creating websites.

His main writing topics include iPhones, Microsoft Office, Google Apps, Android, and Photoshop, but he has also written about many other tech topics as well.

Read his full bio here.

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• Electronics
• Smartphones

16 Practical Privacy Tips for Your iPhone

By Thorin Klosowski

Your smartphone is an extension of your brain, filled with all your emails, search history, and communication with other people. Regardless of whether you’re concerned about corporations collecting your data to monetize your habits or a snooping roommate with a penchant for side-eyeing your incoming messages, or you just don’t want some random stranger to gain access to everything in your phone, here are the settings to change on your iPhone for increased privacy.

Using a smartphone is always a risk when it comes to privacy. Your cell provider tracks your location all the time, and it’s nearly impossible to identify exactly what data each app collects and sells. But everyone can take a few steps to mitigate privacy concerns. Some of these steps come at the cost of convenience, but we’ll explain how each setting works so that you can decide what’s worth the trade-off for you.

The research

Enable two-factor authentication, set a strong passcode (and consider disabling touch id or face id), change what’s accessible on your lock screen, clean up lock-screen widgets and notification settings, audit app permissions, use “sign in with apple”, enable automatic updates, disable ad tracking, block mail tracking, configure siri settings, turn off icloud backup for apps that don’t need it, set messages to auto-delete, enable find my iphone, tweak the “shared with me” permissions, make safari more private, consider paid icloud+ features.

Why: Two-factor authentication adds a second layer of security to your Apple account, in this case requiring a one-time-use code alongside your password for you to log in from an unfamiliar device. After you set it up, even if someone has your password, they shouldn’t be able to access your account without also having your phone or computer. For example, if you have an iPhone and you sign in to a new Mac for the first time, it will prompt you to enter a verification code that pops up on your phone. If you buy a new iPhone and don’t have another Apple device, you’ll receive a text message with the code. If you haven’t set up two-factor authentication for your Apple ID , you should.

What to do: To enable it from your phone, head to Settings > [Your name] > Password & Security , and then tap Turn on two-factor authentication . You should also enable this feature on other important online accounts if you haven’t already done so.

Why: Everyone should have some sort of lock on their phone to prevent strangers from accessing it. A passcode prevents someone from accessing work, personal, or financial information on your phone and also makes it much harder for a thief to wipe and reuse or resell the phone.

What to do: Most people can use a biometric lock (Touch ID or Face ID). However, if you are in a circumstance where someone may try to unlock your phone with your fingerprint or if you have sensitive data on your phone, you should consider skipping the biometrics and using only a passcode. In 2019, a judge in Northern California ruled that law enforcement can’t force you to unlock your phone with your face or fingerprint , but that same year a judge in Illinois ruled the opposite . Until this issue is resolved, it’s best to stick with a passcode if you have concerns about someone unlocking your phone against your will. Even without your phone, law enforcement can gain access to some information stored online through third parties, so be mindful of what you do with your data.

If you don’t have a passcode set on your phone, it’s time to set one up. Tap Settings > Touch ID [or Face ID ] & Passcode . If you have a phone that supports Face ID, make sure the Require Attention for Face ID option is enabled so that your phone can’t be unlocked when your eyes are closed. If you choose a PIN, make the PIN a more complex alphanumeric code so that it’s harder to guess. To do so, tap Change Passcode , enter your passcode, and then tap Passcode Options .

Why: If you’re not careful, your iPhone can display a lot of personal data or give a stranger access to certain features on the lock screen without requiring a passcode.

What to do: While you’re in the Touch ID [or Face ID] & Passcode menu, take some time to poke around a few more options. In the Allow Access When Locked area, look at which features are available on the screen when the phone is locked. You may want to disable Reply with Message, Return Missed Calls, and Notification Center if you’re worried about someone getting physical access to your phone and accessing recent messages or notifications.

You should also enable Erase Data . With this option enabled, your iPhone wipes all data after 10 failed passcode attempts, which makes it improbable that someone can force their way into your phone.

Why : As with the lock screen, notifications might leak sensitive data to a stranger who finds your phone. You should hide the text in notifications for apps that have potentially sensitive data.

What to do: For notifications, head to Settings > Notifications > Show Previews , and change the setting to either When Unlocked or Never . If you worry about only specific app notifications, such as from Messages or your email app, showing sensitive information, you can change this option on an app-by-app basis by heading to Notifications > [App name] > Show Previews .

Widgets can unintentionally leak information, as well. From the home screen, swipe to the right to open the Today View. If it has data from any apps you wouldn’t want a stranger seeing, scroll down to the Edit button and remove that app from the page.

Why: Every time you install an app, it asks for permissions to access hardware and system services such as the microphone, your location, the camera, and more, but mindlessly tapping through these notifications is all too easy, and you could miss some indicators of problematic app behavior. For example, some apps that don’t need location data to function still record that data so that they can sell it—alongside other information they collect about you—to marketing firms.

What to do: Open Settings > Privacy & Security  and scroll through each of the various privacy controls. (Alternatively, you can open Settings and scroll to the bottom for a list of apps and then go through it that way.) Accessing Location Services ranks among the most overreaching requests that apps make, so it’s worthwhile to make sure that Location Services on most apps is set to Never or While Using . For any app that doesn’t require your exact location but can function with an approximate location, such as a weather app, disable Precise Location . Very few apps are enhanced by knowing your location, so that’s often data they collect just to bundle up and sell to advertising companies. The same goes for Bluetooth: For years, retail stores have quietly used Bluetooth to track your location when you’re shopping.

Why: When you create an account online, it’s easy for a company to link your data with an email address. With Sign in with Apple , you can tuck your account away behind a fake, randomly generated email address that forwards to your real email address. Doing so offers the added benefit of making email addresses leaked in data breaches difficult to link with your other accounts.

What to do: When you come across the option to create an account with your Apple ID, consider it. Aside from the benefit of getting a randomized email address, it’s easier to audit where you have accounts by heading to Settings > [Your name] > Password & Security > Apps Using Apple ID . If you pay for an iCloud+ subscription, you can make a fake email address anywhere Sign in with Apple isn’t supported.

Why: Both the operating system and the apps you download often receive updates containing security and privacy fixes. Enabling automatic updates ensures that those fixes happen in the background.

What to do: To automatically keep apps up to date, open Settings > App Store and enable App Updates . The operating system is set to update automatically by default, but you can double-check by opening Settings > General > Software Update .

Why: Ad tracking is a method that companies use to serve you personalized ads, but such tailored campaigns based on marketing profiles can be off-putting . Both Apple and individual apps gather a lot of data about you . Some apps might then turn around and sell the information they gather, often without your realizing it. You can put a stop to some of this data sharing.

What to do: Ad tracking across apps should be disabled by default, but it’s good to double-check and confirm that you didn’t enable it inadvertently at some point. Open Settings > Privacy & Security > Tracking and make sure Allow Apps to Request to Track is disabled.

Scroll to the bottom of the page at Settings > Privacy & Security > Apple Advertising and toggle Personalized Ads off. This will opt you out of interest-based ads in Apple apps.

Also, head to Settings > Privacy & Security > Analytics & Improvements and disable Share iPhone Analytics if you want to prevent Apple from reviewing crash reports, iCloud issues, or Siri recordings. Analytics data covers a lot of information that you may not want to share, anonymously or not.

Why: Some emails include tracking technology that can tell the sender if you’ve opened their email and give them a vague sense of your location. Usually only newsletters or marketing emails employ such techniques, but it happens in the background, so you never know about it. If you use Apple’s Mail app, you can block some of this tracking.

What to do: Open Settings > Mail > Privacy Protection and enable Protect Mail Activity . This setting makes it so that the sender cannot see your IP address or know if you opened the email. However, the sender may still track whether you tap a link in an email, so keep that in mind.

Why: Although most people think of Siri as just a voice assistant, it’s also the backbone of Apple’s personalization system, which tracks how you use your phone and makes suggestions based on what it knows about you. From a privacy point of view, Siri might be more complicated than you think . For example, Siri suggestions in search might pull up text from a private diary app that contains a keyword.

What to do: In Settings > Siri & Search , you can find some basic usability settings alongside a list of every app you have installed. If you don’t want the content of one of those apps (such as a notes app) showing up in your device searches, tap the app and then disable Show App in Search . You may also want to disable Learn from this App if you don’t want the app popping up in other places.

If you don’t use Siri, you can disable it completely by turning off the Press Side Button for Siri and Listen for “Hey Siri” options. You can also delete your Siri history by tapping Siri & Dictation History and then Delete Siri & Dictation History .

Why: When it comes to data security, the iPhone generally does a great job . Messages are encrypted end-to-end, and backups are encrypted in transit and on the server. However, Apple still holds the key to unlock anything stored on iCloud, including backups . And that means law enforcement can compel the company to unlock those backups .

What to do: You can disable iCloud backups completely, though that means when you restore a phone (or get a new one), you’ll have to set it up as a new phone every time unless you back up your phone to your computer . The most privacy-focused option is to disable iCloud Backup and use local backups, and then leave Messages in iCloud enabled.

If you don’t have a computer, or if it sounds like too much trouble to back up this way, Apple gives you some options to decide what’s stored in iCloud: Go to Settings > [Your name] > iCloud and then tap Show All . View the results and uncheck anything you don’t want stored online. Some of the options here are end-to-end encrypted —most notably, Messages—which means Apple doesn’t have a key (and wouldn’t be able to comply with law enforcement requests to unlock them). However, in the case of Messages, if you have iCloud Backup enabled, Apple holds the key for messages stored in the backup. It’s confusing, but if this is critical for you, use Signal instead.

Why: Unless you like going through old messages, you can probably forgo saving them forever. On top of deleting dumb things you’ve said in the past that you might not want someone to find, cleaning up can free up a ton of storage space on your phone.

What to do: Head to Settings > Messages > Keep Messages and change the setting to 30 Days or 1 Year .

Why: Losing your phone stinks, but thankfully the iPhone offers two ways to help protect your privacy with its Find My service.

What to do: Open Settings > [Your name] >   Find My and make sure Find My iPhone is enabled. With this setting enabled, you can use another Apple device to find your phone if it’s lost or wipe it remotely if you think it’s stolen.

Why: In iOS 15 Apple introduced the “Shared with Me” feature, which automatically shows links sent to you in text messages in the corresponding Apple apps, such as Safari, Music, Photos, and Podcasts. It seems innocent enough, but it also means that anytime you open those apps, you—or anyone else using your device—will see links shared with you, which could lead to all sorts of embarrassing scenarios if, say, your friends tend to dump a lot of goofy links in group chats.

What to do: Open Settings > Messages > Shared with You and disable sharing in any apps you don’t want these links to show up. You can still share links manually by long-pressing the link and then selecting Pin .

Why: Safari is where most people do all their iOS web browsing (unless you use an alternative browser like DuckDuckGo or Firefox ), so it’s important to make sure Safari is preserving your privacy as much as possible.

What to do: Safari offers a few different ways to tweak your privacy preferences without significantly altering the experience of browsing the web:

• Change your default search engine: Google is the default search engine in Safari, but if you don’t like the idea of Google slurping up all your search data, you can change this (afterward, you can always head to www.google.com if you need to) by going to Settings > Safari > Search Engine . We suggest DuckDuckGo , which doesn’t track you or target ads.
• Disable tracking: While you’re in the Settings > Safari menu, scroll down to the Privacy & Security section and enable Prevent Cross-Site Tracking . This setting will stop some sites from tracking you as you browse the web. You can also set Hide IP Address to Trackers and Websites .
• Turn off ad measurements: Apple has a system called private click measurement that measures ad campaigns while trying to preserve privacy. Essentially, the system makes it so that an advertiser knows only that somebody clicked an ad, not you specifically. Although this is probably private enough, you can opt out of measurements by turning off the Privacy Preserving Ad Measurement option.
• Consider an ad blocker: If you want to completely block tracking, consider using a content blocker such as 1Blocker or Ka-Block .

You may also want to disable other Safari settings , such as Safari Suggestions, which sends some search queries to Apple, including the location of where you searched from (which you can disable individually at Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services > System Services ).

In iOS 15, Apple introduced a couple of pay-for-privacy features that are included with paid iCloud+ subscriptions :

• Hide my email: This feature works identically to the “hide my email” feature included with sites that support Sign in with Apple, but it doesn’t require Sign in with Apple. When you create a new account on any site from your iOS device, you get an option to create a randomized email address just for that site that forwards to your primary email address. If the randomized address starts receiving spam, you can easily cut off access (and figure out which website might be selling off your data in the process). To check your list of email addresses and change your forwarding address, open Settings > [Your name] > iCloud > Hide My Email . If you’d like to have this sort of feature but don’t want to pay for it, a number of free services do the same thing.
• iCloud Private Relay: This tool hides your IP address, making it difficult for companies to build the types of profiles they usually use for advertising. It does so by bouncing your URL requests (such as if you type www.nytimes.com/wirecutter) from your computer to Apple and then to a third-party relay, which obscures where it originated from. (Some people have confused this technology with a virtual private network , but it doesn’t work the same way. It’s closer to how a Tor network functions, but still different from that.) It sounds good in theory, but we’ll have to wait to see if it really increases privacy. To enable it, open Settings > [Your name] > iCloud > Private Relay .

Privacy is an ever-changing concern, and no safeguard you can apply is completely bulletproof, so be sure to check in on these various settings after iOS updates. It’s impossible to lock everything down, but it’s possible to at least dial back the data collection.

Meet your guide

Thorin Klosowski

Thorin Klosowski is the former editor of privacy and security topics at Wirecutter. He has been writing about technology for over a decade, with an emphasis on learning by doing—which is to say, breaking things as often as possible to see how they work. For better or worse, he applies that same DIY approach to his reporting.

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Further reading

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by Max Eddy

Everyone should use a password manager, and after researching dozens and testing six, we recommend 1Password because it’s secure and easy to use.

How to Get the Most Out of 1Password

by Thorin Klosowski

Everyone should use a password manager. Our expert walks you through how to set up and take advantage of the features in our favorite, 1Password.

7 Simple Ways to Protect Your Digital Privacy

Follow these simple steps to lock down your devices and accounts and take back some control over who has access to your data.

How to Manage PlayStation, Switch, and Xbox Privacy Settings

Your game console collects plenty of information, but with a few settings changes, you can limit how much data you share with strangers or companies.

How-To Geek

How to check and tighten all your iphone's privacy settings.

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Don't Pay for Patreon on Your iPhone (Do This Instead)

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Apps on your iPhone have to ask permission before accessing your data, but have you ever agreed to a permission request only to reconsider it later? Take back control of your data by reviewing your privacy settings.

This is about more than apps, too. Your iPhone lets you limit the ad tracking available to apps, preventing them from showing you targeted ads.

Apple's rigid approach to iPhone privacy is reassuring, providing you with the tools you need to monitor exactly what your apps know about you. At any point, you can disable an app's access to your location, camera, microphone, and other potentially sensitive bits of information.

Apps are always asking for permission. If you download a camera app, it will need access to your camera to work. This takes the form of an actionable pop-up window, where you can grant or deny the request.

This is how Apple designed privacy to work on the iOS operating system. You have to manually grant access to information and services, like your location, camera, microphone, health data, and even your Apple Music library. These privacy requests include other apps, like Reminders, Calendar, and Contacts.

Apple did this to make it easy to manage your personal information. Not all apps need access to everything they request to function. You don't necessarily want all apps to send you push notifications, monitor your location, or listen in on your microphone.

This isn't all about apps, however. There are other important options you should check, including advertisement tracking, keyboard access, and browser privacy options. There's nothing paranoid about being privacy-conscious.

You can control what apps have access to from the Settings app. In the Settings app, scroll down and tap on "Privacy" to reveal a list of private types of data, like Location Services, Contacts, and Photos. Tap on each of these to see a list of apps that have requested access. Tap the toggle to grant or revoke access to any app you see fit.

While you're reviewing your privacy settings, decide whether an app requires the service to run. An app like Shazam needs access to your microphone to work, but Instagram doesn't need access to your Contacts unless you're explicitly trying to find friends.

Revoking access to certain services may have knock-on impacts for the app in question. For example, disabling Facebook's access to your camera will prevent Facebook Camera from working, but it won't affect the core functionality of the app.

Under Settings > Privacy is a section called Location Services. This is where you control which apps have access to your location. It's a little different from the other settings because there are three options:

• Never:  The app cannot access your location at all.
• While Using the App: The app only has access to your location while it's open on the screen in front of you.
• Always: The app can query your location in the background.

You'll also find symbols next to some of the apps, which resemble the iOS Location Services icon (an arrow pointing north-west). This can help you understand which apps are using your location:

• Hollow purple arrow: The app may receive your location under certain conditions.
• Solid purple arrow: The app has used your location recently.
• Solid grey arrow: The app has used your location at some point in the last 24 hours.

If you see an app you don't use much showing a solid arrow, you might want to rescind access to your location (or consider deleting the app). The hollow arrow often relates to apps that use geofencing, run via widgets, or Apple Watch apps (like Weather).

You can share your location with other Apple users via iMessage. To do so open Messages and select a contact that is using iMessage (your chat bubbles will be blue, not green). Tap the contact's name at the top of the screen and then choose "Info." Tap "Share My Location" to share for one hour, one day, or indefinitely.

It can be easy to forget who you have shared your location with, so you can review this under Settings > Privacy > Location Services. Tap on "Share My Location" to bring up a list of contacts who can track your GPS position in almost real time. You can disable the setting entirely by toggling "Share My Location" or tap on "From" to choose another Apple device from which to broadcast.

You can revoke access to your location by tapping on a contact, scrolling to the bottom of the entry, and tapping "Stop Sharing My Location." You can also use the Find My Friends app to track and manage location sharing with contacts.

Head to Settings > Privacy, scroll down to the bottom of the list, and tap "System Services." You will see a list of services currently using your location. You can toggle any of these off, but most users should leave them enabled.

The "Significant Locations" menu will likely be of particular interest. This is a list of locations that your iPhone stores to "provide useful location-related information in Maps, Calendar, Photos, and more." This information is encrypted and unavailable to Apple, but it is used by your device to make suggestions relating to traffic, travel time, and more.

Below that is the "Product Improvement" section, which uses your location to help improve Apple's services. This information is not encrypted and must be made available to Apple (anonymously) to be useful to them. Feel free to disable any services you aren't comfortable with.

Notifications aren't a huge privacy issue, but they can be annoying. They can also give away information to anyone reading over your shoulder. You can head to Settings > Notifications to disable access to your notifications on a per-app basis.

Under Settings > Notifications, you can also change how each notification is displayed on your lock screen. Select an app for which you have enabled notifications and look for the "Show Previews" option. The best option here is to select "When Unlocked" so that previews are only displayed when your device is unlocked by Face ID or Touch ID.

If you'd rather certain notifications never reach the lock screen, uncheck "Lock Screen" under the Alerts section.

You can also disable Siri access on the lock screen under Settings > Siri. By default, Siri won't give away too much from the lock screen before requesting that you unlock your device. For absolute peace of mind, you can disable lock screen Siri access via the "Allow Siri When Locked" toggle.

Third-party keyboards don't present a privacy risk unless you grant "Full Access" to the keyboard developer. Full access allows anything you type using a third-party keyboard to be sent to the app developer. It's required for some keyboards to function to their full capacity, but it can give away personal information, passwords, or even credit card details.

If you have any third-party keyboards installed, they will be listed under Settings > General > Keyboards. Tap on "Keyboards" at the top of the menu to see a list of all that are installed. Tap one, and you'll see the option for "Allow Full Access," which you can enable or disable. Keep in mind that some keyboards won't work without this setting enabled.

Safari is the default browser on your iPhone. You can find its privacy settings under Settings > Safari. Default settings are suitable for most users, as Safari attempts to limit cross-site tracking and displays a fraudulent website warning for flagged domains.

You can go a step further by disabling all cookies. If you do this, you'll need to log in to services more frequently and some features---like shopping carts---will not persist between sessions. You can also disable microphone and camera access, although websites will display an additional prompt requesting access if required.

Remember, if you use a different browser (like Chrome), these settings won't apply. However, Safari is respectful of your privacy in a way that should satisfy most users. If you want one that goes even further, though, consider:

• DuckDuckGo Privacy Browser:  This search engine-turned-browser for iOS and Android blocks all third-party cookies, ranks sites based on their privacy policies, and forces encrypted connection. It also ditches Google in favor of DuckDuckGo.
• Ghostery Private Browser:  It started as a browser extension, but Ghostery is now available as a private browser for iOS and Android. It promises to show who is tracking you. Also, it provides controls to block trackers, private searching with Cliqz , and protection against potential phishing attacks.
• Onion Browser:  Connect directly to Tor and browse the internet privately. Block website trackers, scripts, and cookies. Force secure connections and access .onion websites that are only available through Tor. Find out more about Tor and how it works .

Sometimes, taking control of your iPhone privacy means blocking someone you no longer want to talk to. You can prevent a contact from sending you phone calls, FaceTime calls, or Messages by blocking the caller. If the caller has associated their number with FaceTime, FaceTime calls will be blocked, but you may also need to block any email addresses not associated with their number.

To block a number you haven't saved, launch the Phone app and tap the "Recents" tab. Find the number you want to block and tap the information button ("i") next to it. On the next screen, select "Block this Caller." You can do the same under the FaceTime app, or by finding a contact that you have saved under Contacts and tapping "Block this Caller" at the bottom of the entry.

At any time, you can check who you have blocked under Settings > Phone > Call Blocking & Identification. You can also access the "Blocked" menu under Settings > FaceTime and Settings > Messages.

While spam call and SMS monitoring apps do exist, there may be a privacy tradeoff. By using services like Hiya , you're allowing some of your data to be seen by a third party. However, as the iPhone Settings app puts it, "call blocking and identification apps are not able to access any information about your incoming calls." If you're tired of being spammed but don't want to install another app, the best advice is to stop answering your phone (no, really).

Apple doesn't run a stand-alone advertising platform anymore. The iAd platform shut down in 2016. However, Apple does still send targeted adverts through some apps, including the App Store, Apple News, and the Stocks app.

Head to the Settings > Privacy menu, scroll to the bottom of the list, and then tap "Advertising." If you Limit Ad Tracking, Apple will disable interest-based targeted ads. This means the adverts you receive will be less relevant. Tap "Reset Advertising Identifier" to start over with a clean slate.

Curious as to what Apple uses to serve you adverts? Relevant information includes the device, your location, what you've searched for in the App Store, what kind of articles you read in News, stocks you take an interest in, what you download from any of Apple's storefronts, and even your name and address. You can't opt-out of this entirely, unfortunately.

You can, however, disable Location-Based Apple Ads under Settings > Privacy > System Services. As the name implies, location-based adverts use your current location to send you relevant advertisements.

Analytics are used to improve Apple's software. Anonymous information is collected about device usage, errors, and diagnostics. Apple uses this info to update or create new software and devices. App developers can also gather data about app crashes and general usage, too.

To change any of these settings, head to Settings > Privacy, scroll to the bottom of the list, and then tap "Analytics." Tap "Analytics Data" to view a daily report. You'll find information in there relating to your use, including the carrier you use, which complications you use on your Apple Watch, and the background processes used by your iPhone.

Apple promises this data is anonymous, but you can still opt out of anything you're uncomfortable sharing.

If you thought Apple's privacy controls were already pretty robust, iOS 13 heralds a new age of iPhone privacy and security. At the top of the list is a "Sign in with Apple" function which, unlike similar features from Google and Facebook, will not gather information about you. You can even choose to share a unique email address with an app rather than your standard email address. Apple is a hardware company, so it sees no value in having its customer's information.

There's also improved nuisance call screening, including the ability to block all incoming calls from unknown numbers. Apple is also finally implementing the ability to grant your permission to an app just once, plus maps of the locations tracked by any apps that have access to your location.

Expected for release in autumn 2019, iOS 13 looks pretty amazing.

Related: Here’s Why iOS 13 Makes Me Want an iPhone

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How to Use Safari's Private Browsing Mode

This article explains how to use Safari's Private Browsing mode, which prevents your browsing history from being logged on your Apple devices. It's a useful feature if you're buying gifts online for friends or family, for instance, and you don't want anyone with access to your devices to find out what you're up to.

Using Safari's Private Browsing Mode

Enabling Private Browsing limits Safari in three important ways: It prevents the browser from creating a history of the pages you visit, it stops AutoFill information like website usernames and passwords from being remembered, and any tabs you open won't be stored in iCloud .

Also, for added peace of mind when you browse privately, Safari automatically prevents cross-site tracking , and requests that sites and third-party content providers don't track you as a rule. Additionally, the privacy mode stops sites from modifying any information stored on your iOS device, and deletes cookies when you close the associated tab.

To enable Private Browsing in Safari, follow these steps.

• Open Safari on your iPhone or iPad , tap the Pages icon (consisting of two squares) to bring up the open tabs view, and then tap the profile icon, centered at the bottom of the screen.

• When you're done browsing, return to the open tabs view, individually swipe any open tabs to close them if you wish.
• Tap the profile icon again, then choose your regular profile at the top. Your private browsing session is now cleared from memory.

Clearing Existing Browsing History

When you clear your browsing history on a device running iOS 11 or higher, the same logs are cleared on any other devices signed into your ‌iCloud‌ account. The following methods also clear all cookies and web data on the device you're currently using, although AutoFill information remains unchanged.

The first method outlined below allows you to either limit the clearing of history, cookies and website data to a specific timeframe, or to delete your existing web history altogether.

• Open Safari and with a tab open, tap the Bookmarks icon (the open book) located at the bottom of the screen.
• Tap the tab at the top of the screen with a clock symbol, and you'll see a history of your browsing activity.
• To remove instances of recorded visits to specific web pages, swipe leftwards across individual logs in the list and tap the red delete button that appears.
• To delete the entire browsing history list, tap Clear .
• Choose the timeframe to clear ( Last hour , Today , Today and yesterday , or All history ), choose the profile or select All Profiles , then tap Clear History .

The second method of wiping your browsing history might be considered the 'nuke' option, since it clears all history, cookies and website data on that device, regardless of when the sites were accessed.

• Open the Settings app and scroll down to Safari in the list.

And that's it. Note that these built-in Safari features only make you safer from discovery by other people in the same household.

If your privacy concerns extend to a desire for enhanced security and anonymity online, consider subscribing to a Virtual Private Network (VPN) service that offers an iOS client or supports OpenVPN ( Private Internet Access and ProtonVPN are two popular options), and using a Tor-powered browser for iOS .

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This article explains how to use Safari's Private Browsing mode, which prevents your browsing history from being logged on your Apple devices. It's a useful feature if you're buying gifts online for friends or family, for instance, and you don't want anyone with access to your devices to find out what you're up to.

I can really use this info, because I’m always “buying gifts”. ;) :cool:

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