10 of the Best iPhone Privacy Hacks Everyone Should Know

When you're using devices that are always connected to the internet, it's difficult to completely protect your privacy . Luckily, there are plenty of great privacy hacks for your iPhone, which you can use to make it hard for trackers and spies to collect your data and snoop on your business. From built-in solutions, like adjusting app permissions, to purchasing privacy screen protectors, here are 10 hacks every iPhone user should consider to protect their privacy. Get yourself a privacy screen protector No software privacy hack can protect you from people looking over your shoulder to memorize your password, or from peeking to see what you're up to. What can protect you, however, is a privacy screen protector . I saw this first-hand: One of my friends recently tried to show me something on her iPhone, and I realized that I couldn't see anything at all until her phone was directly in front of me. These screen protectors can make it easier to use your phone in public spaces without worrying about who's looking at its screen. That said, there are a few potential dealbreakers. These screen protectors are rather plasticky, and don't feel as nice or smooth as your iPhone's touchscreen. These products also lower your screen's brightness. I don't mind, but it can be a problem if you're trying to use your phone in bright lighting. If you can live with these cons though, this is a cheap privacy hack that's definitely worth considering. Stop Apple from collecting your data (as much as you can) Apple is known for its privacy policies, but in recent years, its resolve seems to be weakening a bit. The company is pushing ads into its apps and your notifications, and it's aggressively encouraging iPhone users to subscribe to Apple services. There's not much you can do to block promotional materials coming from the company directly, but it's still worth changing a few settings to limit Apple's own ads . This includes reducing Apple's data collection, too. Many of these options are available under Settings > Privacy & Security on your iPhone. On that page, you can navigate to these pages to disable quite a bit of tracking: Analytics & Improvements Apple Advertising Location Services > System Services Carefully reviewing all options on these pages and disabling unnecessary features goes a long way in limiting Apple's data collection. Deny (or limit) app permissions whenever you can I used to allow all permissions an app requested when I first opened it. Over time, I realized that this led to a lot of notification spam, unnecessary data collection, and significant battery drain if the app was tracking my location. That's why I developed a new strategy: deny all permissions unless an app absolutely needs it . In general, I almost always deny permission to send notifications, access to contacts, location, camera, microphone, and photos. Newer versions of iOS allow you to share just a few contacts or photos, and even restrict GPS access to an...

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