Apple Privacy
By MacRumors Staff
Apple Privacy How Tos

iPhone Displays Green and Orange Dots: What Do They Mean?
Digital privacy is a perennial hot topic these days, and Apple is regarded as being at the forefront of security when it comes to smartphone and tablet operating systems. For example, for an app to access your iPhone or iPad's camera, camera and microphone access must be enabled for the app in question in the Settings app.
Social media apps will often ask you for access to your device's...
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iOS 17: How to Control Which Apps Have Access to Your Calendars
In iOS 17, Apple offers finer-grained control over what apps can see in terms of your calendars. Keep reading to learn how to manage app calendar access on a per-app basis.
In iOS 16, Apple allowed users to enable or disable individual app access to their calendars using a simple on/off toggle, but that was about all you could do. In iOS 17, by contrast, there are now three options instead...

iOS 17: How to Control Which Apps Have Access to Your Photos
In iOS 17, Apple offers much more control over what apps can see in terms of your photos. Keep reading to learn how to manage app access on a per-app basis.
In iOS, Apple's in-app photos picker lets you share specific photos with apps while the rest of your Photo Library stays private. Apps must ask to access your entire photo library, and you can choose to give apps the following access:
...

How to Quickly Reset Your Data and Location Access Permissions on iPhone
In iOS 16, Apple added a new Safety Check feature that's designed to make it easy for users to quickly reset all of the data and location access that they have granted to other people. Keep reading to learn how it works and how to use it.
Safety Check is a new option in iOS 16 that lets you stay aware of and reset all of the access to your data and location that you have granted to others....

How to Delete Cookies in Safari
When you browse the web on your devices, websites will often leave cookies on your system so that they can remember you and what your preferences are.
Some cookies are genuinely useful, as they allow sites to save your personal information (such as your login credentials) so that you don't have to keep entering it every time you visit.
However, for the same reason, cookies can pose a...

How to Prevent Network Operators From Tracking Your iPhone or iPad Across Wi-Fi Networks
In iOS 14 and later, your iPhone or iPad can use a different MAC address with each Wi-Fi network to prevent network operators from tracking your phone across different WiFi networks.
To communicate with a Wi-Fi network, a device has to identify itself to the network with a unique network address called a media access control (MAC) address.
If your iOS device always uses the same Wi-Fi MAC...

How to Delete Your Siri Audio History and Opt Out of Siri Audio Sharing on Mac
This article explains how to delete your Siri audio interaction history and opt out of sharing audio recordings with Apple on Macs.
In 2019, it was discovered that Apple hired contractors to listen to a small percentage of anonymized Siri recordings to evaluate the virtual assistant's responses with the purpose of improving accuracy and reliability.
The Guardian revealed that Apple...

How to Delete Siri Audio History and Opt Out of Siri Audio Sharing on HomePod
This article explains how to delete your Siri audio interaction history and opt out of sharing audio recordings with Apple on iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
How to Opt Out of Siri Audio Sharing on HomePod
How to Delete Your Siri Audio History on HomePod
In 2019, it was discovered that Apple hired contractors to listen to a small percentage of anonymized Siri recordings to evaluate the virtual...

How to Delete Your Siri Audio History and Opt Out of Siri Audio Sharing
This article explains how to delete your Siri audio interaction history and opt out of sharing audio recordings with Apple on iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
How to Opt Out of Siri Audio Sharing
How to Delete Your Siri Audio History
Earlier this year, it was discovered that Apple hired contractors to listen to a small percentage of anonymized Siri recordings to evaluate the virtual...

How to Use Firefox Private Network to Encrypt Your Web Traffic
Mozilla this week began piloting its own browser-based VPN service, and if you're located in the U.S. you can start testing it for free right away.
Called the Firefox Private Network, the service promises Firefox users a more secure, encrypted path to the web that prevents eavesdroppers from spying on your browsing activity and hides your location from websites and ad trackers.
In that...

How to Restrict an App's Location Access in iOS 13
Apple has doubled down on its privacy features in iOS 13, giving iPhone and iPad users a more granular view of how apps access their location information.
On Apple devices, the location services that apps can tap into use GPS, Bluetooth, and crowd-sourced Wi-Fi hotspot and cellular mast locations to determine your approximate location. The good news is that iOS 13 makes you more aware of how...
Apple Privacy Guides

Protecting Your Privacy in Safari for OS X El Capitan
Every time you visit a website you are sharing information about yourself with the outside world. This article runs through a number of methods you can use to gain more control over what gets shared, and who it gets shared with, whenever you use Apple's Safari browser to access the web on a Mac.
It also covers methods you can use to prevent traces of your browsing history from showing up on...

Protecting Your Privacy in Safari for iOS
Every time you visit a website on your iPhone or iPad, you are sharing information about yourself with the outside world. This guide runs through a number of methods you can use to gain more control over what gets shared, and who it gets shared with, whenever you use Apple's Safari browser to access the web on an iOS device.
It also covers some methods you can use to prevent traces of your...
Apple Privacy Articles

Apple Explains Privacy Policy Behind 'Hey Siri' and Live Photos
Recently, Apple has been quick to point out that security and privacy for its users is a priority for the company, repeatedly noting that Apple does not rely on serving ads based on user data to make money. Yesterday, Apple announced two new features, Live Photos and 'Hey Siri', that have raised questions about the privacy and security about the features. The company explained its privacy...