Give Your iPhone a Privacy Audit

Apple has always said that privacy is at the heart of the iOS operating system, and iOS 14 is certainly no exception.

iOS 14.3, in particular, gives users more control than ever over not only what information you’re sharing, but also which apps have access to elements like your iPhone’s precise location, network access, and more.

Here’s how you can give your own iPhone a privacy audit to make sure your confidential information stays that way.

To choose not to give apps your precise location, all you have to do is:

1. Open the “Settings” app on your iPhone.

2. Navigate to the option on screen labeled “Privacy” and select it.

3. Choose the option labeled “Location Services.” From here, you can go through and check the permissions for every app installed on your iPhone to decide which ones can access your location and which ones cannot.

You can force apps to ask you for permission to use your location, to only access it while you’re using the app, or to never have access to that information.

To limit network access on your iPhone in iOS 14, just:

1. Open the “Settings” app on your iPhone.

2. Select the option on screen labeled “Privacy.”

3. Choose the option labeled “Local Network.”

4. Go through the apps listed on the screen and verify that you want them to have access to your local home Wi-Fi network. If you don’t, just tap the green button to the right of an app to turn off that permission level.

Finally, you can also use iOS 14 to put a stop to any Wi-Fi tracking that is taking place on a network that you are connected to. It’s simple, you just have to:

1. Open the “Settings” app on your iPhone.

2. Choose the option labeled “Wi-Fi.”

3. Tap the “i” in a circle next to the name of the network that you’re connected to.

4. Make sure the option labeled “Private Address” is enabled. It should be by default, but if it isn’t just tap the green button to toggle it on.

And there you have it! You are all set to maintain your privacy.