Data Privacy Day 2025: Top 10 user privacy features you should know about iPhone

Over the last decade, smartphones have become a very integral part of our lives. It offers so much convenience of getting work done with a few simple taps on the screen. We now have become dependent on it so much so that every time we step outside the home, instinctively check for the mobile in our pocket.

We feel lost without the smartphone in our hands. We now put all the personal details and financial details in it, but we have to be careful and ensure, it doesn't get into the wrong hands or get stolen.

One small mistake can allow thieves to clean your bank account with the phone. Or steal personal photos/videos to blackmail.

Apple iPhones come with robust user privacy security features to protect the owner's personal details. As we mark Data Privacy Day (January 28), here are the top 10 security features should know about iPhones.

1) Lock or hide an app: The iPhone offers the option to Lock and hide apps with biometric security. It gives users peace of mind that others won’t inadvertently see something unintended when showing their screen to someone else, or handing them their device.

Here's how to lock an app on iPhone:

Step 1: Go to the Home Screen.

Step 2: Locate the app you want to lock.

Step 3: Touch and hold the app icon until the quick actions menu opens.

Step 4: Tap Require Face ID (or Touch ID or Passcode).

Step 5: Tap Require Face ID (or Touch ID or Passcode) again, then authenticate using Face ID (or Touch ID or a passcode).

2) Share only specific contacts with an app: With Contacts permission improvements in iOS 18, users can control which contacts to share with an app, rather than giving an app access to all the contacts. Learn more about Contacts permission improvements.

Here's how to control apps from accessing the contacts list:

Step 1: Go to Settings > Privacy & Security.

Step 2: Tap Contacts, then tap the app.

Step 3: Choose how much access to your contacts you’re giving the app (below Contacts Access).

Step 4: If you’re giving Limited Access, tap Edit Selected Contacts to choose individuals.

Step 5: Select or deselect individual contacts, then tap Done.

3) Safari Private Browsing windows are locked by default: When users browse in Private Browsing, Safari doesn't remember the pages that they visit, their search history, or their AutoFill information. Apple added the ability for Private Browsing windows to lock by default, so users can keep their tabs open, and easily come back to them later by unlocking with FaceID, TouchID, or their passcode. Learn more about locking Private Browsing windows.

4) Link Tracking Protection: Users may notice that some links they visit on the web may have extra information added to track them. Link Tracking Protection removes unnecessary trackers appended to URLs users share in Messages and Mail, and while browsing in Safari Private Browsing.

5) Safety Check: If a user’s personal safety is at risk, they can use Safety Check to quickly stop sharing their information, or to review and update sharing with individual people and apps. Safety Check can also help users check who they’re sharing information with, restrict Messages and FaceTime to their iPhone, change their passcode, and more.

6) App Privacy Report: The app Privacy Report gives users more visibility into the ways that apps use the data they’ve given permission to access. When turned on, the feature lets users see details about how often apps access their data — like their location, camera, microphone, and more.

7) Hide My Email: Available as part of an iCloud+ subscription, Hide My Email lets users create unique, random email addresses to use with apps, websites, and more so their personal email can stay private. Whether a user is creating a new account with an app, signing up for a newsletter online, making a purchase with Apple Pay, or sending an email to someone they don't know well, Hide My Email lets their personal email stay personal.

8) Approximate Location: Apple’s location controls give users the ability to choose whether apps can see their approximate location — within an area of about 10 square miles — rather than their exact location. This allows users to use apps that do things like finding nearby restaurants or checking the local weather without providing more information than they need to. Learn more about controlling location information.

9) Recording Indicators: A Recording Indicator appears when an app is using either an iPhone’s microphone or camera. Displayed as an orange dot when a device’s microphone is in use, and a green dot when a device’s camera or camera and microphone are in use, the indicator keeps users informed.

10) iCloud Private Relay: As a part of an iCloud+ subscription, iCloud Private Relay is designed to protect a user’s privacy by ensuring that when they browse the web in Safari, no one — not even Apple — can see who they are and what sites they’re visiting.

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