Take Control of iOS & iPadOS Privacy and Security, 3rd Edition

by Glenn Fleishman

Master networking, privacy, and security for iOS and iPadOS!
Version 3.2, updated March 8, 2023 Ensuring that your iPhone or iPad's data remains secure and in your control and that your private data remains private isn't a battle—if you know what boxes to check and how to configure iOS and iPadOS to your advantage. Take Control of iOS & iPadOS Privacy and Security takes you into the intricacies of Apple's choices when it comes to networking, data sharing, and encryption. Updated for iOS 16 and iPadOS 16! Your iPhone and iPad have become the center of your digital identity, and it’s easy to lose track of all the ways in which Apple and other parties access your data legitimately—or without your full knowledge and consent. While Apple nearly always errs on the side of disclosure and permission, many other firms don’t. This book comprehensively explains how to configure iOS 16 and iPadOS 16 to best protect your privacy while messaging, email, browsing, and much more, and how to ensure your devices and data are secure from intrusion. Take Control of iOS & iPadOS Privacy and Security covers how to configure the hundreds of privacy and data sharing settings Apple offers in iOS and iPadOS, and which it mediates for third-party apps. You’ll learn how Safari has been increasingly hardened to protect your web surfing habits, personal data, and identity—particularly with the addition of the iCloud Private Relay, an option for iCloud+ subscribers to anonymize their Safari browsing. In addition to privacy and security, this book also teachers you everything you need to know about networking, whether you’re using cellular, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or combinations of all of them, as well as about AirDrop, AirPlay, Airplane Mode, and Personal Hotspot and tethering. You’ll learn how

416 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 13, 2022

About the author

I started writing as a child and never stopped. I’ve always been interested in what makes things tick and how to explain that. That led to a career as a technology journalist and how-to article and book author. I’ve written dozens of books over my career in some combination of the two.

In the 2010s, I started publish a series of book that combined printing and type history and technology in a variety of ways. These titles include Not To Put Too Fine a Point on It, a collection of essays and reporting; London Kerning, a look at two magnificent London printing collections and the city’s typographical history; Six Centuries of Type & Printing; and How Comics Were Made, a heavily visual history of the production and reproduction of newspaper comics from the 1890s to the present.

I live in Seattle, Washington, with my family, and drink very little coffee.

Reviews

[C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Useful iOS privacy, security, and safety advice, with good feature explanations. I would've preferred more detail. This book has been replaced by Take Control of Securing Your Apple Devices.

Notes
Connect to a Local Network
If a captive portal screen doesn't appear, try to open any page in Safari to trigger it.

Control Privacy Leaks
iMessage uses E2EE. If you have iCloud Backup enabled, encryption key for messages is stored in backup, not E2EE. But, with Advanced Data Protection enabled, the E2EE that covers iCloud Backups provides an encrypted wrapper for unencrypted iMessage key backup. If you don't use Advanced Data Protection, someone who gets access to your backup could access archived messages.

Apple Blocks Tracking in Safari
Many sites depend on advertising for revenue, and earn based on audience size, not only clicks. So, blocking ads reduces their revenue. In defense of ad-blocking, sites don't fully disclose how you'll be tracked and what info will be sold or traded.

Safari's privacy features make content blockers unnecessary for most people, but if you want more protection, a content blocker can help.

Control System Privacy
Voice-processing for Siri and Dictation is done mostly on Apple's servers. Apple generates a random ID that can't be connected with you and associates it with this info for up to 6 mos: computer generated transcripts, audio (if you opted in), approximate location (if you opted in), device specs, performance stats. To delete it before 6 mos: Settings > Siri & Search > Siri & Dictation History > Delete Siri & Dictation History.

Private browsing is only effective way to kill "evercookies."

Significant Locations records places you frequently visit. Apple says it's only stored locally. It requires Touch ID or Face ID to access.

Deter Abuse, Spam, and Scams
Hiya provides phone number lookups and call-blocking and has a free plan. It uses user data to improve its database. It has annoying notifications.

Call-blocking apps require access to contacts to work. Companies promise not to use contact data for anything but essential functions, but this is a privacy risk.

All major US carriers offer free call-blocking.

Protect Yourself
Check In lets you set destination or expected time of arrival, and iOS will check in with you and optionally inform a designated contact.

Face ID and Touch ID can't be used to extract your passcode and reset your Apple account, but someone could compel you to use them to unlock a device. To quickly disable Face ID or Touch ID, hold and press volume up and standby buttons until Power Off and Emergency SOS sliders appear, then tap Cancel.

What to do if device is stolen
1. If device is online, use Find My to put it in Lost Mode or remotely erase it. It’s still trackable after being erased.
2. If device is offline, remove it device from your Apple account.
3. Change Apple account password.
4. Change passwords for accounts that could be accessed from stolen device.
5. If you can’t erase or disconnect device, disable iCloud Keychain on other devices.
6. Ask phone carrier to remove phone number from SIM, disable line (at least temporarily).

Safety Check lets you quickly revoke device access.

Use Apple ID Two-Factor Authentication
You can use hardware keys for Apple account.