Security & privacy

Privacy settings

The General settings panel is followed by a number of other options that control the basic hardware of the iPhone or iPad. Many of these are quite straightforward,

such as controls for the screen brightness, ringtones and other warning sounds. But, oddly tucked away at the bottom of this list, is the all-important Privacy panel.

There are lots of different security and privacy settings in iOS, but this particular settings panel focuses specifically on ‘third-party’ (non-Apple) apps that want access to information such as location data, your camera roll and contacts, and even medical data gathered by HealthKit.

Every app that requests access to your personal information is listed here, and you can choose whether or not to allow access for each app individually. It’s a bit of a chore going through them all, but it’s worth making the effort to keep your personal data private.

Privacy settings & Location Services

There are important privacy controls within the Restrictions section. There’s a long list of options, which might look a bit daunting, but most of these options work in essentially the same way so we don’t need to overload you with too much information all at once.

At the top of the Privacy list is Location Services, which uses a combination of GPS, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth features to determine your location. If you’re really worried about Big Brother tracking your movements then you can simply switch off Location Services

altogether. The only exception here is that – in an emergency – using Find My iPhone will reactivate location services so that you can actually find your lost iPhone or iPad.

Sharing your location

Right below the main On/Off button for Location Services is a feature labelled Share My Location. This gives you two options for telling people your location when you contact them using Messages or Find My Friends.

If you select Send My Current Location when sending a message you will just send a one-off message telling them your location at that precise minute. Alternatively, Share My Location will allow the message recipient to follow your movements for just one hour, until the end of the day, or to keep following you indefinitely. That’s obviously handy if you want to keep an eye on your kids, or you’re waiting for friends or family to arrive somewhere.

Letting iPhone apps use your location

It’s good that you can turn off location services if you want to. But, of course, apps such as Maps need to know your location in order to work properly, so you also have the ability to control location services for each app individually.

Any app that tries to use your location info is listed in the Location Services panel, and if you tap on the name of an app you’ll see two straightforward options. The ‘Never’ option simply blocks the app from using location services at all. The other option is ‘While Using the App’ – which only allows the app to check your location when you actually have the app running on screen.

I chose the BBC Weather app for this example, but the privacy controls are the same for all the other apps that may want to use location services.

Configure a VPN

It might sound like a confusing bit of techno-jargon, but VPN – virtual private network – is an important networking tool that can be useful for both big business organizations and ordinary home users. Business users will often set up a VPN for their staff as it helps to keep email and other information more secure when you’re away from the office and you have to use Wi-Fi hotspots or other public networks.

Your IT manager can show you how to configure the VPN features that are built into iOS, but it’s also possible to download a number of VPN apps from the App Store. Business users will probably avoid these third-party apps and set up VPN themselves, but these apps

can also be used for distinctly non-business tasks, such as gaining access to the US version of Netflix.

Touch ID

As you’re probably aware, Touch ID uses your fingerprint(s) as an alternative to your normal passcode when unlocking your iPhone. But that doesn’t mean that you can forget about your passcode altogether – apart from anything else you’ll need it every time you want to enter the Touch ID settings panel.

Once you’ve got into these settings you can also tell your iPhone to use Touch ID to authorise your purchases on iTunes or the App Store, which is a handy timesaver if you’ve got a strong-but-complicated password for your iTunes account.

If your iPhone has Touch ID, it will prompt you to scan your finger when you set the phone up for the first time. Don’t forget, though, that you can add multiple fingerprints whenever you want. This is a good idea, as I’ve found that I prefer to use different fingers at different times. I use the thumb on my right hand when holding the iPhone, but I use a different finger when I’ve got the iPhone sitting on a desk in front of me.

You can scan up to five fingers, and you can also delete fingers as well. We’ve seen workarounds on the web that allow you to scan more than five fingers, but we wouldn’t recommend doing that as it could muck up your iPhone’s security settings.

Find out what you’re sharing

The iOS apps that can share your personal info are all listed in Privacy, and if you tap on the name of each

app you can see exactly which other third-party apps have asked for permission to share your data.

Some of these might surprise you too – it might make sense for Google Maps to ask for address info from Contacts, but you probably didn’t realize that Google Maps has a ‘voice search’ option that can control your microphone too. That’s a legitimate use for the microphone, and of course a wonderful company like Google would never, ever dream of infringing anyone’s personal privacy. But in the hands of someone less scrupulous your microphone could potentially be turned into a bugging device that listens to every word you say.

So it’s worth checking these Privacy settings every now and then, and turning off any sharing options that don’t seem to be absolutely essential.

Let apps share data

It’s also worth remembering that the ability to share data between apps is a two-way street. Apple’s Health app, for instance, allows third-party health apps to both ‘read’ and ‘write’ data. I’ve got the Nike Running app on my iPhone and this can ‘write’ my workout and running data to Health, so that Health can compile a better overall picture of my physical condition. However, the Nike app can also ‘read’ other data, such as my heart rate, from Health and let me know when I’m overdoing things a bit.

Reset All

The final option in the General settings panel is one that you will probably never use – until you decide that

it’s time to get rid of your iPhone or iPad altogether. The Reset command actually provides a number of different options. The first is ‘reset all settings’, which leaves all your apps, music and other content alone, and just resets personal preferences, such as new keyboards or VPN settings that you might have added. We’ve heard that this particular option can be a bit buggy, though, so it’s worth backing up your iPhone or iPad onto your Mac before resetting it.

The next option is to ‘erase all content and settings’. This is the nuclear option that gets rid of all your personal preferences and settings, along with all apps, music, videos and photos. This is the option that you’d use if you were selling your iPhone or iPad and you wanted to remove all your personal information first (for more details on this option take a look at Apple’s help file).

There are some other options in here as well, although they’re a lot less drastic than a complete reset. The network reset simply tells your iPhone or iPad to forget details such as Wi-Fi passwords. One reset option that might be worth using occasionally is the Location And Privacy option. This resets the location and privacy settings for all your apps, which means that any app that tries to access your location, contacts or other information will have to ask permission all over again.

Setting Restrictions

A key set of options found within the General settings panel – and one that is particularly important for parents with young children – is Restrictions. By default, all restrictions are disabled – which means that all your apps run normally – and if you want to enable restrictions you first need to enter the passcode for your iPhone or iPad. Once that’s done you’ll see several different sets of controls that you can use to limit your child’s access to apps, making purchases, and unsuitable content.

Under the heading ‘Allow:’ you’ll see a list of apps that you can block altogether. You can also restrict access to the iTunes Store and iBooks Store, so that your kids don’t run up a huge bill without your permission. When you block these apps they disappear from the iPhone or iPad Home screen altogether, so your kids won’t even know that they exist. The one exception here is the iBooks app, which remains visible and will allow anyone to read books that you’ve already purchased, but which will no longer allow access to the iBooks Store for making any new purchases.

How to lock Settings

One handy option here is the entry marked ‘Don’t Allow Changes’. You can set up location services for your main

apps – for me it’s the BBC Weather and Maps – and then tap ‘Don’t Allow Changes’. This locks the settings for those apps so that they work the way you want, but automatically blocks any new apps that you might download from having access to location services. If you ever change your mind you can just tap ‘Allow Changes’ to change the location settings for all your apps once more.

Controlling In-App Purchases

We’ve all heard stories about kids spending a fortune on IAPs (in-app purchases), so iOS includes options for restricting these. Scroll down a little and you’ll see two options that allow you to prevent anyone from installing new apps or deleting any of your existing apps. Next on the list is the option to completely block in-app purchases as well. But, oddly, there’s no option here to simply restrict access to the App Store in the same way that you can restrict the iTunes or iBook stores.

In fact, it is possible to do this, but for some reason this option is hidden a bit further down on the Restrictions panel. Keep scrolling down until you see a section called ‘Allowed Content’. The controls in this section allow you to apply ratings controls for music, video and other types of content – such as age ratings for films, or blocking music that contains adult language.

There’s also an option here that allows you to prevent any new apps being installed, or perhaps limiting new app purchases to apps that are suitable for a particular age group.

Restrict Siri

Last time around we saw how to completely disable Siri, as well as other apps such as Safari, that you might not want young children to use. If you do decide to leave Siri turned on you can still make sure that it doesn’t accidentally slip in any unsuitable language or material. Go back into the Restrictions section within Settings, and scroll down to ‘Allowed Content’ once more. Just below the ratings controls for music, videos and apps, you’ll see an entry for Siri. Tap on this and you’ll see two options that you can turn on or off.

Siri will never use adult language in response to a question, but it may repeat bad language that is spoken by others. Turning off the explicit language option will ensure that this sort of language is bleeped out or printed as asterisks on the screen. Turning off the web search option will prevent Siri from looking up information on Wikipedia, Twitter or Bing, which is the only search engine that Siri is currently allowed to use.

Website controls

Right underneath Siri in the Allowed Content controls is the Website option, which allows you to limit the web sites that can be viewed in Safari. By default, this is set to allow ‘all web sites’, but tapping on Limit Adult Content will automatically filter out most adult web sites. However, you can still allow or block access to specific web sites by entering the address in the ‘always allow’ or ‘never allow’ panels.

The second option, labelled Specific Websites Only, is the safest bet for young children as it blocks all web sites apart from a few kid-friendly sites that have been approved by Apple – such as Disney and Apple’s own web site. If you need to override these restrictions at any time you can still type a web address into Safari and then tell it to allow that website by entering your password.

Purchasing settings

We’ve already looked at the various options that allow you to restrict in-app purchases, or to completely block all types of purchases from the iBooks and iTunes Stores altogether. However, there’s another option that you may be able to use, depending on how your iPhone or iPad is set up.

If your iPhone or iPad can use TouchID then as well as using your fingerprint to turn the device on, you can also use it to make purchases. That’s pretty safe but, of course, not all iOS devices have the TouchID feature built into them. If your iPhone, iPad doesn’t have TouchID then you’ll see an extra option in the Restrictions panel labelled ‘Password Settings’ (this option will also appear if your device does have TouchID, but you’ve turned it off for making purchases).

There are two main options here, and they apply to all purchases that you make in the iTunes, iBooks and App stores. The ‘Always Require’ option means that you’ll need to enter your password for every single purchase that you make on that device – including in-app purchases. If you select ‘Require After 15 Minutes’ then you get a bit of a breathing space, as you can enter your password for one purchase and then make additional purchases for the next 15 minutes without having to enter it again.

There’s one last option here as well. Many apps that are now on sale are actually free to download – particularly games aimed at young kids – so they don’t actually count as ‘purchases’, as no money has changed hands. But of course, these ‘freemium’ apps and games make all their money by pestering you to make additional in-app purchases as well. So this last

option means that anyone using your device will still have to use a password for free downloads as well.

Family Sharing: Getting started

Open the Settings app. At the top you’ll see your name and picture, if you’ve uploaded one. Tap this to see your Apple ID settings. Now tap on ‘Set Up Family Sharing...’ (If you’ve already got the service set up this will just say Family Sharing.)

You’ll now see a series of windows that you can breeze through, but if you’re interested, they briefly describe the features you’ll be able to use with Family Sharing, and contain a few warnings about what exactly you’re letting yourself in for – the things you’ll be paying for, primarily. Tap Get Started on the first screen, and then Continue on the second and third ones.

The fourth screen, with the title ‘Payment method’, is very important. This shows the final four digits of the credit/debit card associated with the Apple ID you’re

using. This is the card that will be debited whenever someone who’s part of the family group buys an app, a song, a film or another piece of digital content from Apple. Make sure it’s the right one before tapping Continue a third time.

As well as sharing apps and other digital content, Family Sharing allows you to share location data with your family. On the next screen you decide whether your own location data will be shared with other family members; when they each accept your invitation to join the family, they will in turn choose whether to share their location data. (At this point you may wish to give firm instructions as to which option they should choose.) Select Share Location or Not Now. And that’s it: your family unit is set up. But for the time being it’s a family of one. Now you need to add further family members.

Family Sharing: Add family members

From the Apple ID screen in Settings, tap Family Sharing (the option that was Set Up Family Sharing before), then Add Family Member. You can then add type in the email address of your family member. If they’re in your contacts list, just start typing their name and tap the right person when they are auto-suggested. Tap Next. You’ll need to verify that you are indeed the organizer of the group by entering the security code for the group’s credit card.

The ‘Ask to Buy’ screen ( 3) allows you to stipulate whether the family member will need to get permission from you whenever they buy an app or piece of digital content. For the kids permission will probably be appropriate; for your spouse, less so. Tap Next.

Now decide how you wish to bring the family member into the fold – either sending an invitation or creating a password that they can enter right away. (Our experience suggests that the invitation only takes about 20 seconds to arrive, so is a convenient option too, but if you’re away from Internet access it might not be suitable.)

And that’s pretty much it. The family member gets their invitation (or enters their password), accepts (or declines), then simply selects whether to share location data. And you’re ready to go with Family Sharing..