The bigger picture
the content never existed. No one will know what’s inside the vault or whether there’s even anything inside. To unlock the vault, you need your pass code or fingerprint ID.
The private-mode feature is also part of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S tablets and coming Galaxy Note phones.
LG G3
LG’s flagship phone has a guest mode. You can lend a phone to a friend without giving your friend access to everything. You can even set a separate unlock code for the guest so you don’t have to give out yours.
Look for “Guest mode” in the settings under the General tab. You then specify which apps your guest can access. For instance, you might want to give access to the phone, alarm clock and music, but you might want to block email and texts.
In some cases, guests have limited access to your content. With the Gallery app, your collection of photos won’t generally appear unless they are in the “Guest album.” Guests can take photos, too, and have them appear there. On the other hand, if you enable access to the Photos app, your guest gets everything. Likewise, there are no restrictions with email or texts if you allow access to those apps.
I recommend logging in as a guest, with the alternative code, to verify what’s available after you pick the apps to allow.
Beyond the guest mode, the G3 lets you lock certain images in the Gallery app during normal use, similar to what the Galaxy devices offer.
These tips touch only the surface of what you can do to protect your privacy.
For instance, these apply only to data stored on the device. For files stored on Internet-based storage services such as iCloud and Dropbox, you’ll want to make sure you have a strong password and turn on a second layer of protection, often known as twostep verification. I covered that in a previous column, which can be found here: http:// bit.ly/1paHdMw.
You’ll also want to pay attention to what data you’re sharing through apps.
With iOS, you can choose which apps can know your location and when, such as all the time or only when the app is actively running. Go to the “Location Services” settings under “Privacy.” Unfortunately, it tends to be all or nothing with Android. You can turn off location services, but that affects all apps, including maps and others that might need your location.
With both iOS and Android, you can choose to limit ad targeting based on your interests and surfing history. For an explainer, read our column here: http://bit.ly/1qnBRNa.