Is Apple’s Journal feature truly safe and private?
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Apple’s new Journal feature is all about capturing those little moments in life on your iPhone. But posts started blowing up on social media that because of it, anyone can find your full name and location as well as read your deepest thoughts. Yikes. Is all the fearmongering worth our worry? Or is it just another tech urban legend? I got the scoop on Apple Journal, and along the way, I found an even more concerning privacy issue I bet you’ve overlooked.
What’s the deal?
Think of it as a digital diary on your phone that tracks your videos, photos, audio clips and location data – then sends eerily timed notifications to inspire you to jot things down.
Say you head out on the town for a night with friends and take pictures at a restaurant. Apple Journal will remember that and send you a prompt to write an entry about it.
According to Apple, this feature doesn’t share this information with the outside world, but plenty of people still thought, “Hmm, maybe not.” I don’t need Tim Cook knowing about my fifth grade crush, thank you very much.
Two settings raising concerns
“Journaling Suggestions” and “Discoverable by Others” are causing a
commotion. Social media posts spread like wildfire, claiming that these settings give strangers access to your personal information and entries.
First, let’s tackle Journaling Suggestions. I researched it, and the suggestions are only created based on which apps you use. Plus, you get to control which data gets included.
OK, but can Apple see your entries? Nope, your entries are end-to-end encrypted. That means not even Apple can access them.
The Discoverable By Others setting detects nearby iPhone users who also have the Journal app and are “discoverable.” So, does it share your info with passersby?
This setting doesn’t share your name or location with strangers. It just lets you know how many of your contacts are around to create more personalized prompts.
You can easily disable it in your settings:
Go to Settings > Journaling Suggestions. h
Toggle “Discoverable by Others” h to the “off ” position.
You can also turn off Journaling Suggestions altogether or customize the type of data used to create
prompts.
Others can still see you
Everyone can name.
Yep, anyone who tries to connect to Wi-Fi will see it in their list of discovered networks as a potential hotspot. That means if you use your real name as your phone’s name, anyone with a smartphone or laptop can see it.
Hackers could use that information to zero in on who (and where) you are. The good news is you can easily change the name of your phone to something else.
On an iPhone or iPad:
Go to Settings > General > About > h
Name.
Tap the X, then type in a new h name. Hit Done.
On an Android:
Go to Settings > About Phone > h
Device Name.
Type in a new name for your h phone, then hit OK.
Learn about all the latest technology on “The Kim Komando Show.” For Kim’s daily tips, free newsletters and more, visit her website at Komando.com.
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