WORRIED that you’re being watched or followed virtually? There are some important clues to look out for.
If you have an iPhone, there are loads of giveaways that reveal location, microphone, and camera tracking – and you can put a stop to it in seconds.
1. The orange dot
One of the most obvious giveaways that someone is accessing your microphone is an orange dot.
It’ll appear at the top of your iPhone screen from time to time.
And it means that your microphone is currently in use.
Now there might be a perfectly reasonable explanation, like you’re recording a WhatsApp voice note.
But if it appears and you can’t work out why, you should investigate.
If you swipe down from the top-right corner of your iPhone, it’ll take you into the Control Centre.
From there, you’ll be able to see the name of the app using your microphone at the top.
And you can tap into it to see what’s going on.
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2. The green dot
Similarly, you might sometimes see a green dot at the top of your screen.
This time, it means that your camera is currently active.
Again, it might be legitimate: are you doing a FaceTime call or recording an Instagram video?
If you’re not using your camera, you’ll want to swipe into the Control Centre to see where it’s in use.
You can tap into the app to find out more.
3. App Privacy Report
One very effective way to keep tabs on apps and their antics is through the App Privacy Report.
It’s off by default, but you can turn it on for a full dossier on what apps are doing with your private info and iPhone sensors.
You’ll need to turn it on in Settings > Privacy & Security > App Privacy Report.
Then it’ll begin gathering info on your apps and how they interact with your private information (like your health data or location) or sensors (like your camera or microphone).
You can see how many times an app accessed that info, and exactly when.
APPLE’S APP PRIVACY REPORT EXPLAINED
This is a seriously handy iPhone feature…
If your iPhone is running iOS 15.2 or later (it probably is but go to Settings > General > Software Update to check) then you can access the App Privacy Report.
Go into Settings > Privacy & Security > App Privacy Report and turn it on.
Once it’s on, it’ll begin logging how often apps access your data.
That includes your camera, but also your microphone, location, health data, and more.
You can see all the apps accessing this data, as well as exact timestamps for when they did it.
So you can very easily check on an app to see if it’s behaving oddly.
Uber needs your location and Instagram will likely use your camera – but does that random calculator app need access to your microphone? And why is it activating 50 times a day?
If you’re worried about an app, you can then go into Settings > Privacy & Security and shut off sensor or data access.
Or consider deleting the suspicious app entirely.
But a word of warning: the App Privacy Report only logs behaviour after it’s been switched on. So you won’t see any info from before you activated the feature.
And if you turn it off and then switch it on again, you’ll be starting from fresh.
Picture Credit: Apple / The Sun
So if an app is acting suspiciously, it’ll all be logged here. There’s no escaping it.
4. Find My
One important part of your phone that you must check is the Find My app.
Find My is a great service that lets you track the locations of your Apple gadgets (and AirTags, if you have any).
You can see them on a map, which is handy if you ever lose one.
But you can also use Find My to share your location with other people – in a “permanent” way that stays on until it’s switched off.
That’s in contrast to something like WhatsApp location-sharing, which usually only lasts for a short period of time.
If you broke up with an ex or someone you no longer trust ever had access to your phone, check Find My.
There’s a very real chance that they set up Location Sharing (or you did and simply forgot all about it) and can still see your exact movements.
The good news is that it’s very easy to switch off.
Just tap on their name in the Find My app and then revoke access.
But keep in mind that the other person will be able to see that they’ve lost access to your live location.
5. Safety Check
Perhaps the best feature of all for locking down your phone privacy is Safety Check.
This is an iPhone feature that shows you all of the ways that you’re sharing info with other people or apps.
And it lets you instantly switch them off – one by one, or in bulk.
You can find it in Settings > Privacy & Security > Safety Check.
It’ll guide you through a process of reviewing, updating and/or stopping the sharing of your info with certain people or apps.
WHAT CAN SAFETY CHECK LIMIT?
You can switch off access to the following…
- Bluetooth
- Calendars
- Camera
- Contacts
- Files and Folders
- Health
- Local Network
- Location Services
- Media and Apple Music
- Microphone
- Motion & Fitness
- Photos
- Reminders
- Research
- Speech Recognition
Picture Credit: Apple / The Sun
And there’s even an Emergency Reset button that instantly stops all sharing.
There’s also a Quick Exit button in the corner, that immediately saves your changes, closes the Settings app, and returns to the Home Screen.
You’ll find it in the top-right corner on all screens in the Safety Check app.
It’s the easiest way to check all of your data sharing, and the fastest way to stop it too.