Concerned about privacy on iPhone, Android? Do these settings, know how to

Do you get concerned about your data when any new update, app or any website shows “it will access your contacts, gallery and location”? Well, it's valid honestly! With the rise of data privacy issues, anyone will think about it. But don’t worry, every problem has its solution too! Apple's iOS 15 and Google's Android 12 operating systems strengthened their privacy controls, giving you additional alerts and options, when a site or service wants to access your personal data like your location or browser activities.

In iOS or Android, you can control the privacy settings while visiting the option in the settings menu. There, you’ll find several options to restrict the access to various functions like the microphone, location and your contacts list on an app-by-app basis. Android 12 comes with a privacy dashboard that shows what apps have been up to, as well as shortcuts for limiting the data that Google collects and retains in one's Google Account. But if you want to control your information access, then there are specific categories too. Here is all the information that you need to apply the settings to strengthen your privacy.

Set your approximate location

In the recent version of iOS and Android settings, it allows you to share an approximate location instead of the precise location which slightly helps to keep your whereabouts information private.

For iOS 15 users,

- You can go to Privacy in settings and change the enable-disable option to control which third party apps can access your location.

- When you scroll down to the bottom, you will find that the iPhone uses your location such as the collection home address, that you can also turn off, if you find this problematic to share.

For users having Android 12,

- Open the Settings app and go to the Location to check which apps have access to your location.

- Here, you can also manage your location history that records when you travel to a new place.

You can control apps and Ads

On iPhone:

- When an app seeks to monitor your online activities, such as for targeted advertising, Apple's App Tracking Transparency feature alerts you.

- To access the controls, go to iOS 15 Settings, Privacy, and then Tracking.

On Android:

- Open Settings and select Privacy on Android 12 to access a variety of controls,

- You can even see the Advertising option, which allows you to prevent targeted ads by removing their Advertising ID.

Do not let all the cookies to access your information on the web

‘This site uses cookies’ must be the weirdest welcome to any new website! For decades, browsers have been used to track you using cookies and other code that monitors your activity for marketing and advertising purposes.

In Apple's Safari browser, you can block the tracking. In settings, go to Safari and scroll down to the Privacy & Security to make changes. However, switching your browser to privacy-focused is another way to escape the tracking.