Sergey Shkundaleu @archit3ct@social.ssbx.dev

Security questions should be treated in a same way as passwords, because all in all your information can be packaged and sold OR exposed during a breach. So if you answered your mothers maiden name with it's full accuracy some one can make a connection. World will get weirder so it's better be prepared. When you asked for answers to security question, generate random 20 characters string and store it in your password manager, just like your passwords.
#punkprivacy

This is last post in series covering iPhone privacy settings. I'd like to point out to a very neat feature - reports that your phone can build, based on description those are suppose to be on device reports. Go to Settings-> Privacy & Security and scroll to Transparency Log section and turn ON both App Privacy Report and Apple Intelligence Report. Those reports will help audit where your data is going, you can always ask friend for analysis.
#iphoneprivacy #punkprivacy

There is a section in privacy settings on iPhone titled Security. Go to Settings-> Privacy & Security scroll down to Security section. My recommendation there to set Wired Accessories to either Always Ask or Ask for New Accessories, to make sure when something plugged into your phone it'll notify you. Also keep Background Security Improvements as on to make sure you always receive latest security updates. #iphoneprivacy #punkprivacy

Two "no brainer" privacy settings that you still need to check, especially if you decided to enable those at some point. Go to Settings-> Privacy & Security locate Analytics & Improvements and Apple Advertising. Go inside of each of these settings and make sure that every option is off there. This will ensure that your information is not being used to improve some systems and no you do not need personalized ads.
#iphoneprivacy #punkprivacy

Safety Check is a privacy feature to understand holistically what information you are sharing and who you sharing it with. It can also help to limit exposure by quickly resetting all of your sharing settings. I am not going to explain emergency reset, let's just focus on review. Go to Settings-> Privacy & Security -> Safety Check. Click Manage Sharing & Access. Go through wizard and review information you are sharing, take action if needed. #iphoneprivacy #punkprivacy

Let's talk about privacy of various capabilities linked to physical sensors on your iPhone. There is a special section in settings where you can decide which apps get access to those capabilities. Go to Settings-> Privacy & Security, then scroll past "Wallet" option. You'll see Accessories, Bluetooth, Camera, etc. Go inside each option and ensure that only apps that you expect have access to each particular capability(number represent how many apps). #iphoneprivacy #punkprivacy

Let's talk about privacy in section that responsible for standard smartphone capabilities, like Calendar, Contacts, Photos, etc. List is much longer. Go to Settings-> Privacy & Security, then scroll past "Tracking" and in next section go into each capability and grant access based on your needs. There are 3 options, None, Limit access(you select items) or Full Access. Avoid giving full access, limit as much as possible. #iphoneprivacy #punkprivacy

Today's story is about tracking across devices and apps. iPhone has a setting that allows apps to request to track you across multiple channels and unfortunately it's ON by default. Time to turn it off. Go to Settings-> Privacy & Security-> Tracking and turn off top toggle that says Allow Apps to Request to Track, also go through all the apps on the list there and make sure it's off for all of them. #iphoneprivacy #punkprivacy

Next set is quite complex, explanation won't fit into a single post. So here is list of items I'd recommend to disable for personal iPhone. Go to Settings-> Privacy & Security-> Location Services scroll down through all the apps, at the bottom you'll see "System Services", click on it. Go through all options and adjust as you see fit, recommendation on the image. While you are there turn on "Status Bar Icon" to see when location used. #iphoneprivacy #punkprivacy

This setting might be a bit controversial, but I'll still recommend turning it off. Go to Settings-> Privacy & Security-> Location Services scroll down through all the apps, at the bottom you'll see "System Services", click on it. Scroll down to Significant Location & Routes and click on it. Then disable it and clear history. Description states that it's end to end encrypted and can't be read by Apple, but I'll still recommend turning it off anyway. #iphoneprivacy #punkprivacy

One other setting to disable in Location section - "Product Improvement", no it's not improvement for you it's simply to use your data to improve Apple systems, just disable it. Go to Settings-> Privacy & Security-> Location Services scroll down through all the apps, at the bottom you'll see "System Services", click on it. Scroll down to "Product Improvement" section and disable all settings within that section. #iphoneprivacy #punkprivacy

Let's talk about location precision. iPhone has a setting that controls how precise your location passed to an app. Unfortunately by default it's precise, which is a within 10 ft radius. Turning it off makes it a mile-ish radius. I am sorry, but weather does not change within a mile radius, so your weather app does not need it. Go to Settings-> Privacy & Security-> Location Services, review apps and turn off Precise Location unless it's an app that needs it. #iphoneprivacy #punkprivacy

We are not done with location just yet, now we need to review apps that we are sharing location with. Go to Settings-> Privacy & Security-> Location Services and review each app. Typically you night have next options: Never, Ask Next Time or When I Share, While Using the App, Always. Many apps will attempt to convince you to switch to Always, never do that. If app requires location, maps for example, settle on While Using the App.
#iphoneprivacy #punkprivacy

Let's start with iPhone feature to share location with your friends/family. Go to Settings-> Privacy & Security-> Location Services-> Share My Location and confirm that you intended to share it with those people. Click on individual person, scroll down and click "Stop Sharing My Location" to stop. Go through every name on the list. If you are not sharing with anyone click on "Share My Location" green checkbox to stop sharing it all together. #iphoneprivacy #punkprivacy

I have decided to start a series of posts on iPhone privacy with tips, to help people understand privacy settings on their device, learn what those settings do and how to configure them. Series can be found under #iphoneprivacy hashtag.
#punkprivacy

Surveillance is easy, it does not require any special equipment and for little bit of money you can do a lot. Here is article analyzing Le Monde's article that talks about tracking of daily movement of French police and military. What can you do about it? Start deleting advertisement ID, may not help much but it's a good first step. I wrote about that in my mini advent calendar for privacy improvement on punkprivacy.com. Here is article itself: https://proton.me/blog/ad-tech-privacy #punkprivacy

When was the last time you reviewed apps on your phone? Apps typically collect lots of data, if you don't need app right now, delete it you can install it later when you need it. It's a simple hygiene that will dramatically improve your privacy. #punkprivacy

Do you use Echo devices by Amazon? Do you know that they typically come with Sidewalk bridge turned on by default? Amazon Sidewalk is a mesh network that uses LoRa among other things for long distance communication. Sidewalk device in a bridge mode will share it's Internet connection with some random device, sometimes half a mile away. While it's low bandwidth did you really signed up for that when you bought it? If not - disable it.
#punkprivacy

Here you go, proof that tracking won't stop until you delete "social media" apps off of your phone. Think again do you need app to communicate with your real friends instead of calling them? #punkprivacy #privacy
Meta and Yandex are de-anonymizing Android users’ web browsing identifiers - Ars Technica
https://arstechnica.com/security/2025/06/meta-and-yandex-are-de-anonymizing-android-users-web-browsing-identifiers/

Lawsuit filed against insurance company, alleging the insurer illegally tracked drivers through their cell phones without consent. What is interesting there that data was collected not even through an insurance owned app, but rather embedded into SDK that has been used by other apps. Remove unused apps from your phone.
Link:https://cyberinsider.com/texas-ag-sues-allstate-over-alleged-unlawful-data-harvesting/
#punkprivacy #privacy #consumerrights