Privacy

Concerned about privacy when using popular apps like Instagram? One news story after another highlighting data breaches and undisclosed app activity has some iPhone owners on edge. The fact that Facebook owns Instagram hasn't exactly made users of the most popular photo sharing platform more comfortable, considering the company's dependence on advertising for revenue. Despite privacy controls on iOS devices, sharing the Camera Roll with apps is easy, but who knows what apps actually do with access to your entire Photo Library?

Aside from deleting your Instagram account entirely, there are steps you can take to protect your data from being exploited by advertisers. Improving Instagram privacy requires checking a few settings and changing what data iPhone owners allow Instagram to access.

Privacy can seem elusive on the iPhone, with apps normally encouraging people to connect. Instagram is no different, with direct messaging features now available within the app. Sending photos or a message to friends inside Instagram can be convenient, but did you know that your activity status is shared with friends?

iPhone security is an ongoing concern, and Apple continues to double down on protecting its users' personal data. Devices such as the GreyKey have prompted calls for iOS device owners to protect their iPhone passcode. Now thanks to the release of iOS 11.4.1, there's a fresh defense against intrusion known as USB Restricted Mode.

Over the last year or two Safari users may have gradually become aware that it was asking (on Google's behalf) for their location far too often, to the point of being truly annoying. If you have mindlessly been tapping "OK" for too long and are finally fed up enough to do something about it, there are a couple solutions - you can allow it to use your location in such a way that it won't ask all the time or you can have it never use your location. Here's how to fix it on iPhone or iPad:

Grant access to location

Two-factor authentication, or 2FA, is an extra layer of security that many online services now use, including the Apple ID login, Facebook and Twitter among others.