iPhone Privacy Checklist

Disable ad & app tracking on your iPhone

Flip each switch as you go. By the end, you'll have shut down the main ways apps and advertisers follow you around.

Written for iOS 26.5 · Reviewed July 2026

0 of 18 done

🏁Check your baseline

Start here

Before you change a single setting, see how exposed you are right now — that's your "before" snapshot. Run a quick test in Safari and jot the result, so you can compare once you've finished the checklist.

Run the baseline test · Cover Your Tracks by the EFF Tap to open it in Safari. Note the headline verdict ("strong protection" or not) and the three yes/no answers — or just screenshot the results page.

Open

Your starting result (optional)

🎯Stop apps from tracking you

Open the Tracking screen

Settings›Privacy & Security›Tracking

Turn OFF "Allow Apps to Request to Track"

This blocks every app from tracking you — and from even asking

When prompted, stop previously allowed apps too

Confirms the change for apps you'd already let through

🍏Turn off Apple's personalized ads

Open Apple Advertising

Settings›Privacy & Security›Apple Advertising

Turn OFF "Personalized Ads"

Stops Apple targeting ads in the App Store, News & Stocks

📊Stop sharing analytics with Apple

Open Analytics & Improvements

Settings›Privacy & Security›Analytics & Improvements

Turn OFF "Share iPhone Analytics"

Your device stops sending usage data to Apple

📍Review location access

Open Location Services

Settings›Privacy & Security›Location Services

Review each app — set the ones that don't need it to Never or Ask Next Time

Be wary of anything set to "Always" — few apps truly need it

Set App Store and News to Never

In iOS 26 this is what stops Apple's location-based ads — there's no separate ad toggle anymore

Turn OFF "Precise Location" for apps that don't need your exact spot

Inside each app's location screen — gives them your area, not your address

📖 What each option means

Never: The app can't use your location at all.
Ask Next Time: No standing access — the app has to ask again the next time it wants your location.
While Using: Location only while the app is open and on screen. The right default for most apps.
Always: Access even in the background, when the app isn't open. Reserve this for the few that truly need it — navigation, weather, Find My.

🧭Lock down Safari

Open Safari settings

Settings›Apps›Safari

Turn ON "Prevent Cross-Site Tracking"

Blocks trackers from following you between sites

Set "Hide IP Address" to Trackers and Websites

Full option needs iCloud+

Turn OFF "Privacy Preserving Ad Measurement"Thorough

Apps›Safari›Advanced

Set "Advanced Tracking and Fingerprinting Protection" to All Browsing

Apps›Safari›Advanced›Advanced Tracking…

✉️Stop email open-tracking

Open Mail's Privacy Protection

Settings›Apps›Mail›Privacy Protection

Turn ON "Protect Mail Activity"

Hides your IP and whether you've opened a message — defeats the tracking pixels marketers hide in emails

☁️If you have iCloud+

Requires iCloud+

Optional extras that come with any paid iCloud+ plan (including Apple One) — and pound for pound, some of the most powerful steps on this page: they hide your IP address and your real email address behind Apple's relays. Skip this section if you don't subscribe — these don't count toward your progress above. Finish all three and there's a grand finale waiting. 🎆

Turn ON "Private Relay"

Settings›[your name]›iCloud›Private Relay

Set "IP Address Location" to Use Country and Time ZoneThorough

Inside Private Relay — hands websites a broader, less precise location

Use "Hide My Email" for new signups

Settings›[your name]›iCloud›Hide My Email

📖 What these do

Private Relay: Routes your Safari traffic through two relays so neither websites nor your network provider can tie your IP, location, and browsing into one profile.
Hide My Email: Generates a random forwarding address for signups and newsletters, so companies can't match your real inbox across the services you use.

🎉 Locked down 🔒

Every step is complete. The main ad and tracking pathways on your iPhone are now shut off.

Tap to celebrate again ✨

🏅 Claim your badge

You earned it. Put your name on it and share the bragging rights — the badge is drawn right on your device; nothing is uploaded anywhere.

ℹ️ Good to know

You'll still see ads — they'll just be generic instead of tailored to you.
This limits cross-app and cross-site profiling, but apps can still collect data on what you do inside their own app.
If the Tracking toggle is grayed out, that's usually a child account, a school-managed Apple ID, or an Apple ID created in the last three days.
If a menu doesn't match exactly, use the search bar at the top of Settings to jump straight to it.

🔍 Now check the difference

Finished the steps? Run the same test again in Safari and compare it to your baseline from Step 0 — that side-by-side is the proof it worked.

Cover Your Tracks · by the EFF A plain-language verdict with three yes/no checks: tracking ads blocked, invisible trackers blocked, and fingerprinting protection. Compare them to your Step 0 answers.

Open

BrowserLeaks Your IP, location, ISP, DNS, and fingerprint in technical detail. The IP test is the one to watch once "Hide IP Address" or Private Relay is on.

Open

These test the Safari / web side — cross-site tracking, IP hiding, and fingerprinting. The app-level changes (tracking permission, location access, personalized ads, Mail) happen inside iOS itself and won't show up in a browser test, so consider this a partial — but very visible — before & after.

📝 Your notes

Jot down anything you want to remember — apps you left on "Always" on purpose, settings you skipped, questions to revisit. Saved automatically on this device.

Print opens your dialog — choose "Save as PDF" to keep a copy. Share uses your device's share sheet (or copies the link). Reset asks you to tap twice, then clears your checkmarks (notes are kept).