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Your phone shares more than it needs: 7 free privacy fixes
2026-08-30

Your phone shares more than it needs: 7 free privacy fixes

Seven free phone-privacy fixes for tightening location, app, photo, tracking, and shared-access settings on iPhone and Android.

Life Hack Stack
Life Hack Stack@Jenna M
A privacy reset does not require a new app or a paid service. Start with the places where a phone shares location, device features, photos, and access to other people. The menu names vary between iPhone and Android versions, but the review is the same: keep access that a feature needs, and remove access that an app can work without. 1

1. Put every app's location access on trial

Location is useful for maps, weather, delivery, and local search. Many other apps can work with location access set to Never, While Using, or an approximate location instead of a precise one. Good Housekeeping gives these paths: on iPhone, open Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services; on Android, open Settings > Location > App Location Permissions. 2
Steps
  1. Open the location-permission list for your phone.
  2. Start with apps you rarely use or apps that have no obvious reason to know where you are.
  3. Set those apps to Never or Don't allow.
  4. Set useful apps to While Using the App when continuous access is unnecessary.
  5. Choose approximate location when an app only needs a general area.
  6. Open the app once afterward and restore access only if a feature you use needs it.
Why it works: The setting controls which apps can receive your phone's location and when they can receive it. A smaller list of apps with continuous or precise access leaves fewer routine location trails for apps to collect. 2
Avoid this mistake: A blanket shutdown can disable turn-by-turn directions or location-based services. Review the app's actual function before removing access, then choose the least access that still lets that function work.

2. Trim camera, microphone, contacts, photos, and notifications

Permission prompts often ask for more than an app's main function needs. Lifehacker's general rule is to deny a permission unless the app needs it for a core feature. On iPhone, the relevant controls sit under Settings > Privacy & Security. Android puts the main list under Settings > Security & Privacy > Privacy > Permission manager. 13
Steps
  1. Open the permission list on your phone.
  2. Choose Camera, Microphone, Contacts, Photos, or Notifications.
  3. Scan the apps that have access.
  4. Ask what each app does with that permission. A video-call app needs a camera when you make a call; a simple calculator usually does not.
  5. Remove access that the app can work without.
  6. Revisit the list after installing a new app instead of accepting every prompt automatically.
Why it works: App permissions limit access to private data and device features. Removing an unnecessary permission also prevents an app from using that feature in the background when the permission is not needed for the app's core job. 3
Avoid this mistake: A permission change can break a feature temporarily. Restore the single permission the feature needs, rather than returning every permission to an unrestricted setting.

3. Stop routine tracking requests

Both major phone platforms include a control for tracking requests. Good Housekeeping lists Settings > Privacy & Security > Tracking on iPhone, where you can turn off Allow Apps to Request to Track. On Android, the same guide points to Settings > Privacy > More Privacy Settings > Ads > Delete Advertising ID. 2
Steps
  1. Open the tracking or advertising control for your phone.
  2. On iPhone, turn off Allow Apps to Request to Track.
  3. On Android, open the advertising settings and choose Delete Advertising ID.
  4. Check the app's own privacy settings when the app offers a separate tracking choice.
  5. Repeat the review after a major operating-system update, because menu names can move.
Why it works: The iPhone control stops apps from asking for permission to track you across other companies' apps and websites. Android's advertising-ID control removes that advertising identifier. These settings reduce specific tracking channels; they do not turn every form of data collection off. 2
Avoid this mistake: Treating one toggle as a complete privacy solution leaves other settings untouched. Keep the app-permission review in the previous fix, because tracking controls and feature permissions cover different kinds of access.

4. Keep location out of new photos

Photo files can carry EXIF data, including the time a photo was taken, the camera used, settings, and—on a smartphone—the location attached to the image. Lifehacker recommends denying location access to the Camera app on both iPhone and Android before you post photos online. 1
Steps
  1. Open the Camera app's location permission.
  2. On iPhone, go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services > Camera and deny access.
  3. On Android, go to Settings > Location > App Location Permissions > Camera and deny access.
  4. Take a new test photo and inspect the sharing options before posting it.
  5. Remove old screenshots that contain addresses, tickets, booking details, or other sensitive information.
  6. Keep a separate copy of photos whose location search or map-based memories matter to you before changing the setting.
Why it works: A camera without location permission has less location data to attach to new photos. Deleting sensitive screenshots also removes a common place for private details to remain on the phone; Lifehacker notes that some malware can steal information from screenshots. 1
Avoid this mistake: Removing Camera location access changes convenience as well as privacy. Photo apps may lose location search and some automatic location-based slideshows, so save any location-based organization you still need first.

5. Use the browser for services you rarely need

A dedicated app can request device permissions and run more deeply on a phone than a mobile website. Lifehacker suggests deleting apps known to track heavily and using a mobile website where that replacement is practical; the article also notes that some services, such as WhatsApp, cannot simply be replaced this way. 4
Steps
  1. Look through your installed apps and mark the ones you have not used recently.
  2. Delete apps you no longer need.
  3. For an occasional service, open its website in Safari, Chrome, or your usual mobile browser.
  4. Sign in through the website and check whether the functions you actually use are available there.
  5. Keep an app only when the service needs it or the browser version removes a function you rely on.
  6. Review the remaining app permissions after the cleanup.
Why it works: Moving an occasional activity to a browser can reduce the number of apps with access to phone data and features. Safari's privacy features can also block or limit some tracking that would otherwise occur through a dedicated app. 4
Avoid this mistake: A browser version can have fewer features and a service may require its app for messages, uploads, or account security. Test the website first, and keep the app when the replacement would make an important task unreliable.

6. Run Safety Check on an iPhone

iPhone's Safety Check gathers sharing and access controls into one guided review. Lifehacker says the feature can help you see who has access to information such as your current location, calendars, notes, passwords, and fitness activity. Open Settings > Privacy & Security > Safety Check > Manage Sharing & Access. 4
Steps
  1. Open Settings > Privacy & Security > Safety Check.
  2. Choose Manage Sharing & Access.
  3. Review each person and app shown in the prompts.
  4. Remove sharing that you no longer recognize or use.
  5. Check the app-permission prompts and change only the access you understand.
  6. Review the emergency-contact option and set it up only when the contact and the information shared are right for you.
Why it works: The guided flow brings together access that can otherwise be scattered across individual apps, contacts, and settings pages. A single review makes old sharing arrangements easier to find and reconsider. 4
Avoid this mistake: Safety Check is an iPhone feature, and a rushed tap-through can remove access that someone genuinely needs. Read each person, app, and data category before confirming a change.

7. Check Android's separate Special app access menu

Android's privacy dashboard is not the only permission list. Lifehacker describes a separate Special app access area for permissions such as changing system settings, displaying over other apps, collecting usage data, or accessing files and folders. Open Settings > Apps > Special app access; on some phones, the menu sits behind a three-dot button. 3
Steps
  1. Open Settings > Apps.
  2. Find Special app access. Open the three-dot menu first when the option is hidden.
  3. Open one permission type, such as Display over other apps, Modify system settings, or Usage data access.
  4. Review the apps listed there.
  5. Turn off access for an app whose function does not need that system-level control.
  6. Repeat with the next permission type, then test any app you changed.
Why it works: Special permissions can affect the whole device, so Android keeps them apart from ordinary camera, microphone, location, and contact permissions. Reviewing the separate menu can reveal access that a routine privacy-dashboard check misses. 3
Avoid this mistake: Some legitimate apps need special access for features such as picture-in-picture or an overlay. Remove permissions from apps that do not need them, and leave a permission in place when its function clearly depends on it.

The phone privacy reset

  1. Review location access and switch continuous access to while-using or approximate access where it fits.
  2. Audit camera, microphone, contacts, photos, and notifications.
  3. Turn off routine tracking requests or delete the advertising ID.
  4. Remove Camera location access before taking photos you plan to share.
  5. Delete unused apps and test browser versions for occasional services.
  6. Run Safety Check on an iPhone or Special app access on Android.
  7. Recheck the settings after a major system update or whenever a new app asks for access.
These changes reduce particular kinds of access while keeping the choice with you. The useful boundary is simple: remove access that a feature can live without, and keep access that makes a service work.

References

  1. 1
    10 Hacks for Online Privacy That Everyone Should Know

    lifehacker.com

  2. 2
    Safeguard Digital Privacy: How to Protect Your Data Online

    goodhousekeeping.com

  3. 3
    This Android Setting Makes It Easy to Manage All Your App Permissions

    lifehacker.com

  4. 4
    15 Privacy Hacks Every iPhone User Should Know

    lifehacker.com

Life Hack Stack
Life Hack Stack@Jenna M

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Related content

  • 1. Put every app's location access on trial
  • 2. Trim camera, microphone, contacts, photos, and notifications
  • 3. Stop routine tracking requests
  • 4. Keep location out of new photos
  • 5. Use the browser for services you rarely need
  • 6. Run Safety Check on an iPhone
  • 7. Check Android's separate Special app access menu
  • The phone privacy reset