TechTipADay
Privacy & Security cheat sheet
A printable privacy checklist. Turn on one row, confirm it did what you expected, then do the next. Lockdown Mode and Safety Check are not everyday switches. Read those pages before you use them.
Read the Privacy & Security tips
Use a temporary ChatGPT chat when you do not want it saved
Turn Temporary chat on before you type. It is not added to history and it does not update memory. Easy. About 1 min. ChatGPT.
Why it matters. A one-off question stays out of your chat list and does not become a memory the next chat can see.
- Start a new chat.
- Turn Temporary chat on before you type. The control is at the top of a new chat. If you do not see it, open the chat options and look for Temporary.
- Leave personalization off for that chat if you also do not want existing custom instructions and memories pulled in.
- Do not paste passwords, identity numbers, or private keys. Temporary is not a vault.
Know where Lockdown Mode is, and what it breaks
Settings > Privacy & Security > Lockdown Mode. It is for people who believe they may be personally targeted. Moderate. About 3 min. iPhone on iOS 18 and iOS 26.
Why it matters. The switch is real, and turning it on without reading the list will surprise you the next time a website or a photo fails.
- Open Settings > Privacy & Security > Lockdown Mode.
- Read the list of what will stop working.
- Turn it on only if that list is a trade you mean to make, then restart when asked.
- Turn it off in the same place if a site or a feature you need is now broken.
Use Safety Check to review what you are sharing
Settings > Privacy & Security > Safety Check. Emergency Reset is the fast path. Manage Sharing is the careful one. Moderate. About 5 min. iPhone on iOS 18 and iOS 26.
Why it matters. You can stop sharing your location and review which people and apps have access, from one place.
- Open Settings > Privacy & Security > Safety Check.
- Choose Manage Sharing & Access if you want to go item by item: people, location, apps, and devices.
- Choose Emergency Reset only if you want the fast version. It stops sharing and reviews sign-in in one pass.
- Read each confirmation. You can restore sharing later, but not by undoing a single button.
Turn on Theft Detection Lock
The phone can lock itself if it is snatched and the thief moves off quickly. The switch is grayed out on phones that lack the feature. Moderate. About 2 min. Android phones with Google Play services, Android 15 and 16 where the feature is offered.
Why it matters. A stolen phone that locks immediately is harder to rummage through than one that stays open.
- Open Settings > Google > All services.
- Under Personal & device safety, tap Theft protection.
- Turn on Theft Detection Lock. If the switch is grayed out, this phone does not support it.
- If you cannot find the menu, search Settings for Theft protection, or look under Settings > Security & privacy > Device unlock.
Put sensitive apps in a Private space
Settings > Security & privacy > Private space. Apps in there stop running while the space is locked. Moderate. About 5 min. Android 15 and 16, including Pixel.
Why it matters. A second set of apps can stay hidden and signed into a different account.
- Open Settings > Security & privacy > Private space.
- Follow the setup and authenticate with your screen lock.
- When it offers a Google account, use a different account if you do not want those apps syncing into your main one. You can skip the account.
- Install the apps you want inside the space. Open the space from the bottom of the app drawer.
- In the space's settings, choose when it locks. Every time the device locks is the strict option.
Hide notification text on the Android lock screen
Choose show sensitive content only when unlocked, or show nothing. Easy. About 1 min. Pixel phones on Android 15 and 16.
Why it matters. A locked phone on a table stops displaying message previews to the room.
- Open Settings > Security & privacy > More security settings > Notifications on lock screen.
- If that row is missing, open Settings > Notifications > Notifications on lock screen.
- Choose Don't show notifications, or show sensitive content only when unlocked.
Lock an app behind Face ID, or hide it
Touch and hold the icon, tap Require Face ID, then Lock or Hide. Easy. About 1 min. iPhone on iOS 18 and iOS 26.
Why it matters. Someone who has the unlocked phone still cannot open that app without your face or passcode.
- Touch and hold the app icon until the menu appears.
- Tap Require Face ID, or Require Touch ID on older hardware.
- Choose Lock to keep the icon but demand authentication, or Hide and Require Face ID to remove it from the Home Screen.
- Open a hidden app from the App Library, in the Hidden folder, at the bottom.
Turn on the privacy report and read it tomorrow
It records which apps used the camera, microphone, location, and which domains they contacted. Easy. About 1 min. iPhone on iOS 18 and iOS 26.
Why it matters. You see the behavior of the apps you already installed, instead of guessing from their permission screens.
- Open Settings > Privacy & Security > App Privacy Report.
- Turn it on.
- Use the phone normally, then come back the next day.
- Open Data and Sensor Access for the microphone, camera, and location. Open App Network Activity for the domains.
Stop apps from asking to track you
Settings > Privacy & Security > Tracking. Turn off Allow Apps to Request to Track. Easy. About 1 min. iPhone on iOS 18 and iOS 26.
Why it matters. The prompt goes away, and apps do not get the advertising identifier.
- Open Settings > Privacy & Security > Tracking.
- Turn off Allow Apps to Request to Track.
- Or leave it on and set each app in the list underneath to off.
Turn off Precise Location for apps that do not need your doorstep
Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services, then the app. Precise Location is its own switch. Easy. About 2 min. iPhone on iOS 18 and iOS 26.
Why it matters. A weather app or a shop app can work with a neighborhood instead of the building you are standing in.
- Open Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services.
- Tap the app.
- Turn Precise Location off.
- Leave location access as While Using the App if the app still needs a rough area. Choose Never if it does not.
Make a throwaway address that forwards to you
Hide My Email is under your name, then iCloud. You can delete the address later. Easy. About 2 min. iPhone on iOS 18 and iOS 26, with iCloud.
Why it matters. A shop gets an address that works, and you can shut that address off without changing your real one.
- Open Settings and tap your name at the top. The row may be labeled Apple Account.
- Tap iCloud > Hide My Email.
- Create a new address and use it on the site that asked. Mail forwards to your inbox.
- To stop a site later, come back to the same list and deactivate or delete that address.
Set AirDrop to Contacts Only
Settings > General > AirDrop. Everyone for 10 Minutes is the setting for a one-off transfer. Easy. About 1 min. iPhone on iOS 18 and iOS 26.
Why it matters. Strangers nearby stop being able to offer you AirDrop files.
- Open Settings > General > AirDrop.
- Choose Contacts Only.
- When you need a file from someone else, switch to Everyone for 10 Minutes. It returns to Contacts Only by itself.
Shorten Auto-Lock so the screen does not stay on
Settings > Display & Brightness > Auto-Lock. Thirty seconds is the impatient setting. Easy. About 1 min. iPhone on iOS 18 and iOS 26.
Why it matters. A phone left face-up on a table stops showing whatever was open.
- Open Settings > Display & Brightness > Auto-Lock.
- Pick 30 seconds if you want the screen to sleep quickly. Pick a longer time if you read on the phone.
- Then open Settings > Face ID & Passcode, or Touch ID & Passcode, and set Require Passcode to Immediately.
Run Chrome's password checkup
Google Password Manager has a Checkup page for breached, reused, and weak passwords. Easy. About 3 min. Chrome on a computer, signed in.
Why it matters. You find out which saved password is already in a known breach, and you can change that one.
- Open Chrome Settings > Autofill and passwords > Google Password Manager.
- Open Checkup. On some versions the button says Check passwords.
- Change the passwords it marks as compromised. Do that on the website itself, then let Chrome save the new one.
- Reused passwords are the next pass. A breach of one site exposes the others.
Stop websites from asking to send notifications
Set the Chrome default to Don't allow, then revoke the sites you already accepted. Easy. About 2 min. Chrome on a computer.
Why it matters. The prompt is how random sites get a permanent channel onto your desktop.
- Open Chrome Settings > Privacy and security > Site settings > Notifications.
- Set the default to Don't allow sites to send notifications.
- In the Allowed list below, open any site you do not want and choose Block.