Until recently, advertisers have been able to track users across their iPhones and the web using the Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA), a unique identifier that could be accessed by the apps you used and the site you visited. From version 14.5 of iOS, Apple gives you the option to opt out of tracking that apps would normally try to do. This guide shows you where to find these settings on your phone, and how to tweak them to keep pesky data hungry companies off the radar.
Blokada is a free and open-source mobile application that uses DNS servers to block ads and trackers on your device to enhance your privacy. In this guide you'll learn how to install Blokada on your iOS device.
Settings can only do so much to protect you. Your security and privacy also comes from how you use the app. This guides covers short concrete advice on good practices to follow when using this app.
Protecting your account starts with the settings of your Viber account to tighten your privacy and limit risks. This guide addresses Chat backups and how to Deactivate your account.
In this guide we take a look at profile settings, namely with whom you share your personal information. This information includes your e-mail, phone number, birthday, hometown, family relationships, workplace and more.
Protecting your account starts with configuring the settings of your Whatsapp account to tighten your privacy and limit risks. This guide addresses backups, the primary risk in Whatsapp, profile visibility and two factor verification
The screenshots below outline some steps you can take to minimise the data you share on WhatsApp. The company announced changes to group privacy (details here) but we are not currently (as of 14/05/19) able to see these changes (PI is UK-based).
Uber appears to offer few options to limit data collection and it’s unclear how the data the company has about users is shared with third parties including advertisers, although there have been numerous reports about Uber’s data sharing activities. These screenshots show a few things you can do.
TikTok is a short-form video app (owned by ByteDance) which allows advertising and sponsored content. Two thirds of TikTok’s over 113 million users (are reportedly aged 16-24) and it was the second most downloaded app in 2019, beaten only by WhatsApp’s 849 million). Like other tech platforms
While Telegram says in its privacy policy that the company doesn’t “use your data for ad targeting or other commercial purposes”, the company says that “no third party bot developers are affiliated with Telegram” and that developers “should ask [users] for [their] permission before they access
It’s tough to minimise targeted ads on phones because ads can be delivered based on data from the device level (such as what operating system your phone is using or based on unique numbers that identify your phone), browser level (what you search for within a browser), and within the apps you use
