Disabling Apple’s Latest Privacy-Invading Features

A settings screen on an Apple device showing options related to Apple Intelligence, with a toggle switch indicating the feature can be turned off.

Apple’s recent iOS updates included several features that share your personal data by default or raise concerns from privacy advocates. These privacy-invading settings may quietly collect information about your messages, photos, location, and app usage.

If you’re wondering what you should do, the answer is easy: Simply turn them all off.

Here’s exactly how to protect your privacy.

Start Here: Turn Off Apple Intelligence Completely

Apple Intelligence powers many AI features across iOS, but the system has raised serious concerns. Apple is already facing two class action lawsuits, one about false advertising and another about copyright infringement in the platform’s training.

On the one hand, Apple has committed to prioritizing privacy and security with its products, including Apple Intelligence. On the other hand, privacy experts warn: “Malicious actors could manipulate AI to inject fraudulent messages or notifications, potentially duping users into disclosing sensitive information.”

Until these issues are resolved, users may decide to disable the entire system.

To turn off Apple Intelligence:

Open Settings
Scroll down and tap “Apple Intelligence & Siri”
Find the Apple Intelligence toggle at the top
Switch it off

You can always re-enable this later if Apple addresses the current privacy and security questions.

Stop Apps From Tracking Your Behavior

Apple Intelligence is designed to make your device feel more intuitive by learning how you use it — for instance, which apps you open most often or what kinds of content you tend to search for. Apple says this learning happens primarily on your device, not in the cloud, and that private data like your passwords, banking details, and messages are never shared with Apple’s servers.

Still, Apple gives you control over what its systems can learn from each app. If you’d rather limit that kind of behavior-based learning — especially in apps that handle sensitive information — you can turn it off on a per-app basis.

Here’s how:

Open Settings
Scroll down and tap the app you want to adjust
Tap Siri & Search
Toggle off “Learn from this app”

Prioritize the apps that store or transmit personal information: your banking apps, password manager, messaging and email apps, health data, and notes. Disabling learning for these reduces how much of your digital behavior is used for personalization while keeping Apple Intelligence active elsewhere.

It takes a few minutes to review these settings, but it’s a small trade-off for more control over how deeply Apple’s AI learns your habits.

Disable Advertising and Tracking

Even Apple—long known for its privacy stance—collects data to personalize ads and “improve” its services. It also gives apps the ability to request permission to track your activity across other apps and websites. If you’d rather not share that information, you can shut all of it down in just a few minutes.

Here’s how:

Open Settings
Tap Privacy & Security
Scroll down and tap Apple Advertising
Toggle off Personalized Ads
Go back and tap Analytics & improvements
Turn off every option here, including Share iPhone Analytics and Improve Siri & Diction
Return to the main Privacy & Security menu
Tap Tracking (near the top)
Toggle off Allow Apps to Request to Track

That last setting is the big one, because it stops apps from even asking to track you. No more pop-ups, no background data sharing, and no hidden “yes” clicks.

Disabling these settings limits how much of your activity Apple and third-party apps can use for ads, marketing, or analytics. You’ll still get ads, but they’ll be generic rather than behavior-based, and your data will stay where it belongs: on your device, not in someone else’s database.

Clean Up Your Location Data

The reason that iOS tracks your location is to predict your routines, suggest destinations, and improve system features. By default, it keeps a detailed, encrypted history of places you visit frequently (home, work, favorite restaurants, and other locations) to power these features.

However, many users are uncomfortable with this kind of location tracking, whether that’s because of personal privacy concerns, issues related to unwanted tracking, and even simple battery performance concerns.

Anyone concerned about these things can easily protect this data.

To limit location tracking:

Open Settings
Navigate to Privacy & Security
Select Location Services
Scroll to the bottom and tap System Services
Turn off any toggles that are labeled as follows: iPhone Analytics, Routing & Traffic, Improve Maps, or anything specific to Product Improvement
Scroll down further to Significant Locations
Authenticate with Face ID or passcode if prompted
Toggle Significant Locations off
Tap Clear History to delete all stored location data

Disable Photo Analysis

iOS can make your photo library smarter with Enhanced Visual Search. This feature uses on-device AI to recognize objects, scenes, and people in your photos, so you can search for “dog,” “beach,” or “birthday party” and find relevant images quickly.

If you prefer that your photos aren’t analyzed in this way, here’s how to turn off the feature:

Open Settings
Navigate to Photos
Scroll to the bottom and toggle off Enhanced Visual Search

Even with this disabled, your photos remain searchable using existing metadata like dates, locations (if enabled), and albums. The difference is that iOS will no longer analyze the actual content of your images to power AI-driven searches. All analysis is performed locally on your device, and Apple does not collect your photos for this feature.

What about the Apple Intelligence report?

You might have seen recommendations from privacy advocates to disable the Apple Intelligence Report feature. Some sources claimed this feature automatically exports everything you do, including your messages, every 15 minutes.

Here’s what this feature actually does: The Apple Intelligence Report is a transparency tool, not an automatic data export system. When you choose to generate a report, it creates a technical document (a JSON file) that shows what data Apple Intelligence accessed during private compute requests. Think of it as a receipt that shows you what information the AI features used.

This is important: The report doesn’t automatically send data anywhere. You have to manually generate it, and it’s designed to give you more visibility into how Apple Intelligence works, not less. This is actually a privacy feature, because it lets you audit what’s happening behind the scenes.

That said, if you’re concerned about Apple Intelligence in general, the most effective step is disabling Apple Intelligence entirely, as discussed earlier.

What do all of these features have in common?

These features share a common thread: they all involve collecting, analyzing, and potentially storing your personal information.

Some of this happens on your device, and some data travels to Apple’s servers. The company maintains that privacy remains a core value, but privacy means control, and ultimately, you are the one who should decide what gets collected and what doesn’t.

Technology companies have a pattern of introducing features with data collection enabled by default. They also know most people never change default settings. By making these adjustments, you take back control over your digital privacy.

A woman using her iOS smartphone, focused on the screen while holding it with both hands.

Checking apps for privacy risks should be a regular habit

Maintaining your privacy and security on your devices isn’t a “one-and-done” sort of thing. You should continue to check your privacy settings after every major iOS update. Companies often add new features that collect data, and these features typically arrive switched on. You have to manually turn off many of these features.

We recommend setting a reminder to review these settings quarterly

Your privacy depends on active management. Take 20 minutes now to work through this list, then make it part of your routine to check back regularly. Your personal information deserves that attention.