A few small privacy adjustments on your mobile phone, whether it’s iPhone (iOS) or Android, can give you more security. Putting a password on WhatsApp and not allowing your activity to be tracked for targeted advertising purposes, for example, are actions that can make you more secure.
These activities, while simple, have a major impact on the security of your data. Therefore, to ensure more anonymous and private use during the year that started last Sunday (1), please check below. You’ll see a list of six settings you should be using on your phone in 2023 for more privacy.
Do this and you will have more security on your mobile phone
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1. Revoke camera/microphone access in apps
At first, the camera and microphone are features that some apps may require you to access. This happens with image and video editors. However, not all applications that make this request actually need the functions to work. For this reason, to ensure greater security, a good option is to block these accesses.
To do this, if you’re using an iPhone, open “Settings” and look for the app you want to revoke access to. On the page, click the toggle that disables camera and microphone access by dragging the toggle to the left.
On Android, you can also do the same procedure. To do this, open the “Settings” app, click on “Applications”, select the app you want and then disable access to the camera or microphone in the “Permissions” tab.
2. Security on your phone: Don’t show notification content on the lock screen
That is to say, hiding notifications on the lock screen is also another interesting action and prevents curious people from viewing the content of your messages. The process, in turn, can be done on both Android and iPhone, and only allows you to access the messages received before unlocking the phone.
Then, on Android, go to “Settings” and look for the “Apps & Notifications” option. Then go to the lock screen notification option. In it, select “Don’t show notifications”.
On iPhone, to prevent notifications from appearing, just tap “Settings”. Right after that, go to “Notifications” and tap “Never” in the “Show previews” option. You can also edit each app individually, so you just have to search for it.
3. Put the password on WhatsApp
Many don’t know it, but it’s also possible to make WhatsApp more secure. To do this, simply activate a password in the application. The feature is useful as it adds an extra layer of security and prevents people who don’t know the code from accessing your conversations.
To do this, on Android phones, click on the three dots at the top right of the screen. On the page, select “Privacy” and add a password via fingerprint lock.
On iPhone, within the messaging app, the user can use Touch ID or Face ID. To activate, just open the “Settings in WhatsApp”, tap “Privacy” and then allow the application.
4. Security on your mobile: two-factor authentication on WhatsApp
Another very useful feature to protect WhatsApp from being cloned is two-step verification. With it, whenever a number is registered on a new device, the app will ask for a six-digit code to confirm the account migration. In this way, the measure makes it difficult for scammers to access, for example by preventing scams such as asking family and friends for money via PIX.
To activate the setting, on Android phones, tap the three dots in the upper right corner of the WhatsApp home screen. From there, go to “Account,” then “2-Step Confirmation.” Then, enable the option so that you can enter your six-digit password. Immediately after that, you need to confirm the code twice and click “save”.
Already on the iPhone, access the Settings, at the bottom of the screen, in WhatsApp. Then click on the “Account” option, then on “Two-Step Confirmation” and include the code. You will also need to provide an email address in case you forget your password.
5. Don’t let apps track you
Not allowing applications to track your activities is another cool action. This is because the process will prevent platforms from using your app browsing for advertising purposes. Furthermore, the measure also prohibits your information from being shared with third parties for other similar purposes.
The activation process on the iPhone is simple: when you download an application or open it for the first time, a pop-up will appear explaining that, starting with iOS 14.1, the mobile allows the user to opt out of being tracked your activity in the app. Then, simply tap “Ask app not to track”.
6. Security on Phone: Turn off precise location in apps
Finally, the last privacy feature you need to use in 2023 is turning off precise location in apps. This is because some apps require continuous access to information, even if they don’t need it to function. In the case of applications that require data to function, such as Uber or iFood, you can choose to share your location only when the platform is active.
In this sense, to disable this location on the iPhone, go to “Settings” and search for “Location Services”. Then, view the list of apps you have installed on your phone and from there, choose the one you want to change. Then turn off the “Precise location” switch.
On an Android phone, tap “Apps & notifications” on the “Settings” tab. Once this is done, simply click on “Permissions” and then on “Location”. Then you just need to turn off the “Use exact location” switch.
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