Security & Privacy concerns with iPhone

Apple is tracking unwitting iPhone users with a feature that was included as ‘default’ during the last iOs 17 update.

When the Journal app was added in 2023, one of its privacy settings, switched on to ‘default’, and allows people in interact with your phone when in the vicinity. To ensure yours is switched off, go to Settings, Privacy and Security, tap on the Journal app and where it says ‘Discoverable by others’, switch it to ‘off’.

However, even users who have deleted the Journal app have seen that ‘Discoverable by others’ remains switched on even after getting rid of it, leaving many iPhone users with privacy concerns.

Privacy concerns on iPhone app

The feature uses Bluetooth to detect nearby devices so to provide them with prompts for their journal entry. The idea is to make important encounters and significant moments easier to record and remember. The feature allows your iPhone to interact with nearby iPhones, so if you are close to another iPhone user, the Journal app will suggest you record your encounter with that person.

Bob Borchers, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, said last year, ‘And we’re making it possible for other journaling apps to offer the same personalised suggestions while maintaining the highest level of privacy.’ However, Apple maintains that the information remains stored on the device only and is not shared with Apple’s central computers.

Worries over iPhone security data sharing

Apple’s Journal app also courted controversy last year when it was discovered it took note of users’ photos, workout data, music listening history and location data, and doubts persist to whether Apple is sharing this information with other third parties.

Online data harvesting of this kind became a big deal in the wake of the Brexit campaigns when whistle blower Brittany Kaiser revealed how the company Cambridge Analytica had used data from millions of Facebook users to determine their mood and then use that information to direct pro-Leave propaganda to their screens. Kaiser also revealed in the award-winning documentary ‘The Great Hack’, how the technology was so advanced that by using simple information gathered from a Facebook user’s online activities, they could tell when a person was going to get divorced before they knew themselves.