If you've done everything we've suggested up until now, your phone
is reasonably private and secure.
You've reduced the amount of data
it's sending back to the manufacturer.
You've reduced your attack surface and increased your privacy by
removing apps you no longer need.
The apps you have kept, you've replaced wherever possible with
companies who respect your privacy and
take extra measures to secure your data.
And honestly, for most people, this is enough.
But if you're watching this course,
you're probably not like most people.
Nothing is ever perfect or unhackable, but you're probably wanting
to get your phone as close to that as possible.
And that's what this video is about.
The best way to make your iPhone as
secure as possible is to enable lockdown mode.
Lockdown mode makes a considerable number of changes to iPhone that
will harden the security, but does come at the cost of convenience.
Depending on how you use your iPhone, you may not notice this at
all, or you may find it too much to
work with, or somewhere in between.
Some of the changes include things like disabling link previews and
attachments in messages, blocking certain web elements like some
fonts or images, not automatically joining insecure Wi-Fi networks,
disabling 3G cell service, and more.
Even turning on lockdown mode, however, is not a panacea.
For example, your phone will still
ping cell towers as you move around town.
This is where you're gonna have to
start changing your habit's lifestyle.
One technique is to leave your phone in
airplane mode and only connect to Wi-Fi.
This will prevent your phone from pinging towers.
And since we've already changed the settings to ensure that iOS
randomizes your Mac address, there's
very little risk of being tracked this way.
Personally, I recommend simply leaving
your phone at home when you don't need it.
If you're going somewhere and you already know how to get there,
you don't need the navigation app on your phone.
Listen to the radio on the drive and discover some new music.
If you'll need a ticket or something, like
going to a concert, print it out ahead of time.
Not to be preachy, but personally, I find my time hanging out with
friends is a lot more meaningful when
I put my phone away and I'm present.
I know it's not always an option, but when it is, I recommend it.
Try to avoid tying any phone to your name.
I know that's a tall order and may be illegal in some countries,
but in the US, for example, you can buy your phone in cash directly
from the manufacturer instead of financing one with your carrier.
This means going directly to an Apple store
or ordering directly from Apple's website.
If you're hesitant to give Apple your money,
try to buy a used phone on secondhand markets.
We still recommend buying the newest model that you can afford in
order to ensure that you're
getting updates for as long as possible.
You can even go a step further by creating a brand new Apple ID for
each new phone, but there are drawbacks to this.
For one, you'll have to buy any paid apps all over again.
For another, companies are making it increasingly harder to make
new accounts privately, so you may struggle to
make an account that doesn't immediately get locked.
We also recommend cell carriers who don't
require your identity to set up service.
Carriers like Mint Mobile, for example, don't verify your ID and
you can attach any name you like to the service.
And whatever you do, please don't root or jailbreak your phone.
This introduces a huge host of security vulnerabilities and we
believe that it never justifies whatever you're trying to do.
This brings us to the end of our course.
Needless to say, this is just the tip of the iceberg.
There is no one way to do privacy.
There's a million ways to set up and use your phone, each with
various advantages and drawbacks.
There's a saying that iron sharpens iron, meaning that when we all
learn from each other, we make each
other better and everyone grows and learns.
In that spirit, we'd highly recommend you get engaged with our
community to connect with other privacy
enthusiasts who can offer tips, advice, and encouragement.
We've only covered the basics of phone privacy.
There's still more apps, more strategies, and just more in general.
Privacy is more of a journey than a destination and the goal is
simply to be a little bit better each day.
Thanks for watching.
(Upbeat Music)