It also includes details on when apps access your iPhone’s sensors like your GPS and camera. Here’s how to use the App Privacy Report feature on your iPhone.
What Is App Privacy Report?
App Privacy Report, arguably one of the best privacy features in iOS 15, details which installed apps access your data and sensors and when. The sensitive data and sensors tracked by App Privacy Report include location, contacts, media library, camera, photo library, microphone, and screen recording.
You can liken App Privacy Report to a transparency report that keeps you updated with two important details. First, App Privacy Report shows you which apps have permission to access your data and sensors.
Secondly, it details a breakdown of the app’s network activity, website network activity, and frequently contacted domains. You can check whether an app is sharing your data with third parties from this data.
App Privacy Report only displays data for the past seven days, which may come out as a bummer to some. It breaks down information into four categories: Data and Sensor Access, App Network Activity, Website Network Activity, and Most Contacted Domains.
Here is a breakdown of what every section means:
Data and Sensor Access
This section displays when and how. It lists the number of times an app has accessed your data and device sensors. It goes deeper by providing the date and time when this happened for the past seven days.
App Network Activity
App Network Activity shows the domains contacted by an app plus the date and time of contact. Keep in mind that not all domains contacted by an app may be malicious in any way.
Some may be critical to the app’s functionality, and you shouldn’t be scared when you come across this information. However, some may be used for sending your data to either an analytics service or even an ad network for targeted advertising.
App Network Activity report has two categories: domains that have been contacted directly and indirectly (through other content). An example of the latter could be when you tap on a link in a social media app, so the app has to contact the domain hosting the content.
Website Network Activity
The Website Network Activity section details the number of domains contacted by websites that you’ve visited through a web browser in an app. For example, if you visit a website via Facebook’s in-app mobile browser.
Most Contacted Domains
This section details the domains contacted by all your apps and websites you visited in the apps, then ranks them based on the number of apps associated with them. The most frequently contacted domains are likely for creating a custom profile of your activity for personalized advertising.
How to Enable App Privacy Report
App Privacy Report is available on iPhone starting from iOS 15.2. So before you continue, ensure you’re using the latest version. Here is a guide on how to check your iOS version.
By default, App Privacy Report is disabled. To use the feature, you first need to enable it.
Follow these steps to enable App Privacy Report on iPhone:
Open Settings app. Scroll down and tap Privacy. Select App Privacy Report. Tap Turn On App Privacy Report.
Once you enable the feature, it may take time to see the privacy report.
How to Access App Privacy Report
To view your App Privacy Report on iOS 15, follow these steps:
Open Settings. Go to Privacy. Select App Privacy Report. This will take you to the App Privacy Report page, which shows you fine details categorized in four sections as detailed above.
How to Disable App Privacy Report
You can also disable App Privacy Report, although there is no reason why you should. Because, like it or not, apps are collecting your data every day, and it’s good that you know. But if you still want to disable the feature, follow these steps:
Open Settings. Select Privacy. Tap App Privacy Report. Scroll down and tap Turn Off App Privacy Report. Tap OK to confirm your choice.
Stay Updated on How Apps Are Accessing and Using Your Personal Data
Knowing the apps accessing your data and sensors and when has never been easy. However, App Privacy Report debuted in iOS 15 changes that. It provides you with a detailed transparency report to help you make an informed decision on whether you should uninstall a given app or not.
You can also deny some apps different permissions that you feel invade your privacy.
