Privacy on your smartphone anno 2024

Online privacy, an increasingly relevant and controversial topic in our digital age. We know by now that tech giants such as Google, Meta and ByteDance (the company behind TikTok) understand exactly what we like and, using clever algorithms, allow us to scroll for hours. But the newest players on this privacy front are artificial intelligence systems, such as those from OpenAI. These smart systems also collect and process personal data, and are becoming increasingly powerful and, let’s face it, a little too curious.

To protect us from these data collectors, new regulations have been introduced in recent years, both in the Netherlands and internationally. Consider the General Data Protection Regulation (AVG) and the Digital Services Act(DSA) in Europe, which force tech companies to provide clear and user-friendly privacy settings(European Commission). These regulations allow you to make your digital footprint a lot less visible with just a few settings. In this article, we discuss how you can take advantage of these laws to regain control of your online data, whether it’s social media, search engines, or AI services. We also give you 11 short tips & tricks at the end on how to protect yourself. In short, time to make your online life more private again with the law on your side!

What will Google know about you in 2024?

Google still collects data such as location, searches and online behavior, but the transparency around data collection has been improved by the aforementioned legislation(Google Privacy Center). Users can now easily specify through their Google account settings what information Google is allowed to collect. this way you can easily manage ad personalization:

1. Open your Google account and go to Data and privacy.
2. Choose Ad settings to see what interests Google has linked to you and remove topics or disable ad personalization.
3. Google’s Privacy Check-up tool also offers a step-by-step guide to managing settings, such as location history and ad preferences.

With Google’s new privacy settings, you now have more control over what data is collected and how your advertising preferences are set. Through tools like the Privacy Check-up, you can easily control what information you share. While complete online privacy is never guaranteed in this day and age, you can shield your online behavior a lot better with just a few clicks.

What does Meta know about you in 2024?

We all remember the privacy scandal that put Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook firmly under the microscope, namely the Cambridge Analytica incident in which data from millions of users was collected without consent and used for political ads. This scandal made painfully clear how vulnerable our daily online activities actually are. Since then, Facebook, now Meta, has promised to take the protection of private data more seriously. Yet Meta still collects data about your likes, followers and locations. But there is good news: Meta now offers more control options, such as Activity Off Facebook. This gives you insight into which third-party apps and websites share information with Meta(Meta Privacy Center).

Want to take charge yourself? Then follow these steps:

1. Log in to your Facebook account: Open the Facebook app or website and log in with your credentials.
2. Go to Settings and privacy.: Click on your profile image at the top right or the down arrow (on desktop) and choose “Settings and Privacy.”
3. Select Your Facebook Details: Go to “Your Facebook data” in the settings menu.
4. View and manage ad interests and affiliated companies: Here you can see exactly which advertising categories and companies are linked to your profile. You can edit or remove interests and disconnect companies if you prefer not to give them access to your data.

In 2024, your online privacy at Meta is better protected than before, but still far from impenetrable. Thanks to new settings, you can have more influence over what data Meta collects and uses from you. This makes it easier to take a little more control of your digital footprint or at least limit it. However, keep asking yourself if you really want to share everything. As Meta continues to optimize to present you with the right content, you can continue to optimize to share only what you really need.

Privacy iOS vs. Android: changes in 2024

Security on iOS

Apple’s iOS has long had a reputation for being a solid lock on the door against viruses and malware, a safe environment, but also one with limitations for users who like to experiment. Apple is keeping the reins tight: its App Privacy Report feature now allows users to see exactly which apps have access to personal data such as your location or contact information, and how often that access is used(Apple Support).

Moreover, every app in the App Store is thoroughly checked for security risks, so apps that like to peek into your private life have less chance(Journal of Cybersecurity).

Security on Android

Android remains, as always, a less limited and open platform than iOS. However, Google’s Play Protect provides protection by scanning apps daily for malware. With the new Privacy Dashboard In Android 13, users can manage permissions on a per-app basis(Android Developers).

Safety on AI systems

AI has quickly become an indispensable digital assistant; many can no longer imagine a work week without it. Systems like OpenAI learn a lot about you simply by analyzing your inputs, preferences and tone. Every message helps make the AI smarter, but it also means it learns more and more about you.

Fortunately, you can do a lot yourself to ensure your privacy with AI systems like OpenAI’s. First, you can specify in the privacy settings how your data will be processed(OpenAI privacy policy). This way, the user determines what information is stored and whether it is used to improve the model. To do this, follow the following steps:

1. Go to the Privacy page: Open your account settings and select the Privacy Options.
2. Check data usage: See if your data is being used for model enhancement and disable it if desired.
3. Limit personal information: Share as few personal details as possible in your posts.
4. Use an anonymous account: Create a new account without personal information if you prefer to remain anonymous.
5. Update regularly: Check your settings regularly to be aware of any changes.

11 Privacy tips for your smartphone (iOS and Android)

1. Use a password manager

It is common for the same password, which is also easy to guess, to be used for multiple accounts. If a malicious person finds out this password, it is immediately possible to break into the other accounts. To counteract this, you can do the following. When creating an account or changing a password, Safari automatically asks if you want to use a strong password. This password is automatically stored in iCloud. Next time you want to log in to this site, all you have to do is scan your finger or your face. This way, you can set a different strong password for each site. These passwords are automatically synced between all devices logged in with the same Apple ID. Saved passwords can be found on your Mac in the ‘Keychain Access’, or ‘Keychain Access’ application. On your iPhone or iPad, they can be found in “Settings,” and then under “Passwords and Accounts.

2. Check app permissions

For the privacy of your smartphone, it is important to know what sensors and information sources your apps use. For example, a weather app may find it useful to use GPS, but does not necessarily need access to your photos or audio recordings. Therefore, when installing an app, pay attention to what “permissions” are requested. Don’t want this app to be able to see your vacation snapshots or your friends’ addresses? Then follow the following steps to get to your smartphone privacy settings:

Android:

You can change the permissions of your apps afterwards since Android 6.

1. Go to “Settings,” “Apps and notifications,” “Apps permissions.
2. You can now disable access to your contacts, location or calendar, for example.

iOS:

1. Navigate to your “Settings.
2. Scroll down and choose the app whose permissions you want to change.
3. Now customize which features you want the app to have access to.

3. Turn off ad tracking

Android:

1. Open Settings – Tap the cogwheel to go to Settings go to Settings.
2. Go to Google – Scroll down and choose Google.
3. Select Ads – Tap Ads.
4. Enable Unsubscribe from personalized ads – Move the slider to the right to make your ad ID less personal.
5. Reset your ad ID – Tap Reset Ad ID to clear previous collected data and start with a fresh (but anonymous) ad ID.

iOS:

1. Open Settings – Start with the gear icon in your settings.
2. Choose Privacy and Security – Navigate to Privacy and Security.
3. Select Tracking – Here you will see a list of apps that use tracking.
4. Turn off asking permission for tracking – Turn off the slider so that apps no longer ask for tracking permission.
5. Reset your advertising ID – Go to Settings > General > Advertising, and choose “Reset Advertising ID” to continue with a new, impersonal ID.

4. Check AI privacy settings

AI like ChatGPT is smart, but it doesn’t need to know everything about you. Check OpenAI’s privacy settings to determine what they can remember about you. This is how you keep the mystery alive and your privacy protected (OpenAI Privacy Policy, 2024) OpenAI link. Ook is het verstandig niet veel persoonlijke invoer opdrachten te doen met AI, houd de ondersteuning werkgericht.

5. Use app privacy reports

Apple and Android now let you see which apps are snooping around your data like paparazzi. Activate App Privacy Report or Privacy Dashboard, and see if your apps don’t have inappropriate access to your location, for example(Apple Support, 2024; Android Developers Blog, 2024) .

6. Use privacy-friendly search engines

Are you used to using Google for everything? Then try DuckDuckGo or Startpage. In tegenstelling tot Google slaan deze zoekmachines geen zoekgeschiedenis of persoonlijke gegevens op. Dit betekent dat je met een gerust hart kunt zoeken naar barbiepoppen, zonder dat die informatie later voor gepersonaliseerde advertenties wordt gebruikt. DuckDuckGo blokkeert ook actief trackers van derde partijen, zodat je online activiteiten niet op andere sites worden gevolgd, terwijl Startpage je Google-resultaten biedt, maar zonder jouw gegevens door te sturen naar Google zelf.

7. Turn off unnecessary features

Smart AI features such as Siri suggestions and Google Now make your smartphone experience more personal, but it takes more data than you think. For example, Siri analyzes your routines for suggestions, while Google Now sends notifications based on your location and search history. To protect your privacy, you can disable these features.

Steps:

For Siri suggestions:

1. Go to Settings.
2. Open Siri & Search.
3. Disable ‘Suggestions on search’ and ‘Suggestions on access screen’.

For Google Now:

1. Open Settings.
2. Go to Google -> Search, Assistant and Voice.
3. Turn off personalized notifications and suggestions.

8. Managing cookies

Google had announced it would phase out cookies by 2025, now Google has announced it will not do so at all. Many websites still leave cookies on your smartphone, often these are useful because they track the contents of your shopping cart, for example. Only some cookies come from other companies, and these track your browsing habits. This tracking is not good for your privacy. It is therefore wise to delete your cookies once in a while, and this is how you do it:

Delete cookies in Chrome on Android:

1. Open your Chrome browser and click on the 3 dots at the top right.
2. Choose “Settings,” “Privacy,” then “Clear browsing data.
3. Now check at least ‘Cookies and site data’ and click ‘Clear data’.

Delete cookies in Safari on iPhone:

1. Open ‘Settings’ choose ‘Safari’ scroll down and choose ‘Clear history and website data’.
2. Now go to ‘Settings’, ‘Safari’ again and select ‘Advanced’, ‘Website data’ and then press ‘Delete all website data’.

9. Log out of public accounts

Make sure you log out of your Google and Facebook accounts when you’re done. They will otherwise be watching you closely even after you close the browser. Save yourself that extra attention(Meta Privacy Center, 2024).

10. Turn off notification previews

Don’t want everyone to be able to read your messages when your phone is on the table? Turn off notification previews. That way your last chat with “Mom” stays a private affair(Apple Support)

11. Use a VPN

A VPN encrypts your data, especially useful on public Wi-Fi. For example, choose NordVPN to secure your Internet connection and keep out hackers.

Privacy smartphone vs. ThePhoneLab

All these tips & tricks are obviously very useful if you want to be as private as possible on the Internet, but the question is whether you really want this. After all, targeted ads are much more engaging to you than ads you have no association with, for some an ad is very entertaining and for others a waste of time. After mapping out what tech giants know about you with methods, it is important to determine for yourself what you would rather keep to yourself. After reading this blog, do you still have questions about your smartphone privacy, or need help implementing the aforementioned smartphone privacy settings? Then feel free to stop by one of our stores.