Photos are a huge potential privacy leak on an iPhone. They contain not only visual information, but also metadata that can reveal, among other things, your location or when the photo was taken. Fortunately, it’s easy to see which apps have access to your photos and even revoke access if necessary. Here̵
First, open “Settings” on your iPhone.
In ‘Settings’, tap ‘Privacy’.
In Privacy, scroll down the list and tap Photos.
After tapping ‘Photos’, you will see a list of installed apps that have requested access to your photos. Next to each is a status that shows one of three options. This is what they mean.
- Selected photos: The app can only access a set of photos that you select manually.
- All pictures: The app can access all photos on your device.
- No: The app cannot access your photos.
To change these settings, tap an app name in the list.
On the app’s details screen, you can change whether or not the specific app you’ve selected can access your photos. Select ‘None’ to completely block access to your photos.
Alternatively, you can choose ‘Selected Photos’ and a popup will appear browsing your photo library.
Tap the photos you want to allow the app to access, then tap Done. Any photos you don’t select are not available in the app.
After that, tap ‘Photos’ in the corner to go back one screen and exit ‘Settings’. The change will take effect immediately. If you ever need to change the setting again, go to Settings> Privacy> Photos.
If you have some free time later on, it might be worth exploring other iPhone privacy settings. You may be surprised at how much control you have in your hands if you take the time to pay attention to the options.
RELATED: How to check and tighten all the privacy settings of your iPhone
