Delete this sensitive data on your iPhone before it’s too late

As 2024 draws to a close, it seems like we’re saving the best for last when it comes to data privacy and security warnings. A hidden information store that you don’t want to fall into the wrong hands. You probably don’t even realize it’s there. Yes, there are serious threats out there and users are being asked to adopt “extreme measures” to ensure their safety. But fools can still catch you.

So, is this data so sensitive that it prompted one iPhone user to warn others, “You should check your internet history” after her boyfriend accessed it with a tap? What is this treasure trove? Strangely enough, it’s not location tracking or hidden photos, but the little-used history of your iPhone’s Calculator app.

forbesApple warns iPhone users – don’t change this settingby Zach Doffman

“I never knew this would happen,” one TikTok user wrote under a video posted with the caption “3+8??????” that currently has more than 600,000 views. I commented. Other totals hidden in that pile of data, at least according to the comments below the video, included “3+3,” “1×10, it was a tough day,” and “For me, a math major. , “It’s embarrassing to have 100×2 on your calculator.” ”

Whether it’s true or not, there is an important point here.

Currently, our mobile phones store an extremely large amount and variety of personal data. In fact, it’s hard to imagine not having personal data somewhere on our devices. Devices are easily stolen, picked up by partners, children, and colleagues, and are under constant attack through phishing, smishing, and other nefarious schemes to steal data. On the way to other more material benefits.

This week we had a more serious iPhone privacy topic. It’s a new Apple Intelligence feature that shares user photo details that have been hashed and anonymized to match them to landmarks. The blog post that sparked the media coverage reads, “This morning, while digging through the settings of a number of apps on my iPhone, I discovered a new setting for Photos that is enabled by default: Enhanced Visual Search.” I warned.

Apple explains: “Enhanced visual search for photos lets you search for photos using landmarks and points of interest. Your device stores locations in photos in a private and global index maintained by Apple on our servers. It uses homomorphic encryption and differential privacy, and uses an OHTTP relay that hides your IP address so Apple can’t see your photos.

This is complicated, as original blogger Jeff Johnson commented: “The technical details of Apple’s blog post are almost incomprehensible. I have no way to personally assess the health of Apple’s implementation of Enhanced Visual Search.” But simply put, the photo itself is not shared; It is analyzed on-device to segment the parts of interest and returned encrypted and masked before being matched centrally. If it works as claimed, there’s no privacy risk to users given Apple’s focus on privacy cloud computing. But on the face of it, it’s all hard to believe for most users.

“From my own point of view, privacy in computing is simple: If something happens entirely on my computer, it’s private, but if my computer sends data to the computer’s manufacturer. , it’s not private. At least not private,” Johnson commented. Completely private. Therefore, the only way to guarantee computing privacy is to not send any data from your device. ”

forbesGoogle’s Gmail upgrade — why you need a new email address in 2025by Zach Doffman

Apple explains, “You can turn off Enhanced Visual Search at any time by going to Settings > Apps > Photos on your iOS or iPadOS device.” On Mac, open (Photos) and go to (Settings) > (General). ”For more sensitive calculator history, it is easier to delete it. Tap the menu hamburger in the top left of the Calculator app, then tap “Clear – Clear history.”