Apple Event: May 7th at 7 am PT
There was a post a few years ago that recommended backing up to a PC and it would be removed. It wasn't. A fan boy said something about Google and the conversation ended. No solution though.
How do I get Apple's spy data off of the phone I purchased?
Go to Settings/Privacy/Analytics & Improvements and turn off all of the switches. The phone will still collect data that can be used to troubleshoot problems on the phone but it won’t be sent anywhere.
But note that your precautions do not protect you as much as you think they do, and may lead to a false sense of security. SMS is never end to end encrypted. Voice calls are not end-to-end encrypted. All of your calls are logged by your network provider. Your phone can be intercepted by fake cell sites. VPN doesn’t protect you from your VPN provider collecting data on where you connect. Using public Wi-Fi is also a source of data collection, even if you connect over VPN. Location harvesting cannot be disabled, as your cellular network provider always knows where your phone is, logs that information, and will report it to law enforcement authorities upon request, and most carriers will also sell that information to businesses, along with the numbers you call or text to. The analytics collected on your phone are the least of your worries, because they never leave the phone.
Go to Settings/Privacy/Analytics & Improvements and turn off all of the switches. The phone will still collect data that can be used to troubleshoot problems on the phone but it won’t be sent anywhere.
But note that your precautions do not protect you as much as you think they do, and may lead to a false sense of security. SMS is never end to end encrypted. Voice calls are not end-to-end encrypted. All of your calls are logged by your network provider. Your phone can be intercepted by fake cell sites. VPN doesn’t protect you from your VPN provider collecting data on where you connect. Using public Wi-Fi is also a source of data collection, even if you connect over VPN. Location harvesting cannot be disabled, as your cellular network provider always knows where your phone is, logs that information, and will report it to law enforcement authorities upon request, and most carriers will also sell that information to businesses, along with the numbers you call or text to. The analytics collected on your phone are the least of your worries, because they never leave the phone.
DeuilEtoiles Said:
"Remove Apple Analytics data from my phone: There was a post a few years ago that recommended backing up to a PC and it would be removed. It wasn't. A fan boy said something about Google and the conversation ended. No solution though. How do I get Apple's spy data off of the phone I purchased?"
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Restore to Factory Settings:
Set this Up Anew. If you are so concerned, then reset your iPhone, as if you were to sell it. Perform as interacted here, including the backup: What to do Before you Sell, Give Away, or Trade in your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support
Backing Up Items:
Note that all downloads would be lost. So, make a note of Apps that were downloaded. Also, enable items in iCloud, so that all is backed up. As an example, here is how to backup Contacts...
I. Enable Contacts in iCloud Settings:
Is Contacts enabled in iCloud Settings? If not, then enable it, and see if it pops up. If so, then it is gone amongst all devices associated to your Apple ID. So, to enable it:
A. Enabling on an iPhone:
Enable Contacts in iCloud:
and...
B. Enable on a Mac:
Is Contacts enabled in Apple ID on your Mac? If not, enable it.
Hello TheLittles -
Thank you for the response. Probably it would be helpful to elaborate.
I actually recently bought a new iPhone 12, created a new Apple ID over public Wi-Fi behind a VPN and started fresh with a plan I paid cash for. I have never used the number assigned by the provider - all calls, emails and SMS messages are E2E encrypted. I’ve never used Mail nor Messages nor Safari. All location harvesting has been disabled from day one, along with any other data collection mechanism I can control.
After all of that, I noticed that the analytics data is being collected anew. It seems apparent that, no matter my settings, the data is collected. Looking at the data collected on a friend’s iOS device, I am relieved that substantially less is collected by my phone. However, I would like to delete this data and prevent Apple (not Apple specifically - I feel this way about anyone collecting data from me) from doing… whatever they do with it. Is that possible?
Thank you again.
Thank you for that information regarding data collection, Lawrence.
I’ll agree to disagree about some of the other observations but I think it’s true that reliance on a VPN as some type of magic shield is in error.
Remove Apple Analytics data from my phone
