How do I prevent Personal Hotspot from automatically activating whenever a device decides to connect to my phone.

NikD wrote:

Yes, that was my point. When I turn off personal hotspot on my phone I don't want the other devices, which are sharing my apple id, to be able to turn it back on.

That is your issue in a nutshell. Apple IDs are personal. They are not meant to be shared by different people. If you share your Apple ID all sorts of bad things can happen. This is one of the least of them. Get your kids their own Apple IDs, and link then to yours using Family Sharing. See: Family Sharing - Apple Support

My kids now have their own 'child' apple ids so it may not be an issue for me anymore.

Correct.

This does not happen for you any longer. Not sharing Apple IDs, as advocated by Apple, resolved your issue.

I haven’t read all gazillion posts, but I have been having data usage problems on my phone for weeks, and I’ve never had that, ever. We’ve also been having Wifi issues during that same time. Turns out it’s my iPad activating hotspot on my phone when it can’t get Wifi. I’ve tried disable hotspot, forget network, etc. Nothing worked until I went into settings on the iPad, joined the phone hotspot, disabled Autojoin, then Forget this Network. I can still see the hotspot on the iPad, but it does not activate the disabled hotspot on my phone without my knowledge. Which would explain the identical iPads behaving differently. Having said all that, I’m sure everyone here figured this out months ago and I just couldn’t find it. FWIW.

Suppose I temporarily lend my iPad to a friend to make an Amazon order for example. I have a right to expect that mobile data will not get syphoned from the phone in my pocket.

Yes you do.

And if (wisely) you have him use his own Apple ID on your device, this issue will not happen to you. He will require your full knowledge and cooperation to get a wifi connection from your device.

Just as Apple has designed the system to do. To Apple's systems, 2 devices with a common Apple ID belong to the same user.

Would you hand him your wallet to allow him to create an Amazon order?

I haven’t read all gazillion posts, but I have been having data usage problems on my phone for weeks, and I’ve never had that, ever. We’ve also been having Wifi issues during that same time. Turns out it’s my iPad activating hotspot on my phone when it can’t get Wifi. I’ve tried disable hotspot, forget network, etc. Nothing worked until I went into settings on the iPad, joined the phone hotspot, disabled Autojoin, then Forget this Network. I can still see the hotspot on the iPad, but it does not activate the disabled hotspot on my phone without my knowledge. Which would explain the identical iPads behaving differently. Having said all that, I’m sure everyone here figured this out months ago and I just couldn’t find it. Fwiw

Metal_papa wrote:

If this behavior us by design their must be rules that determines which device gets the hotspot role. Any user-readable documentation anwhere?

See the section under Instant Hotspot:

Use Continuity to connect your Mac, iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Apple Watch - Apple Support

I'm amazed at the tone of the replies here. Millions of people let their kids share their own Apple IDs.

Therefore, those millions of people will face the the reality of their actions. If you share an Apple ID, this is the expected and designed behaviour of doing that.

No tone. Reality.

Nobody is passing judgement on your choices. We are simply explaining the consequences of them and offering you the only path for voicing your concerns.

If you do not like this expected behaviour, either stop sharing or provide feedback to the only party who can change this expected behaviour. Apple.

Feedback for Apple goes here >>> http://www.apple.com/feedback/

What you see is if the devices you go there are using your same icloud account. Other devices will not be able to see your hotspot unless you switch the the hotspot in the settings app. If you still interested in not able to see your hotspot on the wifi menu, I think you can try signin out on those devices and create a separate icloud account.

There is a really simple answer - don't share iCloud IDs between devices if you don't want the hotspot to activate.

Yes, if you have two devices signed into the same iTunes account, the hotspot is an available wifi choice even when it is off. If the other device chooses it, it's turned on and left on until someone notices.

Having different Apple IDs on my personal iPhone & iPad is something I haven't explored

If the iPad and iPhone both belong to you, why is it an issue?

Ultimately OFF means OFF not "maybe off".

Not for iCloud Continuity features. This is fully documented. This is not a secret or a conspiracy. This is expected behaviour. It is working as designed.

Use Continuity to connect your Mac, iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Apple Watch - Apple Support

There is no security hole because only devices logged in with the same Apple ID can use this feature. Other devices will not be able to enable the Wi-Fi hotspot on your iPhone remotely.

This is a very convenient feature as you can enable the Wi-Fi hotspot on your iPhone on demand from any of your other Apple devices without having to touch your iPhone. If you are using your MacBook and need to get on the Internet via your iPhone's LTE connection, you can enable your iPhones Wi-Fi hotspot directly from your MacBook without having to take your iPhone out of your bag or your pocket.

iCloud IDs are PERSONAL. You should never share an iCloud ID. If you do, many bad things will happen; this is only one of them. If you control all of the devices on your ICloud ID this will never happen. Personal hotspot never connects automatically; someone must explicitly choose it.

No, it is a SERIOUS security problem because it leaves the hotspot open when the phone goes away. AND this is not a configurable feature. "Take command of another device" is always dubious, but it at least needs to be an opt-in vulnerability.

I know this is an old post but I have just run into this same issue and to stop the personal hotspot from activating in my iPhone 5s connecting automatically to my 7plis after trying numerous things, I found it vanished once I turned off my Bluetooth. Finally . Not a fix per say but it’s not autoconnecting anymore.