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Apple is vocal about security and privacy features for its products. With every new iOS update, Apple beefs up the security of the products so users can rest easy. For instance, you must be aware of the Activation Lock if you are an iPhone user. The built-in feature ensures that if anybody else has your device, the phone’s hardware will be useless to them. Thanks to this feature, theft of iPadOS and iOS devices are curbed. While this security feature is excellent, you may forget your credentials and window how to get passed Activation Lock on iPhone. You can bypass it using iCloud or your Apple ID and password.
Your iPhone has terrific privacy and security features that keep your data safe. Here’s a summary of the latest security features iPhone users can enjoy.
Passkeys
Apple is adding Passkeys with iOS 16 and its sister updates. These are designed to replace traditional passwords when logging into an app or website. Passkeys are much more secure and protect users from malware, phishing and other attacks.
Passkeys work through a key system, and while one key is public, the other is private. The first one is stored on the site server, and the second one is kept on the device. The Touch ID, Face ID or biometric authentication is used to authorize the passkey and authenticate the user to an application or website.
When logging into an app or site, the key from the Apple device and the key from the website must match. Since the device key is private, it is only available to the user and cannot be phished, leaked or stolen.
Furthermore, these use iCloud Keychain and leverage two-factor authentication to enhance protection. You can sync passkeys across your Apple devices.
Emergency Reset
Emergency Reset is a one-tap option allowing users to protect their iOS devices. When you tap on this option, the device will instantly stop sharing everything with apps and people. It may include things you might share with people, like home data, location information, photo albums, etc. Moreover, the option allows you to remove all emergency contacts and reset your Apple ID and password.
Hidden and Recently Deleted Photo Albums are Locked
In the iOS 16 Photos application, the Hidden and Recently Deleted albums cannot be opened without biometric authentication through Touch ID, Face ID or a passcode.
Safety Check
Safety Check is a new feature found in the Settings application. The feature is designed to make it easier for users to reset their location and data access that they have granted to other people.
Get to the Safety Check feature by navigating to Settings. Tap on the Privacy and Security section, scroll to Safety Check and choose either the Emergency Reset option or go through the checklist of your data sharing options.
There’s also a Quick Exit button that will take you to your iPhone’s Home Screen.
Manage Sharing
Manage Sharing and Access walkthrough is less of an emergency, allowing users to get an overview of what they are sharing. So, you won’t be tracked secretly or monitored using shared albums, location sharing, etc.
You can see who you share your data with and how those people are accessing your data. You can also see which apps are accessing your data. You can choose the apps or people and select the Stop Sharing option.
Thanks to this feature, you will get a list of all the third-party applications installed on your device and see what data they are accessing. You can disable that access and also go through the permissions given individually.
The feature will even tell you which devices your iCloud account is logged into, so you have the option of logging out. You can reset your Apple ID and password or deactivate Emergency contacts.
Rapid Security Response
Apple can send security updates in iOS 16 without updating the entire system. While iOS 15 required Apple to release updates for the entire system, iOS 16 allows the company to distribute security updates so users can quickly download them and make their devices more secure.
After you have updated to iOS 16, your device will be ready to install security updates automatically. However, the feature might be turned off under General > Software Update > Automatic Updates. You need to enable this option so your device stays updated automatically, and you don’t have to manually update it whenever there’s a new security feature.
With this option enabled, your device will get all the essential improvements faster, which will be applied automatically.
The Bottom Line
Apple is always trying to improve the security of its products for their users. These are some of the security features built-in with your iPhone, and there are more, such as Mail protection, Lockdown Mode, two-factor authentication code generator, etc. Pay attention to the announcements made by Apple to make the most of your device.