Settings have been carefully designed to put you in control of your data. And you can adjust what information is shared, where you share it, and when it is backed up.

Third-party apps and permissions Apple gives you transparency and control over data that you share with apps. Apps may request access to things such as your location, contacts, calendars, or photos. You’ll receive a prompt with an explanation the first time a third-party app wants to use this data, so you can make an informed decision about granting permission. Even if you grant access once, you can always change it later in Settings.

Location data Sometimes it’s useful for your device to know your location, like when you’re setting up meetings in Calendar or getting directions. Location Services on your device uses a combination of GPS, Bluetooth, and crowd-sourced Wi-Fi hotspots and mobile towers to figure out where you are. Apple gives you control over the collection and use of this location data on all your devices. You have the choice to enable Location Services when you first set up your device — it’s not on by default. And once you turn it on, you can always change your mind and turn it off.

Data and privacy information Data and privacy information screens make it easy to understand how Apple will use your personal information before you sign in or start using new features. When you see the Data and Privacy icon, you’ll find helpful information on what personal data may be shared and how it will be used to improve your experience.

Data and Privacy page To give you more control over your personal information, we provide a set of dedicated privacy management tools on your Data and Privacy page. These tools give you the ability to get a copy of your data, request a correction to your data, deactivate your account, or delete your account.

Analytics If you choose to opt in, your iOS and iPadOS devices can collect analytics about your device and any paired Apple Watch and send it to Apple for analysis. This analysis helps Apple improve products and reduce problems like apps crashing. The collected information does not identify you personally and can be sent to Apple only with your explicit consent. Analytics may include details about hardware and operating system specifications, performance statistics, and data about how you use your devices and applications. When it’s collected, personal data is either not logged at all, removed from reports before they’re sent to Apple, or protected by techniques such as Differential Privacy. The information we gather using Differential Privacy helps us improve our services without compromising individual privacy. For example, this technology improves QuickType and emoji suggestions, as well as Lookup Hints in Notes. We now identify commonly used data types in the Health app and web domains in Safari that cause performance issues. This information will allow us to work with developers to improve your experience without revealing anything about your individual behavior. If you give your explicit consent to share iCloud Analytics, Apple can improve Siri and other intelligent features by analyzing how you use iCloud data from your account, such as text snippets from email messages. Analysis happens only after the data has gone through privacy-enhancing techniques like Differential Privacy so that it cannot be associated with you or your account.

Advertising Apple is committed to delivering advertising in a way that respects your privacy. Ads that are delivered by Apple may appear in the App Store, Apple News, or the Stocks app. Ads in the App Store, Apple News, and Stocks do not access user data from other Apple services like Apple Pay, Maps, Siri, iMessage, and iCloud. They also don’t use data from user devices through services and functions such as the Health app, HomeKit, email, contacts, or call history. In the App Store and Apple News, your search and download history may be used to serve you relevant search ads. In the Apple News and Stocks apps, ads are served based partly on what you read or follow. This includes publishers for whom you’ve enabled notifications and the type of publishing subscription you have. The articles you read are not used to serve targeted ads to you outside these apps, and information collected about what you read is linked to a random identifier rather than your Apple ID. You can always turn on Limit Ad Tracking to stop receiving targeted ads in Apple News, Stocks, and the App Store. You may still receive the same number of ads, but the ads may be less relevant to you.