Your mobile phone stores a wealth of information from photos to financial and location data. There are several settings that you might consider changing to improve the privacy and security of your Android or iPhone.
7 Smartphone Settings To Improve Privacy and Security
Use a strong screen lock
Do not use a simple PIN number such as 1234 or a pattern. These are easy to guess or can be discovered if someone looks at your phone. Choose a longer PIN or password or use a fingerprint scanner to unlock your phone.
Check permissions
Go into the settings of the apps that you use and make sure they do not have access to data that they should not have. For instance, some apps might ask for permission to access your camera or microphone. Some apps that you hardly ever use might have permission to access your phone book or location. If they do not seem to need something, go ahead and remove that permission.
Turn on two-factor authentication
This is an extra security measure. It means that even if someone does get your password, they will still not be able to get into your phone. Two-factor authentication uses a separate code sent to your phone by text message or some other method of communication.
Disable notification preview
When your phone is locked, do not want to show previews of notifications to anyone who might be looking. You can disable having notification previews on your screen or you can customize the setting so that it does not show message content.
Make sure your software is always up-to-date
Software updates usually include important security updates. Make sure that you are getting them by going to the settings on your phone and turning on the automatic update feature.
Limit location access
Be sure that you are not giving access to your location to apps that do not really need it. You can usually make it so that the app has to be open before it can access your location.
Turn on device finding
Make sure that you have feature such as Find My Device for Android or Find My for iPhones. This will allow you to find a phone that has been lost or stolen and it might also be able to wipe out all of your data so that no one can use it.
