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Is there a list of features you want to disable if you care about privacy?

ihsw 11y ago
You can disable the privacy-invading features by removing the battery, at that point they should be offline. To be safe you can also encase the device in a Faraday cage for additional security. I'm not sure if it would be prudent to place it in one of those electro-static baggies for electronics and then in a freezer, but I saw it in a movie once. You can also fashion one of those bags into a hat for your benefit, too.
- teamhappy 11y ago
  I know your joking, but http://killyourphone.com/ http://killyourphone.com/
- coldtea 11y ago
  Not everybody lives as an uninteresting life as you. There are people, including common people, from journalists to clerical workers and what have you, who have been targeted all over the world as dissidents by this or that regime.
Watabou 11y ago
There's a dedicated "Privacy" setting in the Settings app. You could disable everything from there, including some Location Services, even the ones used for system services like Cell Network Search and setting the time zone. Additionally, you can turn off Siri completely under Siri settings. You can also turn off Siri and Bing/Spotlight suggestions under Spotlight settings. iCloud could also be turned off. That said, by turning the above features off, why are you using a smartphone in the first place? Apple has been making great strides in user privacy lately, and I think they genuinely care about our privacy, what with them encrypting everything and not having the keys to decrypt it themselves (so they say). I choose to trust my privacy with Apple. They've given me no reason to doubt them, yet.
- teamhappy 11y ago
  > That said, by turning the above features off, why are you using a smartphone in the first place? Disabling some of the location services, spotlight suggestions, and all that nonsense doesn't really reduce the functionality of the phone.
- Silhouette 11y ago
  That said, by turning the above features off, why are you using a smartphone in the first place? Cheap shot but surprisingly close answer: Because I couldn't find a feature phone with decent build quality any more. Slightly less cheap shot and still remarkably accurate answer: Because almost all I want in a smartphone is the phone itself plus mobile Web access on a usefully large screen. My interest in mobile devices really has very little to do with apps, even less to do with cloud services, and absolutely nothing to do with "digital assistants".
  - freehunter 11y ago
    Oddly enough, I feel the opposite. I can't find a smartphone with decent build quality anymore. The iPhone 5s was the last phone where I thought it both looked and felt good, but it's still so damn fragile. The Lumia 920 was the last device where I felt it was strong enough to withstand a normal level of use without treating it like an expensive hunk of glass and metal. Big screen, I can understand. But build quality... for $700 you can do a lot better in an expensive feature phone than a cheap iPhone.

ihsw 11y ago

You can disable the privacy-invading features by removing the battery, at that point they should be offline. To be safe you can also encase the device in a Faraday cage for additional security. I'm not sure if it would be prudent to place it in one of those electro-static baggies for electronics and then in a freezer, but I saw it in a movie once. You can also fashion one of those bags into a hat for your benefit, too.

teamhappy 11y ago
I know your joking, but http://killyourphone.com/ http://killyourphone.com/
coldtea 11y ago
Not everybody lives as an uninteresting life as you. There are people, including common people, from journalists to clerical workers and what have you, who have been targeted all over the world as dissidents by this or that regime.

Watabou 11y ago

There's a dedicated "Privacy" setting in the Settings app. You could disable everything from there, including some Location Services, even the ones used for system services like Cell Network Search and setting the time zone. Additionally, you can turn off Siri completely under Siri settings. You can also turn off Siri and Bing/Spotlight suggestions under Spotlight settings. iCloud could also be turned off. That said, by turning the above features off, why are you using a smartphone in the first place? Apple has been making great strides in user privacy lately, and I think they genuinely care about our privacy, what with them encrypting everything and not having the keys to decrypt it themselves (so they say). I choose to trust my privacy with Apple. They've given me no reason to doubt them, yet.

teamhappy 11y ago
> That said, by turning the above features off, why are you using a smartphone in the first place? Disabling some of the location services, spotlight suggestions, and all that nonsense doesn't really reduce the functionality of the phone.
Silhouette 11y ago
That said, by turning the above features off, why are you using a smartphone in the first place? Cheap shot but surprisingly close answer: Because I couldn't find a feature phone with decent build quality any more. Slightly less cheap shot and still remarkably accurate answer: Because almost all I want in a smartphone is the phone itself plus mobile Web access on a usefully large screen. My interest in mobile devices really has very little to do with apps, even less to do with cloud services, and absolutely nothing to do with "digital assistants".
- freehunter 11y ago
  Oddly enough, I feel the opposite. I can't find a smartphone with decent build quality anymore. The iPhone 5s was the last phone where I thought it both looked and felt good, but it's still so damn fragile. The Lumia 920 was the last device where I felt it was strong enough to withstand a normal level of use without treating it like an expensive hunk of glass and metal. Big screen, I can understand. But build quality... for $700 you can do a lot better in an expensive feature phone than a cheap iPhone.