iOS 13 privacy

With Apple releasing the new iPhone 11 and its 13th major release of its mobile operating system, ‘iOS 13 on September 19, 2019’, it is the privacy features of iOS 13 that stole my glance! (as usual) Some general features of the iOS 13 are:

1. The update is applicable only to models of  iPhone 6S and above
2. There is a new optimized battery charging
3. Apps are expected to be launched faster
4. The ‘Do not disturb while driving’ feature detects if you are using public transport and does not turn ‘on’
5. Unknown callers will be sent straight to voicemail
6. Enhanced privacy features

Data gathering:
Like it or not, data is always being gathered about you in the background of all devices and social media forums. All social media giants do this and either we are victims of it unknowingly or knowingly. How do we control the apps and social media giants from snooping on our personal data, our pictures etc? Code the operating system appropriately…and that is exactly what Apple has done!
Giving access to our private data knowingly is one thing – but gathering it without our knowledge is totally another thing! 
As I was testing the new iOS 13 OS from a security standpoint, I was amazed by the intricate way in which privacy has been built into every application in the iPhone device. Be it ‘Contacts’, ‘Calendars’, ‘Photos’, ‘Bluetooth’, ‘Files and Folders’ – privacy can be tuned to everything and makes sure every application asks your explicit permission before accessing the private data on your mobile devices. 

• Camera: There is an explicit disclaimer stating that the pictures and videos that are taken will have other details like where and when they were taken. 
• Contacts: The following picture shows applications that have requested access to your contacts 

       
 
The following picture shows what happens when ‘Whatsapp’ is not given access to ‘My Contacts’:

• Photos: The picture below shows the permissions which have been given to certain application to access the photos on a device

• Files and Folders: Applications that have requested to the files and folders appear here
• Bluetooth: Applications that have requested access to Bluetooth is listed here

     
       The above picture shows an ‘Alert’ when an application like ‘Amazon Alexa’ is trying to access ‘Bluetooth’.
It is nice to see a tech giant using the power of programming and coding in a positive way. It is also nice to see that the whole data gathering process in Apple is much more transparent than other social media giants and we are able to determine whether we would like to share our pictures, location “All the time”, “Once” or “Never”
Maybe, the overall message in the Apple services says it all “Apple services are designed to protect your information and enable you to choose what you share”
With privacy and security being woven to every application of the iOS 13, it is a sure winner!! Maybe the other tech giants will soon follow suit!!
This is the sixth post for #MyFriendAlexa by @Blogchatter. I am taking my blog to the next level with #MyFriendAlexa and #Blogchatter.