Tech Expert Reveals The ‘Secret’ iPhone Setting That’s Accessing Your Data: ‘Definitely Recommend Turning This Off’

You may think you’ve been there, done that with all of iPhone’s settings, but few people even know about one setting that could be accessing your data without your knowledge.

Your phone data contains so much personal information about you, including passwords to sites that reveal your banking information, personal IDs, and more. It’s extremely important to keep this data well protected, and one of the ways you can do that is by disabling any setting that makes your data more vulnerable.

Tech Expert Scott Polderman lets us in on a little Apple secret: this “secret” Apple setting was turned on on his phone (and he wasn’t happy about it) — and yours is probably turned on, too. This is the setting that you need to disable ASAP for a more secure device.

Polderman’s discovery began when he clicked on Settings > scrolled down to Privacy and Security > and scrolled down and clicked on Nearby Interactions. Polderman says this setting used to be one that you could turn on and off, but the capability to do so has since been removed and now it appears to simply be a setting that is off. According to Apple: “Nearby Interactions uses Ultra Wideband and Bluetooth to precisely measure the distance between your iPhone and other devices or items.”

Polderman then discovered another setting that he had originally turned off that was now on without his knowledge.

Journaling Suggestions

Despite the fact that Polderman deleted the journaling app from his iPhone, the Journaling Suggestions setting (which can be found under Privacy and Security) was automatically enabled for him, to his surprise. This setting allows “others to detect your are nearby to help prioritize their suggestions.” To prevent your phone from being tracked, Polderman says he would "definitely recommend turning this off."