iPhone privacy settings that protect your photos

These are the iPhone settings that change who can see your photos and what your photos give away. Each path below follows Apple’s current iPhone User Guide or support pages. Menu names sometimes move between iOS versions, so if a label looks different on your phone, search for it in Settings.

The checklist at a glance

The sections below explain what each one does and where its limits are.

Decide which apps can see your photo library

Go to Settings > Privacy & Security and tap Photos. Apple shows a list of the apps that requested access, and for Photos you can change the level of access, not just switch it on or off.

For some apps, Apple describes three levels for photos:

• Full access: the app can read your whole library.
• Selected photos only: the app can fetch only the photos you picked. Apple says this applies to every app that uses its photo framework, including apps not updated for it. Photos the app saves itself are added to what it can see.
• Add only: the app can save photos without reading your library.

The wording on screen may differ from these names. The rule of thumb: a photo editor you use for one picture at a time needs selected photos only, and an app that only saves images needs add only.

Since iOS 17, the full-⁠access prompt shows how many photos will be shared and a sample of them, and the system periodically reminds you when an app has full access. When you see that reminder, ask whether the app still needs it.

One more reason to be strict: in Apple’s developer framework, an app with library access can set an option to include hidden photos in what it fetches. Apple’s documentation does not say whether the Hidden album lock blocks this.

Stop photos from recording where you took them

Apple says that when the Camera app has Location Services access, GPS coordinates are embedded in each photo and video. People you share them with may be able to read that location.

• New photos: Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services > Camera, then tap Never. Location is recorded only if Camera has this access.
• One existing photo: open it, tap the Info button, then tap Adjust Info, Adjust Location, and No Location.

Share photos without the extras

Apple’s guide notes that sharing a photo or video includes its metadata, “such as date and time, location, device, and captions.”

• Share without location: select the photos, tap Share, tap Options, and turn off Location. Apple’s Personal Safety guide says “Location Not Included” then shows above the Options button. If you don’t see the toggle on your iOS version, check that guide for the current steps.
• AirDrop: the All Photos Data option sends the original file with edit history and metadata. Leave it off unless the person needs the original.
• Inside other apps: since iOS 17, apps can embed Apple’s photo picker with an Options menu that controls whether captions and location are shared.

Keep other people’s photos out of your library

Apple says photos and videos shared with you in Messages are saved to your photo library automatically. To stop that, go to Settings > Apps > Messages, tap Shared with You, and turn off Photos.

This matters because anything in your library is visible to every app with full access, and it syncs to your other devices if you use iCloud Photos.

Lock the Hidden and Recently Deleted albums

Both collections are locked by default. In Settings > Apps > Photos, keep Use Face ID (or Use Touch ID) and Use Passcode switched on. On the same screen you can turn off Show Hidden Album, so the album does not appear in Photos at all.

Know the limits:

• Apple says these collections unlock with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode. Anyone who knows the passcode can open them.
• With iCloud Photos, a photo hidden on one device is hidden on all your devices, which means it is on all of them.
• Deleted photos stay in Recently Deleted for 30 days before Apple removes them from your iPhone, iCloud and other devices. You can delete them permanently sooner.

Prepare for someone who knows your passcode

Stolen Device Protection (iOS 17.3 or later) is built for a thief who has your phone and your passcode. It must be on before the phone goes missing. Away from familiar places, Apple requires Face ID or Touch ID, with no passcode fallback, for certain actions, including opening a locked app and erasing the phone. At familiar places such as home, the passcode works as usual. In Apple’s steps you can tap Stolen Device Protection and choose Always under Require Security Delay to make it apply everywhere.

Hidden apps are not invisible. Apple lists places where hidden app names can still appear: Settings > Apps > Hidden Apps (behind authentication), Settings > Screen Time, Settings > Battery > Battery Health & Charging, and your App Store purchase history.

Decide on Advanced Data Protection for iCloud

By default, Apple encrypts iCloud data but keeps the keys, so it can decrypt your data on your behalf. With Advanced Data Protection on, Photos and iCloud Backup become end-⁠to-⁠end encrypted, and Apple no longer has the keys to help you recover that data.

Two exceptions to know before you rely on it: Shared Albums are not end-⁠to-⁠end encrypted even with it on, and Apple stopped offering it to new users in the UK (notice dated 22 September 2025). Apple’s support article walks through turning it on.

Before a repair, sale or trade-⁠in

• Never hand over your passcode. Apple says neither Apple nor its Authorized Service Providers will ask for it. For some software support you may be asked to enter it yourself; stay with the device.
• Repair on iOS 27 or later: in Find My, select the device, tap More, tap Repair or Trade In, then tap Enable. On iOS 26 or earlier, Apple says to turn off Find My.
• Back up first. Apple warns a device may come back from service erased.
• Selling: Apple says to turn off Stolen Device Protection, sign out of your Apple Account, then go to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Erase All Content and Settings. Don’t delete photos one by one while signed in to iCloud: that removes them from iCloud and all your devices.

What settings can’t do

Every setting above is tied to your phone’s own lock. If someone knows your passcode, they can open the Hidden album, and at familiar places they can open locked apps too. For photos that must stay private even from someone who knows your passcode, keep them in a separate app that encrypts them with a key of its own.