Primakov/Shutterstock
We live in a world where protecting your sensitive online information has become more important than ever. Just about every website you visit will leave traces on your computer in the form of cookies and cached content, and trackers can be used to build a profile of a visitor over time. Blocking these trackers will help protect your privacy by keeping these sites from seeing your activity, plus it’ll help cut down on data usage over time and may result in faster browsing speeds.
Luckily, there are more ways than ever to protect your privacy online and see what kind of data websites are gathering. If you have an iPhone or iPad, one way you can do this is with the use of privacy reports in Safari. This handy feature was added with the release of iOS 14, joining the company’s other increasingly robust privacy tools. This isn’t a highly talked about feature, so don’t feel too left out if this is the first you’re hearing about it.
How to access privacy reports in Safari
SlashGear
Like most things concerning Apple devices, getting to your privacy reports on an iPhone or iPad is a pretty easy task. There is no digging to be done nor is there any expert knowledge needed. Everything you need is right there in the mobile browser, and this process works the same for both the iPhone and iPad.
SlashGear
- First, open Safari on your iPhone or iPad.
- Tap the “aA” button located in Safari’s URL bar.
- Now tap Privacy Report in the drop-down menu that appears. This brings up information from the last 30 days of browser activity. You can also see a list of websites that tracked you or attempted to.
- For more information, tap on any of the various websites to see the exact trackers that were blocked from profiling you.
It should be noted that although keeping up with your privacy reports in Safari to see how websites are tracking you is important, it’s not the only thing you should do. There are many other techniques you can use to protect your privacy while using Safari.
What are Safari privacy reports?
Alexey Boldin/Shutterstock
Privacy reports from Safari are pretty straightforward, and they’re one of the many ways Apple helps reassure its users that they can rely on its devices for a safe, private experience. Put simply, anytime you visit a website that tries to track you, Safari compiles the encounter in an easy-to-read format that the user can access with relative ease. These reports offer insight into which websites are trying to track you and may help you avoid problematic websites going forward.
Of course, not all — or even most — of these encounters are sinister. According to Cookie Pro, most sites track visitors to gain insight into their customer base, using the information gathered with trackers to better tailor advertisements to those users. Trackers can also be used to improve website analytics that the business or site’s administrator may find useful, helping them tailor the website to their particular users’ needs.
