With the new lawsuit over privacy concerns (Apple Sued of Privacy Rights), securing your private data and phone may be available with the next iOS release, depending on what happens with this lawsuit.
But, if you want to secure your iDevice (iPhone, iPod, iPad) now, there are a few ways to do so.
First, you're iDevice needs to be Jailbroken before you can do this. If you don't know if your device is Jailbroken, look somewhere on your home screen for a brown icon named "Cydia". If you bought your iDevice new and have only used official Apple software releases, it's probably a good bet that your phone isn't jailbroken. I'm not going to get into how to jailbreak your device, Google it and read up on it. If you want more information on what exactly a Jailbreak is, look for my article "Jailbreaking: Is it worth it?"
For Jailbroken iDevices
All the programs that are listed below are available on Cydia.
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| (PrivaCY's menu setting) |
1) Program: PrivaCY
Cost: Free
Available: Cydia Default Sources
Level of Difficulty - Easy
What is does: Allows you to turn off the 4 major built in Usage and Advertisement Statistics. Once installed, it's found in your General Settings.
It's as easy as changing the slider from On to Off. And the nice part is it's one of those "set it and forget it" programs.
By turning these off, it doesn't cause any harmful problems to the phone or applications.
2) Program: Firewall IP
Cost: $1.99
Available: Cydia Default Sources
Level of Difficulty - Medium for normal usage, Advanced for more in-depth configuration
What is does: This program gives you more control on what communication your phone does with the open world. By default. any iDevice has no type of Firewall or Data Blocking software.
With Firewall IP, you can get more control over what can access the internet. You can also control if a program can access the internet if it's not on Wi-Fi, which is nice for users who don't have an unlimited plan.
But, here's where Firewall IP is worth every dime. Most iDevice programs require some sort of connection to the internet at one point or another; and programs and/or games transfer data online without you even knowing. Free programs/games that are ad-based do this a lot more than paid apps.
This is where the program shines. Instead of globally allowing or denying applications to access the internet; you get control over every connection it tries to make. So some games require you to be online to play, so you can allow those connections; but you can block the ad tracking parts.
Once installed and you reboot your iDevice, you will be bombarded with access notifications. Make sure you read what it's trying to access, and what program it is.
This will give you control over that program. Facebook Twitter, App Store, Mail, and other apps will pop up with a lot of notifications when first run.
Take a look at the top web address. If they are advertisements, you will usually see something in the address like "adwhirl", or "adsomething". These are those programs and sites trying to get your information. That's where the "Always Deny" for that page come in handy.
If you're unsure, you can always select "Allow Session", which will allow that to run this time, but the next time you open the program, it will prompt you again.
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| (Program Access Settings) |
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| (SB Settings - Allows you to turn the firewall off and on quickly) |
One of my favorite parts of this program is found in the actual program. In there, you can select the program, and select "block if NOT on WiFi".
This will prevent the selected program from accessing anything when your WiFi is off, or phone is in standby.
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| (UDID with Random UDID's on programs) |
3) Program: UDIDFaker
Cost: Free
Available: Cydia xsellize repo / sinfuliphone repo
Level of Difficulty - Advanced Users Only! Unless you know EXACTLY what you're doing, don't do this. It can cause major problems with iTunes, Apple App Store, mail, online synchronization, and other programs.
What is does: Every iDevice has their own UDID, or Unique Device Identifier, and is different for every device. Think of the iDevice's UDID as it's Social Security Number. This number is assigned to the iDevice when it's built, and can't be changed.
When you connect to Online Games such as Restaurant Story (Team Lava), City Story (Team Lava), Real Racing 2 (Firemint), your UDID is collected and saved on their gaming server. This is convenient if you ever have to reload your iDevice's OS, the game will be relaunched at the previous point because the data is saved on their servers instead of your phone.
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| (UDIDFaker with a Random UDID) |
Even Apple's App Store collects your UDID. That's why when you get a new iDevice and connect to the App Store for the first time on that device, it has you verify your billing information. The UDID you are using is new and Apple doesn't know it's yours until you link it to your iTunes Account).
The problem with your UDID getting out to the unknown world of the internet can be bad. It's linked to that device for it's entire life. If an advertisement firm gets greedy and sells your UDID to spammers (think of e-mail spam pushed right to your phone); who knows what other info they can get from your phone.
This is where the UDIDFaker comes in handy. Once installed, you can go into the program and see a list of all applications installed. From there, you can select the program and click on "Random UDID".
By doing this, you can connect to these games with a totally fake UDID, and not have to worry about those advertising sites getting it. It's kind of hard to do something bad with a UDID that's 100% fake.
(All information listed in above article is written by Skelly's Blog. Unless otherwise stated or noted; the writings above are from Skelly's mind and are based on personal opinions, research completed, and technical knowledge of said article. This information is provided on an As-IS basis, and Skelly's Blog cannot be held responsible for any problems caused by following or otherwise using this information.)
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