Users of the iPhone have grown accustomed to Apple taking note of the little details
There was recently a bug discovered in FaceTime, the video chat function used by the Apple Mac, iPhone and iPad. That bug resulted in callers being able to hear and in some cases see what the person they were calling was doing or saying before they picked up.
That bug has been fixed, but what plenty of iPhone users may not be aware of is that your phone has a section deep within it which chronicles other details, namely every location you’ve ever been while in possession of it.
It’s called the Significant Locations list, and it details all the places that you have taken your phone.
The system is in place to, in Apple’s words, “learn places significant to you in order to provide useful location-related information in Maps, Calendar, Photos and more”.
Now while the data collected by this setting isn’t monetised or shared by Apple, it’s likely that the majority of users were not aware of it, which can make people uncomfortable.
Add to this the fact that Significant Locations tallies a minute-by-minute history of places that you’ve been to and it amounts to something which, to be honest, is just a little bit creepy.
Here’s how you find it on your iPhone.
Step 1: Open Settings .
Step 2: Scroll to the Privacy section.
Step 3: Click on Location Services.
Step 4: Scroll to the bottom of the screen and click on System Services.
Step 5: Click on Significant Locations.
You’ll be prompted to enter your pass code or use Touch ID to get into this area, which – if your phone is anything like my phone – had the setting on by default.
At this point you will see a list of locations you’ve been to while using the iPhone. If it bothers you, you can disable it. If not, just keep doing what you do.
