Chances are you’ve already made one of the biggest mistakes you should ever make on your iPhone: giving your apps full access to your camera and camera roll. According to a 2021 analysis by Jamf, an Apple device management and security company, these are the two main permissions requested by iOS applications. This means you’ve probably been asked to grant access more times than you can count. When you were first asked to do this, you probably didn’t think twice about it, especially since it’s so common and the app really needs that permission at that time.
But security experts agree that apps should have restricted access to your camera and photo library, and for good reason. Your camera can serve as a spy tool, even if you don’t actively use it in apps. On the other hand, your photos could reveal sensitive personal information. Bad actors can use your face, the faces of your friends and family, and photos of your work documents, receipts, and banking information to collect information about you and disclose it. Some photos may also contain GPS data, which also compromises your location.
That’s why one of the CISA security rules for the iPhone is to disable or at least limit app access to your camera and camera roll. Fortunately, iOS lets you easily change app permissions on your iPhone, even after you’ve enabled them.
How to Disable App Access to Your Camera and Camera Roll
To manage access to apps on your iPhone, here’s what you need to do:
- Launch Settings.
- Open Privacy & Security.
- Go to Photos.
- Scroll through all the apps that have access to your camera roll.
If you find an app that’s not really using your photos, tap it and set Photo Library Access to None. If the app needs your photos for certain functions (for example, Slack to send photos and Canva to edit images), you can switch to Limited Access instead. You’ll be prompted to choose which photos to share with the app, but you can simply close the panel. Then, when you use the app and need a photo from your library, a pop-up will appear. Tap Select more photos and choose the images you want to use.
To access your camera app, follow these steps:
- In Settings, go to Privacy & Security.
- Tap Camera.
- Disable all listed apps.
Unfortunately, there is no way to give the camera app limited access like the Camera Roll. If you ever need your camera – perhaps during a call on Viber or to record a video on TikTok – you can temporarily change this iPhone security setting. Then turn it off again when you’re done.