Jim Rossman: Don’t be afraid to enable Apple’s Advanced Data Protection

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This week a reader asks, “I would like to know if I should turn on Advanced Data Protection on my iPhone 16Pro? Seems like a lot of ‘scary’ steps so would appreciate your input.”

I like the reader’s take on this – turning on Advanced Data Protection means you are asking Apple to encrypt your iCloud data from end to end. You’ll find this option in Settings/iCloud toward the bottom of the page.

Apple warns you prominently that enabling this “highest level of cloud data security” will mean nobody else -- not even Apple -- can access your data.

Once enabled, your protected data can only be decrypted on your trusted devices.

Advanced Data Protection encrypts your iCloud Backup, Messages, Photos, Notes, Safari bookmarks, voice memos and more.

To enable Advanced Data Protection, you’ll need to do a few things, including setting up two-factor authentication on your Apple account and having a passcode set for your iPhone.

Then you’ll need to set up a recovery contact or create a recovery key.

A recovery contact is just someone you trust who can verify your identity and help you regain access to your account if you ever get locked out.

The recovery contact needs to be someone who has an iOS device with iOS 15 or iPadOS 15 or later, or a Macintosh computer.

The recovery contact won’t have access to your data. If you ever need to use your recovery contact, they will be receiving a code from Apple to pass along to you to unlock your account.

Apple will walk you through setting up your recovery contact when you enable Advanced Data Protection. If you have family members set up in your Apple account, they are good candidates for your recovery contact, but you can choose anyone with their own Apple device.

If you’d rather not set up a recovery contact, you do have the option of creating a recovery key, which is a secret 28-character code that you must provide if you ever lose access to your account.

You use one of your trusted devices signed into your Apple account to set up the recovery code. Apple says you should print a copy or write it down and keep it somewhere safe. You can give a copy to someone you trust.

So, turning on Advanced Data Protection is the best way to keep your data safe, and it does not have to be scary. Just know if you ever lose or forget your password, you’ll be able to get back into your account with a little help from your recovery contact or by producing the saved recovery code.