You have a right to privacy. Here’s how to protect it.

The eyes may be the window to your soul, but your iPhone is the peephole into your daily life. Who you contact, which apps you use, which selfies you snap — it’s all right there. So if you care about your privacy, it’s worth taking some simple steps to protect it. Here are seven ways to keep digital snoops at bay.

Pair Touch ID With a Complex Password
If you’re already using your fingerprint to unlock your iPhone, you’re on the right track. (If not, tap Settings >Touch ID & Passcode and add it now.) Here’s another trick: add a complex password to enter each time you power up your phone. (Tap Settings > Touch ID & Passcode, disable Simple Passcode and follow prompts). For a stronger passcode that’s quick to enter, stick to all numbers and aim for up to 12 digits. That won’t stop a dedicated hacker, but it’s tougher for an unwanted onlooker to figure out than a standard 4-digit password.

Nix the Notifications on Your Lock Screen
]Hide your notifications by going to Settings> Notifications and toggling off the Show on Lock Screen slider. Alternately, you can also fine tune this setting so that only certain apps can place notifications on your lock screen using the options right below this setting. You can even block notifications from individual message threads: go into the message, tap the word Details on the upper right hand corner of your screen and slide the Do Not Disturb Button to the left. Voila.

Hide Clandestine Contacts
There’s no built-in setting for hiding individual contacts, but there are some smart workarounds. The simplest way is never to save the person’s name so only their number appears in your recent calls list. To hide all your recent and favorite contacts in the App Switcher – which appears atop your screen when you press the home button twice – tap Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > Contacts > Show in App Switcher and toggle off Phone Favorites and Recent

Deep-Six Secret Texts
This one’s easy – just delete them. Swipe left on the Messages screen to delete entire exchanges at once. If you only want to nix certain parts of a thread, hold your finger on the offending text bubble, tap More when it pops up, select each bubble you want to delete using the check marks at left, then tap the trash icon at the bottom left of your screen.
Read more at http://www.newstoner.com/hide-anything-iphone/