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What Does iCloud Private Relay Is Active Mean on iPhone

Key Takeaways
  • Apple’s iCloud Private Relay is a privacy add-on
  • By hiding your IP address and browsing activity, it prevents third-party companies from examining your web browsing routine
  • We’d advise iCloud+ users to keep the Private Relay service enabled on iPhone by default

What Is iCloud Private Relay

Anyone on your local network can glance over the websites you have visited via DNS queries when you browse the web. These companies then build your profile on the internet and track your activities around the web. With iCloud Private Relay, Apple wants to prevent this practice.

Privacy on i Phone

First off, the add-on is only available for iCloud+ subscribers. It silently works in the background and most users won’t even see the effect during working hours or browsing the web.

Whenever you visit a website in the Apple Safari browser, the Private Relay splits your IP address and DNS request. It encrypts your DNS request to an Apple-branded proxy server and sends the encryption keys to the third-party server.

Icloud private relay explainer

Since the DNS request is encrypted, Apple can’t see the website you are trying to visit. The company only has your IP address (approximate location). Instead of sending your IP address to a third-party server, Apple only sends an anonymous IP address linked to your region or city. The third-party server is still getting your whereabouts, but they won’t be able to pinpoint your exact location.

Also See: What Happens When You Disable and Delete Photos from iCloud

How to Turn off iCloud Private Relay Is Active Pop-up

If you are annoyed with iCloud Private Relay is off or active notifications, or if you do not use the Safari browser, it makes sense to disable iCloud Private Relay.

Step 1: Open Settings on iPhone and navigate to your Profile. Here, select iCloud and open the Private Relay menu.

Step 2: Disable Private Relay from the following menu.

Since all your web traffic is transmitted via an Apple-branded server, you will also notice a dip in internet speeds. In that case, you can disable iCloud Private Relay as well. While the service will be disabled on your iPhone, it will remain active on your other devices, such as the Mac or iPad.

Turn off iCloud Private Relay for a Wi-Fi Network

Apple also offers an option to disable iCloud Private Relay for a specific Wi-Fi network. For example, you can keep it disabled at home Wi-Fi network and enable it for public networks.

Step 1: Open the iPhone Settings menu, and go to the Wi-Fi menu. Now, select a Wi-Fi network.

Step 2: Disable Limit IP Address Tracking from the following menu.

See Also: How to Clear iCloud Storage That Is Full on iPhone and iPad

Turn off iCloud Private Relay for Mail

As mentioned earlier, iCloud Private Relay works on Safari and Mail app. You can disable Protect Mail Activity for the Mail app as well. Here’s how.

Step 1: Navigate to Settings > Mail, and open the Privacy Protection menu.

Step 2: Disable the Protect Mail Activity toggle from the following menu.

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Last updated on 30 August, 2024

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