Summary: Discover the top 5 new iPhone privacy features in iOS 26 — including call screening, Safari protections, and on-device AI. Learn how to enable them in under 5 minutes.

Your Privacy Settings Just Got An Upgrade: Stop Spam and Scams

Whoo hoo! Here we gooooo! New privacy features in in iOS 26 iPhone Update provide the best privacy settings of 2025. If you have an iPhone 11 or newer, it’s a happy day in the privacy world. The iOS 26 update introduces critical new tools to help you block trackers, filter calls, and reclaim your personal data. 

This guide walks you through the top privacy features and how to turn each one on in under 5 minutes.

1 - Safari’s Link Tracking Protection + Fingerprinting Protection

Safari for the win

Your iPhone protects all Safari sessions (not just Private Browsing) from trackers, making it more difficult for advertisers to log user behavior across websites. Advanced Fingerprinting protection limits the ability of advertisers to create unique user profiles based on device characteristics. Say goodbye and good riddance to cross-site tracking and data being passed to third parties.

How to Enable Advanced Tracking and Fingerprint Protection

This feature is enabled by default. Yay! But it doesn’t hurt to double check and know how to find it so you make sure it stays on. 

Settings > Apps > Safari > (scroll to bottom) Advanced > Advanced Tracking and Fingerprinting Protection - toggle on “All Browsing” 

(Click HERE for two Additional Safari Privacy Protection Settings)

2. iPhone Call Screening and Spam Filters

Give me one good reason why I should answer 

Behind the scenes, your iPhone will now silently answer a call and an automated voice will ask the caller to state their name and the reason for the call. The response is transcribed and made available for you to read in real time on the Lock screen. Ignore, swipe to answer or text a reply. Your response is up to you.

Wait. Text a reply? 

Yep. It’s pretty cool. If you type the reply to the transcribed reason for the call, the automated voice will read the typed reply back to the caller. The caller’s response will be sent back as a text message and so forth. 

How to Filter Spam and other Unwanted Calls:

Here’s how to find out the reason for the call before it rings or silence it altogether. 

Settings > Apps > Phone > Screen Unknown Callers >

> Ask Reason for Calling (Calls from unsaved numbers will be asked for more information before iPhone rings)

OR

> Silence (Calls from unsaved numbers will be silenced, sent to voicemail and displayed on Recents list)

3. The Unified Call Menu

Your own personal receptionist

It’s now much easier to silence or filter unknown callers and keep robocalls, phishing or scam calls from sneaking through. The Unified Call Menu is like a receptionist that sorts out all your calls into useful categories: Calls, Missed, Voicemails, Unknown Callers and Spam. See the circle with three lines in it on the upper right hand corner of your iPhone screen to see your menu. 

How to Set up the Unified Call Menu

This is now the default, but you can go back to “Classic” if you want. 

4. Message Filtering and Spam Text Protection

Unwanted texts and spam to the back of the line, please

Consider this feature an email inbox, but for texts. You’ll see the texts of people you want without annoying spam cluttering your feed and threatening your pocketbook. 

No more stressed out impulsive reactions to those “gotcha” texts. You can go through your Spam when you are not in a hurry and less likely to make a decision you regret. The power of sorting text messages can’t be underestimated. In 2024, the FTC reported that Americans lost $470 million to text scams alone.

Tap the circle with three lines in it on the upper right hand corner of your iPhone screen to see how incoming text messages are now categorized as either Messages, Spam or Recently Deleted. You can also filter by Unread.

How to Enable Message Sorting

It’s the default, but you might want to add “Unknown Senders” as a category. 

How to Set Up the Unknown Senders Category

This is an opt-in. It’s an excellent option if you have very few people you want or need to hear from, but not suggested if you use your phone for work and receive a lot of unknown calls you want to take.

Select the circle with three lines> Manage Filtering > slide on Screen Unknown Senders to hide notifications and move them to the Unknown Senders list.

5. On-Device AI for Translation, Calls and More

Mine, and only mine.

When it comes to privacy, Apple set itself apart from its competitors when it anchored Apple Intelligence, it’s AI processing, to an individual's device instead of sending actions to the cloud for processing. Anything sent to a cloud service of any kind can be fair game, so the fact that real-time summarization, call screening, translation and image analysis on an iPhone take place in the privacy of your own device is a big deal. 

What that means specifically for iOS 26 is that the Live Translation feature for phone calls, FaceTime and Messages that translates conversations in real time, now does so on your device where nobody but you and whom your talking with knows what’s been said. 

It also means that Apple will give developers access to it’s on-device foundation model in order to create all kinds of goodies for us in the future that will stay within our individual device. 

Got those settings set? Grab your favorite beverage, sit down, and enjoy a more spam free experience. 

Your iOS 26 Privacy Questions Answered

Still not sure what “fingerprinting” is. Can you explain?

Fingerprinting is when websites and advertisers identify you by the unique collection of your device’s characteristics and settings that, when combined, make your device uniquely identifiable even without cookies or login information.

Um, how do I update my iPhone? 

Go to Settings > General > Software Update > Apple will tell you your current OS and if (and when) you can update.

Is my iPhone is compatible with iOS 26 and which features will it allow?

Check out Apple’s iPhone Guide.

Does this apply to my MacBook? 

iOS is the operating system for your iPhone. Sequoia 15.6.1 is the current operating system for MacBooks and is a whole separate conversation :) 

Privacy is Power. Reclaim it - join the PrivacyMatters2u newsletter

Get the tools you need to protect your privacy

Break Free From Digital Surveillance and Profiling

Stop your phone from spying.

Protect your data.

Reclaim your privacy

A Mission a Day Keeps the Data Mongers Away

Shield Up! Stop the Snoop!

⬆️ Click here ⬆️

Reduce scams, stop data tracking, and take back your peace of mind.

Disclaimer: The above is solely intended for informational purposes and in no way constitutes legal advice or specific recommendations.