As part of the keynote delivered by Apple at their annual developer conference, WWDC 2022, the tech giant announced iOS 16, which brings a whole host of new features with it including a new privacy tool called Safety Check. Apple has designed Safety Check to help those suffering from domestic violence and we think it's the best new iOS feature of the lot as it will go on to help save lives.
Apple has stated it has been working with domestic violence organizations, which include National Network to End Domestic Violence, the National Center for Victims of Crime, and WESNET, to design Safety Check. The new privacy tool will help users who are victims of domestic violence by quickly removing all access they’ve granted to others.
In case I was in any way unclear, Apple's Safety Check is a good thing for survivors of intimate partner abuse. One of the most common problems that survivors have when I talk to them is figuring out who has access to their data and how to lock them out.June 6, 2022
In iOS 16, Safety Check allows users to perform an emergency reset that helps users easily sign out of iCloud on all their other devices, reset privacy permissions, and limit messaging to just the device in their hand. Importantly, it disables location tracking permissions that they may have given to a domestic or intimate partner. Safety Check will also help iPhone and Apple device users understand and manage which people and apps they’ve given access to.
"Safety Check helps give control back to survivors."
National Centre for Victims of Crime.
“In times of crisis, for many survivors, it’s important to know who has their information and location. Safety Check helps give control back to survivors,” said the National Centre for Victims of Crime.
Security Check will ship with iOS 16 and also iPadOS 16, watchOS 9, and macOS Ventura, when it’s rolled out in the Autumn.
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