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A coworker swiped through your private photos: what to do

You handed over your phone and a coworker kept swiping. You cannot undo it, but you can limit what a swipe reaches next time, with Apple's tools and Vault9.

You cannot undo what the coworker saw. You can change what the next swipe reaches. Turn off touch in a Guided Access session before you hand the phone over, and move private photos out of your main library.

Lock the phone to one photo

Guided Access restricts the iPhone to one app for a short time. Set it up once.

  1. Open Settings, tap Accessibility, then tap Guided Access.
  2. Turn on Guided Access and set a passcode. You can also let Face ID or Touch ID end a session.

Then, each time:

  1. Open the photo you want to show.
  2. Triple-click the side button. If a panel appears, tap Guided Access.
  3. Tap Session Settings and turn off Touch. The screen then ignores touches.
  4. Tap Start.

Do not skip step 3. Guided Access keeps the phone in Photos, and without it a person can still swipe to the next photo.

To end the session, triple-click the side button and enter your Guided Access passcode, or use Face ID or Touch ID. On iOS 18 and earlier, double-click instead. Apple says Emergency Services and Crash Detection do not work during a session, so end it first if you need them.

If the photo is the point, you can skip the handover and send it with the Share button.

The Hidden album helps, until someone knows your passcode

Apple locks the Hidden and Recently Deleted collections by default, and Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode unlocks them (Apple: Delete or hide photos and videos). A coworker who swipes through your unlocked phone must pass that check. You can turn the lock off in Settings, Apps, Photos, so check that Use Face ID, Use Touch ID and Use Passcode are still on.

The photos are still in the Photos app on that phone. A person who has your passcode can open the album.

Move the private ones into a vault

A Vault9 vault is encrypted on your iPhone. It opens with your pattern or passphrase and your Secret Key (or Face ID, if you turn it on). Your phone passcode never opens it.

  1. Import the private photos from the Photos app into Vault9.
  2. Open them in Vault9 to check that they are there.
  3. Delete the originals in Photos yourself.
  4. In Photos, open Collections, then Recently Deleted under Utilities. Unlock it, select the photos, tap the More button and choose Delete.

Do step 4, because Photos keeps a deleted photo for 30 days. With iCloud Photos on, a deleted photo is deleted on your other devices too.

Hand the phone over with the app locked. Vault9 does not protect a vault that is open on an unlocked phone. It locks when it goes to the background, after a time without a touch, or when you lock it.

A work phone has its own rules

Check your workplace rules before you install an app or keep private files on a phone from your employer. A work profile can limit what you can install. Personal photos on a work-managed iPhone covers that case.

Sources

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