Apple Investigating iOS 17 Bug That’s Resetting Privacy Settings

Apple is reportedly looking into a known iOS 17 bug. Upon the release of the new software, some iPhone users have noticed their privacy settings were reset unknowingly.

Two iOS developers and security researchers, known as Mysk, discovered the iOS 17 bug. According to the duo, it’s said that after installing iOS 17, some users who have ‘Significant Locations’ and ‘iPhone Analytics’ turned off are seeing the settings reset.

🚨PSA: iOS 17 turns these sensitive location options back on. If you have disabled significant locations as well as adding your location information to your iPhone analytics before upgrading to iOS 17, iOS 17 will turn the options on as shown in the screenshot.

While significant… pic.twitter.com/ROVEgPqw08

— Mysk 🇨🇦🇩🇪 (@mysk_co) September 23, 2023

The X (formally Twitter) post gained some traction and seemingly caught the attention of Apple. The Cupertino company has since confirmed with 9to5Mac that it is looking into the matter. Apple has reportedly also stated that the issue at hand should not happen and that the setting should not be reset without the user’s knowledge.

“Significant locations are end-to-end encrypted and cannot be read by Apple,” the company told the outlet. This feature is used to keep track of your most recently visited places and uses that location data for predictive traffic routing, app recommendations, Memories in the Photos app, among other things.”

It appears this issue is only affecting a minimal number of iPhone users. Typically, all settings carry over when updating to iOS 17 without fail. In order to make sure your settings remain untouched, navigate to the ‘Settings’ app, and go to ‘Privacy & Security’. From there, hit ‘Location Services’ and ‘System Service’.

Although some users may overlook these settings, Myst does state that “while significant locations remain local on your iPhone, they can be abused as they record detailed information about the locations you visit frequently.” The account does say that while Apple does prioritize security, “security experts have always advised to turn these two options off.”