When someone else checks or controls your phone
In danger now? Call 911 in the US and Canada, 999 in the UK, or your local emergency number.
If someone checks this phone, the pages you visit can be seen too. When you can, read this page on a phone or computer the other person never uses.
What to do
- Reach a helpline from a phone or computer the other person has never had access to. A trusted friend’s phone or a library computer can work. The numbers are at the end of this page.
- Plan your safety with an advocate before you change settings, apps or passwords. Changes can alert the other person.
- Before you open Apple’s Safety Check, ask an advocate. Safety Check shows who can see your information. Safety Check is in the Settings app, under Privacy & Security.
- If writing things down feels safe, keep a log of what happens, with dates and times, somewhere the other person can’t reach.
- If saving copies feels safe, keep copies of messages, photos and documents somewhere the other person can’t reach, such as with someone you trust.
- If you may go to court, ask an advocate or a lawyer what to keep, and how.
What Underlock does
Underlock can help only on an iPhone that nobody else checks, unlocks or manages. Adding any app is a change the other person may notice, so plan any new app with an advocate first.
- Encrypted on your iPhone. Everything you add is encrypted on your iPhone before it’s saved. We never receive your files, your pattern or your keys, so we can’t open your vault or hand your files over.
- A separate lock. Your vault opens with your own pattern, a shape you draw on a grid of dots, not your iPhone passcode or Face ID.
- Out of your camera roll. Photos you take in Underlock never reach the Photos app, so iCloud Photos doesn’t carry them to other devices.
What Underlock doesn’t solve
- A phone someone else controls isn’t safe for any app. Spyware, hidden software that watches your phone, or a hacked iPhone can see an open vault and the pattern you draw. An advocate can help you plan for a safer phone.
- Underlock can’t stop someone from making you open your vault. Anyone who makes you open your vault sees everything in your vault.
- Changes can be noticed. Moving photos out of the Photos app, or adding a new app, is a change the other person may notice. Plan changes with an advocate.
- Someone with your iPhone can delete Underlock. Deleting the app deletes your vault on this iPhone. The App Store still lists Underlock in your purchases.
- Underlock can’t say what counts as evidence. An advocate or a lawyer can tell you what a court accepts, and how to keep each item.
- Whoever finds your recovery phrase can open your vault. If you use Underlock, you write a recovery phrase of 12 words on paper at setup. Keep that paper somewhere the other person can’t reach, because the 12 words open your vault.