So, apparently your definition of “certain” sites is what’s euphemistically labeled “adult” content.
But that’s far from the only type of site which, for whatever reason, causes concern to people. For example, in China right now, you probably want to be really careful about visiting sites that feature pictures of people holding up blank pieces of paper, regardless of their state of undress.
There are a few broad categories of things to be concerned about. Going from least- to most-worrisome, we have:
Garden-variety malware. It sounds like this is what you’re worried about. However, iOS is pretty well hardened these days against “in-the-wild” exploits, and Apple is really good about patching vulnerabilities and cleaning up messes. Unless you’re actively doing stuff to your own phone to put it at risk, there’s nothing to worry about. The most likely thing you’d do is jailbreak your own phone; also not uncommon is installing a signing certificate such as what companies legitimately do to distribute their own in-house software. So long as you stick to the Apple Store and use a bit of common sense, you’ll be fine. (Yes, there’s some shady stuff on the Apple Store which Apple should be ashamed of for not keeping out, which is why you still need some common sense.)
User tracking. This is something you should be concerned about — and not just at “certain” sites. If you’ve ever had the disturbing experience of searching for something and then being relentlessly followed by advertisements related to that search, you have a vague idea of what’s at stake. More scary are the stories of, for example, parents of teens being shown advertisements for gifts grandparents should get for new grandbabies not long after the teens have posted on supposedly-private social media. As far as I’m concerned, it doesn’t matter whether what I’m doing online is something I’d be happy to have simulcast on the giant screens in Times Square and Tokyo or if it’s my deepest, darkest secrets; I don’t want anybody to know what I’m doing with my computing devices unless I tell them. The good news, though, is that, as a practical matter, you can first use Safari to turn on private browsing; then “Manage Website Data” to delete everything; and ever after only ever surf the Web that way. Be sure to, every now and again (and more often initially), check “Manage Website Data” to be sure that you didn’t accidentally open a non-private window. Don’t use anything other than Safari to visit Web sites; browsers included in apps don’t respect private browsing (and, of course, the apps themselves don’t even pretend to be private). Again, to emphasize: this is for all your browsing, all day, every day, all the time; not just when you visit “certain” sites.
Third-party surveillance. This would, first and foremost, be your ISP (including phone carrier); secondarily, it would be your ISP’s upstream provider (your ISP’s ISP); and, in many cases (especially China), your government. When using your work’s network, it’s your employer — which should be especially worrisome; Pepsi employees have been fired for being seen holding a Coke bottle and vice-versa. When you’re at the airport on public WiFi, it’s everybody at the terminal. However, if you have the option to turn on iCloud Private Relay, then this is a complete non-issue. Yes, Apple would be able to watch what you’re doing, but you’ve already made the decision to trust them by buying one of their devices in the first place. If you don’t have the option for iCloud Private Relay, then you might be able to use a VPN to the same effect … but use extreme caution. The VPN provider would be able to see everything you do, and, in some jurisdictions (not to pick on China, but …) using something like that can, itself, be a giant red flag. Much more potent than a VPN is the Tor network; with that, your privacy is guaranteed, but you’re also much more likely to draw attention to yourself by using it.
Government surveillance. Pretty much every government is spying on people these days — and not just on their own citizens. Governments have all the same tools that companies do, of course; but private browsing plus iCloud Private relay will foil those. What you need to consider are the tools that governments have that companies don’t. In the States, the most formidable of these is a search warrant. In China, your phone might be seized, searched, and returned with undetectable-to-you spyware. In Japan during the height of pandemic, new arrivals (and, with exceedingly rare exceptions, only Japanese citizens were allowed in) were required to install a location-tracking app and keep it active during a two-week in-home quarantine or face nasty legal consequences. But, in any country, there are perfectly legal resources for the government to hide cameras and microphones in your house, for example. And we know that “Pegasus” is a real thing. And, for that matter, there’s little if anything stopping a corrupt official in any government from sending angry men with rubber hoses to “ask you a few questions,” or worse. I can’t offer you any advice about how to protect yourself from a government, nor on how to figure out how likely it is that you’re a target. The good news is that, in general, governments have very limited resources for the really nasty forms of surveillance and it’s rather unlikely that anybody on MacRumors is valuable enough (to a government) for this kind of “attention.” The bad news, of course, is that even one person at risk creates an intolerable chilling burden on the entire society.
Your family. Chances are outstanding that you live with the people with both the greatest motive and most reachable means to spy on you. They’re also the ones who would hurt you the worst if they betrayed your trust. If your relationships are healthy, keep them that way. If you’re being abused by a family member, seek help and best of luck; you’ll need lots and lots and lots of both. And if you’re abusing a family member, first recognize just how horrible a monster you’ve become, and then seek help to stop. Coming clean will hurt you terribly, but nowhere near as bad as you’re hurting your family. You can’t do anything about the horrible damage you’ve already caused, but at least you can stop making things worse.
Hope this helps and puts some perspective on the matter.
Cheers,
b&
