iCloud Private Relay (“Private Relay”) is a new internet privacy service offered as part of an iCloud+ subscription that protects your Safari web browsing, so that no single entity can match you with your internet browsing, not even Apple nor the network provider. Private Relay also encrypts unencrypted traffic leaving your device as well as queries to the Domain Name Server (DNS) — the system that converts websites’ names into Internet Protocol (IP) addresses — further protecting your privacy. Private Relay is available only on iOS, iPadOS, and macOS.

Your internet connection requests are routed through two separate relays operated by different entities. The first knows your IP address, but not the website you are visiting. The second knows the website you are visiting, but not your IP address, instead providing a generalized identity and location to the destination website. In this way, no single entity has the information to identify both you and the sites you visit.

In order to protect your privacy but still allow websites to serve you content within your region, Private Relay calculates an approximate region from the publicly known location of your originating IP address. Your device sends this approximate region information in an encrypted form to the second relay, which uses it to derive a generic IP address that is sent to the ultimate destination. When using Private Relay, you will still be able to search for businesses near you, but websites will see only an IP address that coincides with an approximate regional area and not a particular person. You can disable this location setting and provide less precise location information to websites in iOS and iPadOS by going to Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Private Relay > IP Address Location and tapping to turn on “Use country and time zone”. On Mac, go to System Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Private Relay.

You can disable Private Relay at any time by going to Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Private Relay, then tapping to turn off Private Relay. You can also disable Private Relay for a particular Wi-Fi network at any time on your iOS or iPadOS device by going to Settings > Wi-Fi, tapping the Info button next to your network, and then tapping to turn off iCloud Private Relay. On Mac, go to System Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Private Relay, click Options, then click Turn Off to disable iCloud Private Relay.

Apple retains personal data only for so long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected, including as described in Apple’s Privacy Policy or in our service-specific privacy notices, or as required by law. When assessing retention periods, we first carefully examine whether it is necessary to retain the personal data collected and, if retention is required, work to retain the personal data for the shortest possible period permissible under law.

At all times, information collected by Apple will be treated in accordance with Apple’s Privacy Policy, which can be found at www.apple.com/privacy

Published Date: September 18, 2023