What does Apple know about me? Here's how to find out

What Apple knows about me is an exciting question. Finally, you give Siri a lot of information and upload photos and documents to iCloud. You have the right to know what data Apple collects from you.

What does Apple know about me? Data protection law requires information

• The data protection law in Germany forces Apple and other companies to provide information about the stored data. This is regulated in §34 of the Federal Data Protection Act. Apple is obliged to disclose the data collected.
• New due to the GDPR: Apple now makes it easier for you to receive your user data. Now you can easily download all the data (see the following paragraph)
• The data can be collected from numerous Apple products: Siri saves your search queries, the iPhone your location, your contacts, iCloud your documents, etc. Officially, this serves to further develop the products. However, Apple creates real user profiles and by now probably knows you better than you know yourself.
• You can submit an inquiry to the company every year and receive a free digital email.

Thanks to GDPR: Download Apple data

1. First you have to go to the "Privacy.Apple.com" page.
2. There, log in with your Apple ID and password. Then answer two security questions.
3. You can then click on "Begin" under "Request copies of your data" and choose which data you would like to receive. We recommend "select all".
4. Next, select the maximum data size: With a fast internet connection, several GB are no problem.
5. Finally, click on the "Complete request" entry.

Request my data from Apple: What does the company know about me?

You can also request data from Apple in the classic way:

1. Open Apple's privacy page and select "Privacy issues."
2. Then you have to enter your contact details and enter a comment about the request.
3. In the comment, write that you would like information about the personal data and that you are relying on the Federal Data Protection Act § 34.
4. After three to four weeks you will receive an answer and several files will be sent to you by email. These contain information about your profile, iCloud, email addresses and more.

Apple: Have personal data deleted

You can have a lot of the data deleted by Apple - that is your right.

• The principle in data protection law is "data economy": A company should only save as much data as is really necessary. In practice, the need for many companies is widely interpreted. You must therefore explicitly request that your data be deleted.
• However, your personal data is not always deleted: In some cases, Apple has to save your data because, for example, according to commercial law, all booking records must be kept for 10 years. This is annoying for data protection - but there is nothing you can do about it.
• You can, however, have all other data deleted by Apple. This is even easier if you have previously deleted your Apple ID. To do this, write to Apple Privacy as described in the instructions above.

Apple doesn't delete data - what can I do?

• In some cases, Apple may refuse to provide data or refuse to delete the data. In these cases you can contact the Federal Data Protection Officer in Berlin.
• This is sent by post to the Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information, Husarenstr. 30, 53117 Bonn or by email to

On the next page we will show you how you can improve data protection on iPhone yourself.