Apple has turned on embedded settings for the iPhone. You might want to erase it.

This creepy setup led people to believe that their names and locations were being shared without their knowledge or consent. According to Apple, that’s not the case, but you’re probably better off disabling it anyway.

Last year, Apple released the Journal app as part of iOS 17.2. You can use it to write down personal notes about your day, your life, and what inspires you. You know, it’s like a diary.

You can turn on journaling suggestions. It recommends topics to write about based on what your phone (not Apple) knows about you, such as the music you listen to, the people you call or text, the recent photos you take, and the places you visit. Masu. Decide whether to turn this on. When you first launch the Journal app, you’ll be prompted to do so. These suggestions aren’t shared with Apple.

Here’s where it gets weird.[設定]>[プライバシーとセキュリティ]>[ジャーナリングの提案]If you go to , even if you haven’t enabled suggestions,[他の人が発見可能]You can see that it is enabled by default. Under settings you’ll see “Allow others to detect when you’re nearby to prioritize suggestions.”

ah. Why is this turned on by default when suggestion settings are turned off by default? Does my iPhone automatically notify nearby contacts that I’m there? And when we Would you encourage them to write a diary about what you’re doing together?

I recently heard from someone with a similar problem, so I asked Apple what’s going on.

A company spokesperson said claims on social media that Apple shares your name and location with others are inaccurate. The phone can use her Bluetooth to discover how many nearby devices are in your contacts. It doesn’t store who these particular contacts were around, but instead may use this as context to improve and prioritize journaling suggestions, the spokesperson said. I did.

Here is an example provided by Apple: For example, let’s say you hosted a dinner party at your home with a friend in your contacts. The system knows from the number of people that something was different about that event, so it might prioritize that in its recommendations. It wasn’t just a normal night at home with my family.

When you turn on journaling suggestions, you’ll see another setting called “Prioritize suggestions with other users.” This will prioritize those types of prompts. However, the app does not intentionally specify which “other user” it is referring to. What it cannot do is provide the ability to track other people or devices, or allow others to track you. (That’s what Find My already does, anyway.)

Even if this all makes sense to an avid journaler (I’ve never met one), why does Apple turn on “Discoverable” by default? Why not ask?

A spokesperson said this was done so that users can benefit from this regardless of whether their friends or people around them use the Journal app. Essentially, Apple knows that this new app is unlikely to be used by regular users right away, so they enabled the service to give early users more journaling.

If you don’t want your device to be included in other people’s nearby contacts tally, you can toggle it off. Note that leaving it on won’t tell your friend or girlfriend Apple anything about you personally. If you would like to learn more about this, please see this Apple Support page. Or why not take my journaling suggestion and buy a nice Moleskine notebook.

Email Joanna Stern at joanna.stern@wsj.com.