Apple ID: Tips for protecting the security of your account

Apple takes precautions to safeguard your personal information against loss, theft, and misuse, as well as against unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, and destruction. Apple online services such as the Apple Online Store and iTunes Store use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption on all web pages where personal information is collected.

To help with these precautions, please follow these tips:

• Always sign out if you are purchasing from an untrusted computer or device. 
• Avoid using the same password for multiple online accounts.
• Avoid using passwords that you have used in the past. 
• Your Apple ID account password should be something only you know, and should not be shared with anyone, even family members. 
• Choose a security question and answer that only you know the answer to, and that cannot be easily guessed by someone else. 
• To increase the security of your account, it is best to choose a password that contains at least eight characters and uses a combination of numbers, letters and symbols (for example, @, $ or %).
• Changing your password frequently will help to reduce the chance of someone else gaining access to your Apple ID without your knowledge.You can change your password using iForgot. 

If you suspect that someone knows your Apple ID username and password, change your account password immediately.

When changing your password, your new Apple ID password should:

• Be at least eight characters.
• Contain at least one number (0-9).
• Contain at least one uppercase letter (A-Z).
• Contain at least one lowercase letter (a-z).
• Not contain three consecutive identical characters.
• Not have been used in the past year.
• Not be the same as your Apple ID username.

In addition, if someone can access your email, they may be able to access your Apple ID. Make sure that the password to your email is different from your Apple ID. 

For more information about what an Apple ID is please see the Apple ID Support page here.

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