• When you use step-by-step help, Apple will collect your device model, serial number, operating system, and country and language settings to provide you with recommendations to help you diagnose and resolve common device issues on your own.
• If you contact Apple Support through step-by-step help, you may choose to share additional information with Apple related to your use of step-by-step help to help an Apple Advisor assist you. This information will be associated with your Apple Account and used to open a support case.

Step-by-step help is designed from the ground up to protect your privacy. We work hard to collect only the data we need to make your experience better. When we collect data, we believe it’s important for you to know what we’re collecting and why we need it, so you can make informed choices.

Self-Service Support

Step-by-step help provides help for common questions and troubleshooting needs. You can access step-by-step help at any time by dialing the Apple Support phone number on your device keypad and tapping the step-by-step help option, by asking Siri for help with resolving an issue with your device, or by navigating to the Tips app. When you use step-by-step help, Apple collects information about your device, including the model, serial number, operating system, and country and language settings in order to recommend content that can help you diagnose and resolve common device issues.

Contacting Apple Support
If you cannot resolve your device issues on your own using step-by-step help, you can choose to connect directly with an Apple Advisor through step-by-step help to get additional support. To facilitate a streamlined handoff from step-by-step help to Apple Support, you can choose to share with information related to your use of step-by-step help and the specific issue you are trying to resolve. The information you choose to share with Apple Support may also be used for fraud detection purposes. The information you can share includes:

• Apple Account data, such as whether you have an Apple Account set up, and the name, email address, phone number, and unique identifier associated with your Apple Account
• Message settings, such as whether iMessage is turned on
• Wi-Fi status, such as whether your Wi-Fi is on and connected
• Bluetooth settings and connected devices, such as whether Bluetooth is on and whether wireless earbuds are connected
• Mail account settings, such as whether you have an email account set up
• Automatic updates settings, such as whether you have automatic updates on
• VPN settings, such as whether your VPN is on and connected
• Software version, and whether a software update is available for your device
• Your interactions from your step-by-step help session, which may include your responses to the troubleshooting questions and the searches you type in to step-by-step help, the actions you took based on step-by-step help suggestions, like opening recommended device settings, and the step-by-step help articles that were suggested to you and that you opened

Data that is sent to Apple may be processed and stored by trusted third-party service providers.

Retention

We retain 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. If you open a support case with Apple Support through step-by-step help, the personal data associated with your support case will be retained for at least eight years or as required by law in your jurisdiction. Additionally, when you open a support case, we may also retain some of your personal data for fraud detection purposes. You can submit an account deletion request via Apple’s Data and Privacy page at privacy.apple.com. If you have questions about how your personal data is used as it relates to step-by-step help, or you would like to reach our Data Protection Officer, you can contact us at www.apple.com/legal/privacy/contact.

Applicable Legal Basis for Processing Personal Data

When you use step-by-step help or connect directly with Apple Advisors through step-by-step help, Apple processes your personal data as necessary to provide you with recommendations for device-specific troubleshooting support, and to comply with our legal obligations. Where consent is the appropriate legal basis, we seek it in accordance with applicable law.

Where applicable law provides, we process personal data as necessary for purposes of our legitimate interests or those of a third party in order to prevent fraud and other malicious activity and for security purposes.

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.

2025-12-12