Summary: So you got a new iPad (or iPhone) as a holiday gift huh? Here's some things that you should do right now to keep your new gadget safe.
Enable Find My iPad immediately
Find My iPad used to be a paid service but it's now free and allows you to locate your iPad (or iPhone) on a map when it's lost - or more likely, misplaced in your house. First, you need to log into your iCloud account or create a new one in Settings > iCloud > Account. Then flip the slider for Find My iPhone in the same area of the Settings app to ON. When panic strikes use a web brower to log into iCloud.com and click the icon for Find My iPhone. Find My iPhone helped one of our employees lcote their phone that has fallen out of their pocket.
There's another critical step you should perform after enabling Find My iPad/iPhone:
”•Settings > General > Restrictions > Enable Restrictions (enter your passcode)
”•Then scroll to Privacy > Location Services and touch Don't Allow Changes
If you don't take this step, a savvy thief that takes your phone before the auto-lock engages can simply turn off Find My iPhone just as fast as you activated it. When Don't Allow Changes is enabled, the Find My iPad section of Settings > iCloud is greyed out and it can't be switched off.
Keep your iPad in a case
The iPad is a thin piece of aluminum and glass that is very expensive and one drop could be fatal. I know that some people hate to cloak their beautiful Apple devices in a case, but if you take your device out of the house, it could save you an expensive ($200+) repair.
Disable ad tracking in iOS 6
While we're on the topic of ad tracking, there's another place that Apple hides a little ad tracking switch. On your iPad or iPhone, navigate to Settings > General > About > Advertising (third from the bottom) and flip "Limit Ad Tracking" to ON. Not exactly intuitive. More information about the setting is available by clicking on the tiny Learn More link at the bottom of the screen.
Turn on Passcode Lock and Auto-Lock
If you leave your iPad in a taxi or on an airplane, anyone can pick it up and look through your email, contacts and photos -- and that's probably the least of your worries. A simple way to avoid unnecessary data exposure is with a Passcode Lock. You can enable it in Settings > General > Passcode Lock. A Passcode Lock is useless if a thief grabs your iPad while it's awake.So I also recommend enabling Auto-Lock which times out your iPad after a defined period of inactivity.
Opt out of interest-based ads from the iAd network
iAd, Apple's mobile advertising platform, displays relevant ads on your iPad based on your interests. If you do not want to receive these ads (or rather, don't like advertisers tracking your interests) you can opt out by accessing http://oo.apple.com/ from Mobile Safari on your iPad or iPhone while logged into your iTunes account. More information can be found in this Apple knowlegebased article
