A privacy protection method for an electronic device, the electronic device comprising a plurality of applications, wherein the method comprises starting face change detection, wherein the face change detection is continuously detecting, in a current unlocking period for unlocking the electronic device and/or at least one of the plurality of applications, whether a face in front of a display of the electronic device changes, and the change of the face in front of the display of the electronic device is specifically that the current face in front of the display of the electronic device does not match a reference face; and after starting the face change detection, and when displaying a first display interface: in response to receiving a new message from a first private application and a result of the face change detection being that the current face changes, displaying a part of content of the new message on the first display interface; and, after displaying the part of content of the new message, continuing to acquire a result of the face change detection, in response to a result of the face change detection being that the current face does not change, displaying all content of the new message on the first display interface, wherein a private application is an application in which a permission of an authorized user is not limited when the application is used, and an unauthorized user is not permitted to use the application or has a limited permission to use the application. starting face change detection, wherein the face change detection is continuously detecting, in a current unlocking period for unlocking the electronic device and/or at least one of the plurality of applications, whether a face in front of a display of the electronic device changes, and the change of the face in front of the display of the electronic device is specifically that the current face in front of the display of the electronic device does not match a reference face; and after starting the face change detection, and when displaying a first display interface: in response to receiving a new message from a first private application and a result of the face change detection being that the current face changes, displaying a part of content of the new message on the first display interface; and, after displaying the part of content of the new message, continuing to acquire a result of the face change detection, in response to a result of the face change detection being that the current face does not change, displaying all content of the new message on the first display interface, wherein a private application is an application in which a permission of an authorized user is not limited when the application is used, and an unauthorized user is not permitted to use the application or has a limited permission to use the application. in response to receiving a new message from a first private application and a result of the face change detection being that the current face changes, displaying a part of content of the new message on the first display interface; and, after displaying the part of content of the new message, continuing to acquire a result of the face change detection, in response to a result of the face change detection being that the current face does not change, displaying all content of the new message on the first display interface, wherein a private application is an application in which a permission of an authorized user is not limited when the application is used, and an unauthorized user is not permitted to use the application or has a limited permission to use the application.