Apple and App Developers Sued Over Sharing User Information With Advertisers

[SandynJosh]

Actually, no. I'm for Apple exerting zero control over 3rd party apps. People should be allowed to develop any type of app they please and make it available (a la Cydia).

That said, if Apple is going to play the Morality & Safety Police game, then they should be held responsible for the consequences of their actions (or in this case, inactions).

Thank God you are full of male bovine excrement because I want someone verifying that an app I get from iTunes only does what I expect it should do and not be carrying any hidden malware inside.

Furthermore, it has not been determined that iDevice apps are giving up any personal information... being sued only means that some anonymous lawyers think they can shake Apple down for a settlement.

 

[SandynJosh]

What are people's thoughts, and the class action-lawsuit, on analytics gathering engines such as Flurry?

Because:
1. for some people, the sky is always falling.
2. some people can't read and understand what is really at issue.
3. some people can't read and understand anything.
4. some people can't read.

 

[SandynJosh]

Great post, 100% true.

The reason that Apple users hate Google, believing they're evil is twofold.

Having been brainwashed by uncle Steve, they lack the desire to think for themselves & realize the Google business model has not changed since day one. They rely on adverstising income.

Second is the fact that Steve Jobs is striken with extreme paranoia, and supreme jealousy of Google. So he's declared war, using his minions of fanboys to spread the Apple hate mongering gospel of the church of Apple. The poor souls simply don't realize their being used & abused via Apple Tax.

You stopped your screed just before you started babbling about aliens and government agents in black helicopters. Please, go on, just don't start spiting.

 

[twoodcc]

well if this really is happening, and advertisers can do something with this info, then they should be sued and they should make a change to this.

 

[wirelessmacuser]

You stopped your screed just before you started babbling about aliens and government agents in black helicopters. Please, go on, just don't start spiting.

Nice to see someone has a sense of humor...

Or not?

The truth brings out interesting reactions...

 

[angelneo]

Furthermore, it has not been determined that iDevice apps are giving up any personal information... being sued only means that some anonymous lawyers think they can shake Apple down for a settlement.

Once you start actively using App store, your UDID will start collecting data. Through all these data, they can actually identify your preferences. In a way, you will lose that anonymity. It is compounded by the fact that UDID is very unique as it bound to the hardware (which cost quite a bit) unlike IDs from some other social site. It becomes worse when you start signing up accounts on third party apps.

 

[MacinDoc]

And being able to access the UDID allows the developer to know exactly what about the user, aside from whether the user has downloaded any of the developer's other Apps that also poll for the UDID? An exact count of the number of hairs on the user's head would be a much more personal identifier. Only Apple knows which user has registered the device, and there is no contention that Apple is selling this information. The only other info that can be linked with the UDID is what the user chooses to allow by actively entering that information. Granted, if multiple developers sold this info to a common registry, then that registry could hold information regarding which Apps had been installed from multiple devs, and if such Apps included an online component, when the online component of such Apps had been accessed. There's still no way to link this with any confidential personal data, again unless the user knowingly provides such info to one of the devs. Quite a far cry from a Google search, from which the contents of your search, your browsing history, and your IP address (which, unlike the UDID, provides information about your IP and which city you reside in, and can be used with information you post online to build a profile on you) can all be sold, even though when you first go to Google.com, you are not required to do a privacy acknowledgement before doing a search. If you look at Google's privacy policy, you will note that not only does Google store info about your IP and cookies, but it also allows third parties to access this information. Furthermore, it does not anonymize this information for up to 18 months, whereas the UDID is anonymous from day one. The policy states that waiting up to 18 months to anonymize such information provides what the company believes is a reasonable balance between privacy and the provision of services. Why is it reasonable for this information to lack anonymity for any period of time, let alone up to 18 months? Yet we all use Google searches as if they are benign, and criticize Apple for allowing access to information that cannot in any way be linked to us! Now, I am critical of Apple when such criticism is merited, but I am fed up of the ridiculous hypocrisy I have been reading lately on this site from some Google apologists. Google may not be the evil empire, but it's certainly looking out for nobody's interests but its own, and given that its primary sources of revenue are the sale of information collected from its users to third parties and the presentation of (based on browsing history) targeted advertising to users, the company clearly has a conflict of interest between the protection of users' privacy and the company's economic viability.

Once you start actively using App store, your UDID will start collecting data. Through all these data, they can actually identify your preferences. In a way, you will lose that anonymity. It is compounded by the fact that UDID is very unique as it bound to the hardware (which cost quite a bit) unlike IDs from some other social site. It becomes worse when you start signing up accounts on third party apps.

Whether you had at some time installed both Angry Birds and Tap Tap Revolution on your device is a hell of a lot less personal than your IP address and web browsing history, IMO, and far less likely to result in identity theft. Agreed, though, that signing up for third party accounts on a device like an iPhone or iPod Touch has the potential to seriously compromise your security, which is why I refuse to do so. You also have the option with each App to opt out of allowing Location Services to send info regarding your whereabouts to the dev.

 

[kdarling]

Thank God you are full of male bovine excrement because I want someone verifying that an app I get from iTunes only does what I expect it should do and not be carrying any hidden malware inside.

Anybody who actually believes that Apple can positively verify that an app will never steal from you, needs a one phrase lecture from P.T. Barnum.

Without access to the app source code, such vetting is simply impossible.

Furthermore, it has not been determined that iDevice apps are giving up any personal information... being sued only means that some anonymous lawyers think they can shake Apple down for a settlement.

Depends on what you define as personal information, and how much is available from aggregate information collectors.

A key point is whether or not you stay anonymous.

The first post says the lawsuit only claims that "Some apps are also selling additional information to ad networks, including users' location, age, gender, income, ethnicity, sexual orientation and political views"

We already know that Apple supplies advertisers with anonymous information such as your age, sex, maritial status, children or not, and media preferences from iTunes.

We also know that ad-supported apps can and do collect information such as your UDID, iPhone Model, OS Version, jailbreak status, when you use the app, your location if enabled, and possibly Facebook gender, birth month and year.

Now, consider if just one app requires that you sign in with an email address, and passes that on to an information aggregator. That's all it would take to uniquely identify your UDID with you and your preferences. Voila. You are no longer anonymous.

Or let's say your church or social club or school or workplace decides to pay for iAd information about users of its app. If you also sign in, they now know too much about you.

And even if you didn't , many people would not like to be served up with a "Meet guys/gals" ad based on their sexual orientation, while their Mom is looking over their shoulder as you play a game.

So what is the solution? I don't know. There are times I like personalized ads. There are times I do not. I think that I should be able to choose what information is tied to me.

 

[Ries]

00000000-0000-1000-8000-0017G2CD4C39

Okay... so now what do you know about me?????

We know that the owner of the phone with that id has:
Computer(s)
Macbook Pro, Powerbook G3, iMac G5, Apple TV, iPhone4, iPod Mini Gen 2
Biography
Been in the software industry since 1987. Got my first MacPlus in 1986.
Location
In my house.
Occupation
Director of Sales and Marketing, Publishing Software.

Also looking at all your posts, properly will turn up more stuff

 

[tbrinkma]

We know that the owner of the phone with that id has:
Computer(s)
Macbook Pro, Powerbook G3, iMac G5, Apple TV, iPhone4, iPod Mini Gen 2
Biography
Been in the software industry since 1987. Got my first MacPlus in 1986.
Location
In my house.
Occupation
Director of Sales and Marketing, Publishing Software.

Also looking at all your posts, properly will turn up more stuff

And knowing *any* of that has absolutely nothing to do with the UUID he posted. (Which may or may not actually be a real UUID, much less actually his.) You determined all of that from his screen name on this forum. What did you learn about him that you learned from the UUID he posted?

 

[cnp2982]

Better than the alternative

Personally, if I'm going to be bombarded with advertisements either way, I'd rather they at least have some relevance to my life. Just don't tie in a unique identifier. Of course, based on the random **** I run into browsing around on the internet they probably have a pretty "interesting" picture of who I "am."