Apple Hit With Class Action Alleging It Tracks Users Despite Privacy Assurances

[Shirasaki]

So how intrusive is the tracking if the data is encrypted?

Apple can decrypt the data (no one knows the actual algorithm they are using to encrypt the data), or at least analyse data in such a way that they still can generate information out of it without knowing what’s actually inside. It’s based on an assumption that same data being encrypted using the same algorithm should generate the same output consistently.

For example, if your usage data has large quantity of visits to luxury brands (safari history or whatever), Apple would know based on known data and encryption output, without actually peeking into what you are doing otherwise. The more data you generate the more accurate Apple knows about you, without knowing exactly what you are doing.

 

[genovelle]

Apple is transparent and honest and I trust them 100%. This kind of opportunism is intolerable.

They are all mostly honest about what they are doing. One of Google’s chairmen once said, “At Google we like to walk right up to the creepy line and TRY not to cross it”. That got no little attention.

Apple is the only one they gets major news coverage for whatever they say or do. I believe some of it revolves around the media’s dependency on google search and ads for revenue. Then even when there is criticism it’s easily buried in search results.

 

[NT1440]

Assuming this has legs (and that’s a big assumption) it would be nice to see what comes out in discovery.

 

[MauiPa]

aggregating anonymized data is tracking? I don't think so

 

[Pilot Jones]

As annoying as this is, for the regular Apple consumer I don't see this as a bad thing.

If this does make it to court, at best Apple will be able to prove that they do actually have great privacy which would finally be good to know for sure. At worst, Apple will try to quietly settle or outright lose and be caught slipping up. At least then we would know what the real deal is.

 

[tomnavratil]

this is the quickest response I’ve ever gotten to a comment, I’m flattered—if you had bothered to click the link I posted:


I figured I would bold the most harrowing part.

I did read the actual research behind it as well as other articles and none of them are clear on what part of terms and conditions or/and privacy policy Apple actually broke if you read it properly.

 

[rpmurray]

Unlikely. My prediction is that it will get settled out of court with NDAs so nobody will know anything.

AGreed, Elliot Libman is just hoping for a quick payday from Apple.

 

[tomnavratil]

and how many read those legal paperworks? Apple should put it under their "Privacy" ads.

Not sure how my comments are funny but that was a genuine question. People are comparing individual data gathering that's used for individual profiling, targeting and/or upselling with anonymized and/or semi-anonymized behavioral analytics that's in most apps and operating systems worldwide. I understand the article is after clicks/views but from a cybersecurity and privacy POV, it would be great to stay on facts actually.

 

[moshind]

Everyone is spying on us, I am so sad there is not even one usable Linux phone out there to protect our privacy.

 

[Wackery]

I agree..... I don't want to be tracked apple, but I love your products...

You seem like the type to turn off every setting and then say, ‘i don’t see what’s so special about these products’

 

[wanha]

Unlikely. My prediction is that it will get settled out of court with NDAs so nobody will know anything.

You may well be right, but I'll be rooting that you're wrong

 

[Davelfc]

If anyone at Apple is enjoying seeing my trips to Sainsbury’s or Costco then great, I’m not narcissistic enough to think anything I do is important enough for Apple or any other company to care about.

 

[akbarali.ch]

I'm pretty sure they collect anonymized data and I'm OK with that. Else how the hell they will improve upon the product/software?

 

[citysnaps]

Probably not gonna stick.
Even if Apple is indeed gathering behavioral data, I’m betting they will be able to show that it’s anonymized, thus legally and morally unobjectionable.

Correct and spot on. And the inferences drawn in the story are mere allegations.

Still, for many, it's pearl-clutching time.

 

[nistromo]

The mentioned Stocks app is powered by Yahoo Finance, you can see its privacy report on the App Store.

 

[jarman92]

Apple doesn't pretend they don't collect this information, and some of it (maybe a lot of it) is essential to making the device function the way we expect it to. Apple frequently talks about how they ensure none of it can be tied back to individual users.

 

[jarman92]

thank God. Apple deserves to be prosecuted for these utterly false and misleading claims. funny how this article showed up on my feed the same day I was talking to a friend about how every megacorp needs their scummy practices brought to light, “including my favorite”…

Yet Another Study Shows Apple’s Hyped Privacy Standards Are Often Empty Theater

For the last few years Apple has worked overtime trying to market itself as a more privacy-focused company. 40-foot billboards of the iPhone with the slogan “Privacy. That’s iPhone” have been a key…

www.techdirt.com

Damn, hyperbolic much?

 

[VulchR]

The mentioned Stocks app is powered by Yahoo Finance, you can see its privacy report on the App Store.View attachment 2112889

Yes, but I think the issue is whether iOS's privacy settings regarding tracking are applied to Apple's own apps. I guess we'll see.

 

[jarman92]

Such privacy from a privacy focused company! 😱

I mean, the entire point of an NDA is privacy...

 

[Wildkraut]

Probably not gonna stick.
Even if Apple is indeed gathering behavioral data, I’m betting they will be able to show that it’s anonymized, thus legally and morally unobjectionable.

Yeah totally... 😏

Apple apologizes for listening to Siri conversations

Apple on Wednesday apologized for listening to Siri requests and said it will instead ask users to opt in to the program, which helps it improve Siri, when it resumes it later this fall.

www.cnbc.com

Apple lets some Big Sur network traffic bypass firewalls

Firewalls are “100% blind” to ~50 Apple apps and processes under undocumented change.

arstechnica.com

Two years on, Apple iOS VPNs still leak IP addresses

Privacy, it's a useful marketing term. *Offer does not apply in China

www.theregister.com

Apple Scraps End-to-End Encryption of iCloud Backups

Reportedly, Apple dropped plan for encrypting backups after FBI complained. Apple’s decision will undoubtedly cause turmoil and will have a number of consequences. In this article, I want to talk about the technical reasons for encrypting or not encrypting cloud backup, and compare Apple’s approach

blog.elcomsoft.com

Apple’s Privacy Mythology Doesn’t Match Reality

The company’s claims cloak threats to millions of users’ iCloud, iMessage, and facial verification data.

www.wired.com

 

[lemonkid]

None of the tech behemoths “sell” your data. They use it to (anonymously) link third parties (advertisers, sellers etc) to those most likely to purchase from them.

If they actually outright sold that data they wouldn’t be the large data gatekeeper companies able to command huge amounts of revenue selling access to their profiles. This is a very common misunderstanding.

Essentially what you’re saying is that Apple (in showing personalised ads for example) is exactly the same as Google, Amazon etc. just that they don’t rely heavily on that business model & thus can claim they are “privacy respecting” (for now).

I did one single Google search to see what would come up. I took only one single result, the first one that came up. I was just curious if data was sold or not. And the result:

NHS sells data

So I am afraid that data selling is a common practise even by the British NHS

 

[alFR]

Yes, but I think the issue is whether iOS's privacy settings regarding tracking are applied to Apple's own apps. I guess we'll see.

A lot of people (including the complainant in the lawsuit, apparently) are conflating first and third-party tracking. What the privacy settings mentioned in the suit do is limit third-party tracking (i.e. the ability for a company to follow your activity across different apps and services and tie those together). Apple doesn't limit first-party tracking at all e.g. Facebook can gather as much data about you as it likes in its mobile app, it just has to tell you about it in the app's privacy label on the App Store and it's then up to you whether you choose to use the app or not. The same standard applies to Apple's own apps (and iOS) which declare exactly what they collect as pointed out earlier in this thread. Is it right they collect that data or not? Up to you to decide, but irrelevant to the lawsuit in question.

 

[Apple_Gabe]

I used to complain to people from seeing the news and reading articles that tech isn't 100% private and people know what I'm doing on it, and my dad used to tell me if you're not doing anything wrong then why are you worried about it? I used to brush off that answer when i was younger, but as I've gotten older I have to agree with it.

 

[tomnavratil]

A lot of people (including the complainant in the lawsuit, apparently) are conflating first and third-party tracking. What the privacy settings mentioned in the suit do is limit third-party tracking (i.e. the ability for a company to follow your activity across different apps and services and tie those together). Apple doesn't limit first-party tracking at all e.g. Facebook can gather as much data about you as it likes in its mobile app, it just has to tell you about it in the app's privacy label on the App Store and it's then up to you whether you choose to use the app or not. The same standard applies to Apple's own apps (and iOS) which declare exactly what they collect as pointed out earlier in this thread. Is it right they collect that data or not? Up to you to decide, but irrelevant to the lawsuit in question.

The issue is - as judged by the comments here as well - people are completely unclear about different methods/ways of tracking, how is the data collected, processed and used as well as how anonymous that data is. That's exactly it, you can see what information is/isn't linked to you by the privacy labels on Apple's apps as well.

 

[CarAnalogy]

I always got the feeling that Apple were no more trustworthy as far as data COLLECTION was concerned than Google or Meta or any other technology behemoth. The only difference with Apple is they like to keep all that information (and the market power that comes with it) to themselves rather than sell it on to whoever waves a large sum of cash in front of them.

To be fair this is exactly what Google does. They don't share the direct information, you can only sell that once. They sell ad access to the sets of users they track. Not that it's a whole lot better but it's not like Google is actually giving your detailed searches to anyone else.

And with Apple's newfound love of ads, I'm starting to not see a whole lot of difference.

But also to be fair, this lawsuit doesn't make a lot of sense. Of course Apple knows who you are, they don’t have to do device fingerprinting. They know what Apple ID is logged in to what Apple devices and those serial numbers and everything.