Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Protecting the device's IP is the important part since that's usually more static. The idea is that the IP exposed by the VPN can be assigned to a given device only short-term, or even be different on a per-App basis.
I perfectly understand what a VPN does and can do. The point is that you as a user has the option of subscribing to a VPN service or even setting up your own. But expecting Apple to do it on a system wide level for hundreds of millions of users would require an infrastructure on previously unseen levels. It's one of those things that would work in theory but in practice having a single company do it, would be close to impossible.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ohio.emt
I can't believe the number of people blaming Apple for this. This ain't Apple's fault. No matter how they word it or what kind of security they try to build in, if a developer wants to track you, they'll find a way.

Users need to learn to be less trusting of an App just because of what it claims. It would help a great deal if Apple had a built in firewall in iOS. Right now, you can block an app from accessing your data plan to send out info, but they can always go the WiFi route because of no firewall. Even a firewall ain't a perfect solution.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Redsep
But expecting Apple to do it on a system wide level for tens of millions of users would require an infrastructure on previously unseen levels. It's one of those things that would work in theory but in practice having a single company do it, would be close to impossible.

That's under the assumption that the service would be offered to all users free of charge. If it's economically unfeasible to offer it free, offering it as a paid service is still on the table and I'm quite sure there would be enough users interested in an integrated solution willing to pay for it.

Infrastructures with the required capability are not unheard of either: Cloudflare as example would likely be able to deal with it.
 
That's under the assumption that the service would be offered to all users free of charge. If it's economically unfeasible to offer it free, offering it as a paid service is still on the table and I'm quite sure there would be enough users interested in an integrated solution willing to pay for it.

Infrastructures with the required capability are not unheard of either: Cloudflare as example would likely be able to deal with it.
No question that CloudFlare has some serious infrastructure - But the level we're talking about here is well beyond what CloudFlare or any other company is doing today. Again, there is a very easy solution already on the table - Just get a subscription to Tunnelbear or similar VPN.
But keep in mind this isn't a single fix to tracking - The IP address is only a tiny part of what is being used to track users. But using a VPN is absolutely a good idea, which is why I use multiple VPN's.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ohio.emt
Aaaand they just announced "App Privacy Report" and hiding your IP address from sites and apps at WWDC as well as mail tracking prevention and more Safari privacy features.

But yes, please do tell me again how they don't care about privacy! *in my best Dr. Evil voice* "Riiiiiiight".
 
No question that CloudFlare has some serious infrastructure - But the level we're talking about here is well beyond what CloudFlare or any other company is doing today.

Well Apple is apparently doing some small steps in that direction with Mail and Safari.

PS: And their "Relay" feature sounds similar to Tor, although they claim no performance degradation.
 
  • Like
Reactions: mlykke
Well Apple is apparently doing some small steps in that direction with Mail and Safari.
Yeah just saw it. The mail part is only a tiny fraction of the bandwidth. But the Safari feature is a much bigger thing - Quite impressive. I might stand corrected. 😄
 
PS: And their "Relay" feature sounds similar to Tor, although they claim no performance degradation.
Yeah that's quite a claim. To this day I haven't seen a single VPN, Tor or similar relay that doesn't add a delay. But if they can keep it really low, then it would be awesome!
 
  • Like
Reactions: ohio.emt
Yeah that's quite a claim. To this day I haven't seen a single VPN, Tor or similar relay that doesn't add a delay. But if they can keep it really low, then it would be awesome!

Third-party VPN services can be quite performant, but Tor definitely is not. Would be interesting to see the technical details and maybe some real test.
 
  • Like
Reactions: mlykke
That's because of the stupid ambiguous language Apple chose: Ask App Not to Track? Seriously, Apple?

When you "ask" something, it gives the other person a chance to deny your ask. But when your "order" or "demand" something, there's no either or.

Apple, change the language to ALLOW and DENY and tweak permissions accordingly.
That’s not how it works. On the developer’s end, it acts like a deny fo IDFA but it needs to be phrased this way to the user since there is no guarantee that all tracking is totally blocked, unlike location or notifications where Apple have near perfect control.
 
Aaaand they just announced "App Privacy Report" and hiding your IP address from sites and apps at WWDC as well as mail tracking prevention and more Safari privacy features.

But yes, please do tell me again how they don't care about privacy! *in my best Dr. Evil voice* "Riiiiiiight".
These are all included by default right? It’s not in an added subscription cost?
 
These are all included by default right? It’s not in an added subscription cost?
App Privacy Report and Site Privacy Report and mail tracking prevention are in iOS by default

The Private Relay VPN is 99 cents a month. Everything else is in iOS by default as is the improved tracking prevention.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Redsep and dylin
Waiting for the daily "Thats why I trust Apple my privacy blah blah".
The phone OS maker that tries to prevent surveillance and sometimes fails.
versus
The phone OS make that misled/lied about when they weren't tracking you.

Yeah, I trust the former more than the latter.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Redsep
Apple ain’t gonna do ****, this is all just a dog and pony show for customers like us, they would rather get monies from developers which is bigger than customers at the end of the day. Advertising makes the world go round.
 
The phone OS maker that tries to prevent surveillance and sometimes fails.
versus
The phone OS make that misled/lied about when they weren't tracking you.

Yeah, I trust the former more than the latter.

Sure, try disabling the advertising identifier from the "OS maker that tries to prevent surveillance".
 
  • Like
Reactions: MacBH928
I suspect the reason Apple still defaults Google is due to the user experience. Currently their is no other search engine company who has been able to provide a better user experience.
Duck Duck Go provides a better user experience. I've yet to see anyone use any other search engine as their main after using Duck Duck Go for a few minutes. Of the dozens of people I know who know a choice exists, about half of them use Duck Duck Go. The userbase grows by about 60% per year, so I expect that within a year we'll grow from about 50% of "techies" like you and I using DDG to about 80% of them, and by the end of next year we'll be at the point where techies still opting for Google are hard to find.

DDG has already decided to start advertising to push their way from just the early adopters and techies into the general public. Everyone has already used Google, so it's not like people will switch to DDG just because it's advertised for them. That'll just make them aware they have a choice, some will take it for a spin, and those people will never look back.

I got a bit off topic... if Duck Duck Go really did lack a better user experience, Apple could always develop their own search engine, or just acquire DDG and give it whatever improvements Apple thinks it needs.
 
I remember that time when Facebook was so angry at this, then became calmer saying its ok for users to ask not to track. Apparently the way they can track you 🤣🤣
 
  • Like
Reactions: hxlover904
I suspect the reason Apple still defaults Google is due to the user experience. Currently their is no other search engine company who has been able to provide a better user experience.

yes, the most accurate search engine is google. Not only it displays the results you want, even you manage to mis phrase something they actually give you the result you really meant to search for.

This of course comes with a price, the choice is yours.

Duck Duck Go provides a better user experience. I've yet to see anyone use any other search engine as their main after using Duck Duck Go for a few minutes. Of the dozens of people I know who know a choice exists, about half of them use Duck Duck Go. The userbase grows by about 60% per year, so I expect that within a year we'll grow from about 50% of "techies" like you and I using DDG to about 80% of them, and by the end of next year we'll be at the point where techies still opting for Google are hard to find.

DDG has already decided to start advertising to push their way from just the early adopters and techies into the general public. Everyone has already used Google, so it's not like people will switch to DDG just because it's advertised for them. That'll just make them aware they have a choice, some will take it for a spin, and those people will never look back.

I got a bit off topic... if Duck Duck Go really did lack a better user experience, Apple could always develop their own search engine, or just acquire DDG and give it whatever improvements Apple thinks it needs.

DDG is good for general search "Ford Support Forums" and bad for specific search "number of the coffee shop in london on road X" . I use DDG, I won't pay with my privacy for Google's results.

Also DDG is not the only solution, there is also Qwant and StartPage that somehow give you the actual Google results but in a more private manner (They had a deal with them, do not ask me how). Also Brave.com is building a new serach engine. In the end there is also SearX which if interested I suggest you look up.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Redsep
I find DuckDuckGo's Shopping very disappointing. Though it often has quite a number of entries, the filtering is poor.
 
Where were you when you said that? In your home? Do you have any Alexa devices? Any android phones? Were you around your friends who did have social media apps? Where did you get the idea to joke about dog food, did you see it online anywhere recently? There could be many many other factors other than your iPhone is listening
Where were you when you said that? In your home? Do you have any Alexa devices? Any android phones? Were you around your friends who did have social media apps? Where did you get the idea to joke about dog food, did you see it online anywhere recently? There could be many many other factors other than your iPhone is listening to you.
No android or Alexa devices at all. In my home with only my wife. I’ve heard that IP based advertising is now taking hold on the market.
 
Apple's whole privacy stance has always been nonsense.
In your opinion.
If Apple really cared about privacy, they'd stop accepting money from Google and switch the default search engine in Safari to DuckDuckGo.
Why? Do the internet protocols change with a fee from google? And, there is a good possibility people will complain if the default engine is not google. But the fact remains, the default can be changed.
(I think Brave might use DDG by default... are there any other browsers that do that?)

Apple's insistence on charging devs $99/year and taking a 30% cut is why tracking is so pervasive now.
Opinion or fact? If daft, citation please.
There's a ton of free software on Windows, macOS, and Linux with absolutely no strings or tracking attached. Because those apps can be developed and distributed for free.
Linux is a niche player, so going to forget about that. Windows has its share of app issues and so does macOS, although macOS in the scheme is niche as well.
Since Apple demands to be paid despite the fact that they bring nothing to the table,
That’s flat out wrong.
developers have to find an easy way to get the money.
Factual conclusion can’t be drawn from an opinion.
They turn to this tracking that Apple pretends to despise so much.
Can you prove apple “pretends” to “despise” tracking. Or is this another bad opinion?
(If Apple really has an issue with it, Apple's issue is that developers are opting to use a third party ad network instead of charging users directly for the app, where Apple would be able to take a 30% cut, vs advertising where Apple doesn't get a cut beyond the $99/year dev fees they charge, which disproportionately are shouldered by smaller devs.)
Citation?
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.