I was reading a very interesting article from the Washington Post and wanted to share it and discuss it with the MacRumors community.
Link to the full article:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/tech...our-iphone-is-talking/?utm_term=.a6c128f74085
My opinion:
I think that the findings are alarming and paint a very creepy world where no App is really trustworthy. Among those sending our private data to trackers, I was particularly surprised to see Yelp, which is an official partner of Apple for Maps. Translation: if you use Apple Maps to make a reservation, you are having your personal data tracked. Among the shared data: email, phone number, exact GPS position, app access, digital fingerprinting etc. A large amount of data is sent overnight, using the background update function of the OS, which appears to be particularly problematic. We are not talking about a few MB, the writer had 1.5GB of data consumed in what is basically spyware.
A big thumb up to the writer, Geoffrey A. Fowler, for acknowledging that his own journal, the Washington Post, is tracking the users of its app. A true journalist.
There is a common perception that Apple devices are safe, that if you use an Android phone, your data will be collected everywhere, but it seems that iPhones are not so different. Your data will be collected by everyone including, ironically, Google. I write this without implying any evil intent from Apple, except bragging about privacy in an add that is simply not true "What happens on your iPhone stays in your iPhone".
Interesting, many of the limitations of iOS are said to be based on the need to protect privacy (sandboxing, no side-loading etc). While one could argue that malicious app developers call for even more restrictions, i think the solution is different and we are completely off.
For my part, I think Apple should have a section, on their website, with a list of apps sharing personal data irresponsibly. They could even go further and have a pop up appearing the first time you open the app (similarly to how they did with 32bit apps during the 64bit transitions). Something like "In the past this app was found to been sharing personal data irresponsibly with third parties". If the app is still sharing, the pop-up could be more aggressive and appear every time, or once per week if every time gets too annoying. As consumer, we should expect better. In the current situation, what Apple says in the ad is just false.
EDIT: i changed fingerprinting in digital fingerprinting. Thanks to NoBoMac for pointing out this.
Link to the full article:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/tech...our-iphone-is-talking/?utm_term=.a6c128f74085
My opinion:
I think that the findings are alarming and paint a very creepy world where no App is really trustworthy. Among those sending our private data to trackers, I was particularly surprised to see Yelp, which is an official partner of Apple for Maps. Translation: if you use Apple Maps to make a reservation, you are having your personal data tracked. Among the shared data: email, phone number, exact GPS position, app access, digital fingerprinting etc. A large amount of data is sent overnight, using the background update function of the OS, which appears to be particularly problematic. We are not talking about a few MB, the writer had 1.5GB of data consumed in what is basically spyware.
A big thumb up to the writer, Geoffrey A. Fowler, for acknowledging that his own journal, the Washington Post, is tracking the users of its app. A true journalist.
There is a common perception that Apple devices are safe, that if you use an Android phone, your data will be collected everywhere, but it seems that iPhones are not so different. Your data will be collected by everyone including, ironically, Google. I write this without implying any evil intent from Apple, except bragging about privacy in an add that is simply not true "What happens on your iPhone stays in your iPhone".
Interesting, many of the limitations of iOS are said to be based on the need to protect privacy (sandboxing, no side-loading etc). While one could argue that malicious app developers call for even more restrictions, i think the solution is different and we are completely off.
For my part, I think Apple should have a section, on their website, with a list of apps sharing personal data irresponsibly. They could even go further and have a pop up appearing the first time you open the app (similarly to how they did with 32bit apps during the 64bit transitions). Something like "In the past this app was found to been sharing personal data irresponsibly with third parties". If the app is still sharing, the pop-up could be more aggressive and appear every time, or once per week if every time gets too annoying. As consumer, we should expect better. In the current situation, what Apple says in the ad is just false.
EDIT: i changed fingerprinting in digital fingerprinting. Thanks to NoBoMac for pointing out this.
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