Spotlight Suggestions Sends Minimum Amount of Data to Apple, Exact Location and IP Addresses Not Collected

[MacRumors]

Following the release of OS X Yosemite with new Spotlight Suggestions, some users noted that Apple's Spotlight privacy policy began offering a warning letting users know that search terms were being uploaded to Apple's servers, with some of the info being forwarded to Microsoft's Bing search engine.

The search terms were being shared with Apple in order to enable Spotlight's new capabilities, which include searching sources like the Mac App Store, Wikipedia, and the web.

When you use Spotlight, your search queries, the Spotlight Suggestions you select, and related usage data will be sent to Apple. Search results found on your Mac will not be sent. If you have Location Services on your Mac turned on, when you make a search query to Spotlight the location of your Mac at that time will be sent to Apple. Searches for common words and phrases will be forwarded from Apple to Microsoft's Bing search engine.

While Apple noted directly within Yosemite's Spotlight preferences that the search terms were collected only to improve Spotlight Searches and directed users to turn off Spotlight Suggestions and Bing Web searches in System Preferences if they didn't want their data uploaded, the issue still received quite a bit of attention over the course of the weekend, with one developer even uploading a Python script to prevent Apple from collecting data.

Apple has now given a statement on Spotlight Suggestions to iMore, stating that the company is "absolutely committed" to protecting user privacy and that Spotlight Suggestions minimizes the information that's sent to Apple.

"We are absolutely committed to protecting our users' privacy and have built privacy right into our products," Apple told iMore. "For Spotlight Suggestions we minimize the amount of information sent to Apple. Apple doesn't retain IP addresses from users' devices. Spotlight blurs the location on the device so it never sends an exact location to Apple. Spotlight doesn't use a persistent identifier, so a user's search history can't be created by Apple or anyone else. Apple devices only use a temporary anonymous session ID for a 15-minute period before the ID is discarded.

"We also worked closely with Microsoft to protect our users' privacy. Apple forwards only commonly searched terms and only city-level location information to Bing. Microsoft does not store search queries or receive users' IP addresses.

"You can also easily opt out of Spotlight Suggestions, Bing or Location Services for Spotlight."

As Apple says in the statement that it gave to iMore, users that are concerned about their data being uploaded to Apple's servers can easily disable the new features by going to System Preferences --> Spotlight and unchecking both the boxes for "Spotlight Suggestions" and "Bing Web Searches."

Along with offering users its privacy policy directly in the System Preferences app under "About Spotlight Suggestions & Privacy," Apple has also updated its iOS 8 Privacy website to make it clear that limited user data is collected and that the data the company does acquire is obscured by an anonymous identifier.

Introduced with iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite, Spotlight Suggestions allow Apple's Spotlight feature to give users search suggestions from sources like Wikipedia, the iTunes Store, and Maps. For example, it's now possible to search for an app in the Mac App Store using Spotlight, or look for a specific term on Wikipedia without needing to access Safari or another web browser.

Article Link: Spotlight Suggestions Sends Minimum Amount of Data to Apple, Exact Location and IP Addresses Not Collected

 

[hobo.hopkins]

Sounds like a lot of worry over a non-issue.

 

[pgiguere1]

When we do ask to use your data, it’s to provide you with a better user experience.

Our business model is very straightforward: We sell great products. We don’t build a profile based on your email content or web browsing habits to sell to advertisers. We don’t “monetize” the information you store on your iPhone or in iCloud. And we don’t read your email or your messages to get information to market to you.

Our software and services are designed to make our devices better. Plain and simple.

That's a business model I like.

 

[Parasprite]

Sounds like a lot of worry over a non-issue.

A "potential" non-issue.

 

[logicstudiouser]

I'll stick with snow leopard & ios 6 thank you.

 

[KALLT]

Still, for all their pomp about privacy lately, they do show a similar behaviour like many others, i.e., enabling features by default, being a little obscure about those features and making the solution easy to overlook. It doesn’t matter to me so much whether Apple is in the business of collecting data or not, but once they do start procuring personal data, they should be frank about it and offer an easy and comprehensible way to opt out.

Of course, the solution is pretty straightforward once you know that Spotlight does this. You just have to uncheck two options in Spotlight preferences. But on the other hand the term ‘Spotlight Suggestions’ isn’t very precise so you need to inform yourself a bit more (which doesn’t seem like a very good practice from a privacy standpoint). Where does Apple inform you about it? In a piece of text under Spotlight preferences, hidden under a separate button.

In addition, Spotlight also transmits your location data whenever you search. To disable this, you actually have to look very carefully: it is within the privacy settings (System Preferences), under location services. There you have to scroll down to an item ‘System Services’ that has a separate but equally obscure button ‘Details…’. Only there can you prevent Spotlight from transmitting your location data.

 

[Chazz08]

People can get a bit too paranoid. What does Apple have to gain from this info? Nothing. On the other hand, Google and Facebook would, since they sell your info as part of their advertising business. I'd much rather have my searches going through Apple's servers and then to Bing rather than directly to Google.

 

[bbeagle]

It's been this way on Google for years.

Type pizza, and you'll get pizza places around you. Hmmmm.... How does that work?

 

[saintforlife]

In other words we are not Google. We are not in the business of collecting people's data.

 

[gavroche]

Anyone worried about this issue should most definitely not be using google. (as opposed to worrying about Apple).

 

[KALLT]

It's been this way on Google for years.

Type pizza, and you'll get pizza places around you. Hmmmm.... How does that work?

If it would at least work for me. It doesn’t give me any localised suggestions. So what is the benefit for me if I transmit my location data to Apple or Bing? There isn’t one.

It is very well possible that you use Spotlight for months or years down the road without ever realising that Spotlight transmits your location data every time. At least with Google Search, or any other web search for that matter, you know that all the data you enter is sent to Google. That’s how a website works after all. Spotlight is not a website, it’s an application that exclusively worked offline before. The nature of Spotlight is also different from Google Search. You wouldn’t use Google Search for your local data, but for very specific web-based queries.

 

[Rogifan]

It's been this way on Google for years.

Type pizza, and you'll get pizza places around you. Hmmmm.... How does that work?

And isn't that how we would want it to work?

 

[Rogifan]

If it would at least work for me. It doesn’t give me any localised suggestions. So what is the benefit for me if I transmit my location data to Apple or Bing? There isn’t one.

It is very well possible that you use Spotlight for months or years down the road without ever realising that Spotlight transmits your location data every time. At least with Google Search, or any other web search for that matter, you know that all the data you enter is sent to Google. That’s how a website works after all. Spotlight is not a website, it’s an application that previously exclusively worked offline.

But spotlight isn't sending an exact location to Apple.

 

[KALLT]

But spotlight isn't sending an exact location to Apple.

So what does that mean exactly? And you still transmit data, potentially unknowing. And we can’t verify what Apple does.

 

[dazz87]

It's been this way on Google for years.

Type pizza, and you'll get pizza places around you. Hmmmm.... How does that work?

So how should it work then?

 

[gavroche]

So how should it work then?

I think what he means is: If you type pizza into the search bar, clearly you want search results for pizza. But for days, weeks, months afterwards.... a significant number of random websites that you visit will have ads related to pizza.
Example: I searched for bamboo flooring on google a few days ago. Half the sites i've been on today had ads on them for bamboo flooring. One even had one of those bamboo stylus pens. lol.
Same thing with your email. If you send an email to a friend talking about some product, google harvests that info, and targets ads. Our business adwords campaign has a particular option whether we wish our ads to be placed on pages based on all that info.

 

[tkermit]

First thing I turned off in Yosemite.

 

[gavroche]

First thing I turned off in Yosemite.

I haven't turned it off, but i deselected half of the things it can search.

Edit: What in the world is the use of spotlight searches including.... conversions, calculator, and my personal favorite... "other"

 

[Ichabod.]

So many Little Snitch popups . . .

 

[ulyssesric]

If it would at least work for me. It doesn’t give me any localised suggestions. So what is the benefit for me if I transmit my location data to Apple or Bing? There isn’t one.

Try to sign-in with your Gmail account and search "Pizza" in Google Chrome. It gives me the exactly feedback of locations of Pizza houses around me in my case.

It is very well possible that you use Spotlight for months or years down the road without ever realising that Spotlight transmits your location data every time.

Whenever your location data is accessed, an arrow will appear on the menubar, and it will stay there for at least 30 seconds or longer. If you have Yosemite installed and you'll know that.

Try not to criticize something you've never tried.

Spotlight is not a website, it’s an application that exclusively worked offline before. The nature of Spotlight is also different from Google Search.

Spotlight IS a web app when it starts to provide search suggestions. You can turn it off though.

You wouldn’t use Google Search for your local data, but for very specific web-based queries.

Yes you can, by installing the Google Search Box system extension.

So what does that mean exactly? And you still transmit data, potentially unknowing. And we can’t verify what Apple does.

Can you verify what Google does ?

 

[MeFromHere]

I haven't turned it off, but i deselected half of the things it can search.

Edit: What in the world is the use of spotlight searches including.... conversions, calculator, and my personal favorite... "other"

Calculator in spotlight is one of my favorites. Type something that looks like a formula, like "73*58+13". Spotlight evaluates the formula as you type, showing the result in the search results. You don't even have to launch the calculator app.

 

[Rigby]

Try to sign-in with your Gmail account and search "Pizza" in Google Chrome. It gives me the exactly feedback of locations of Pizza houses around me in my case.

When I type something into Google, I expect it to be sent to Google. When I type it into a (formerly) local search tool on my computer, I do not.

I think the inclusion of online sources in Spotlight should be an opt-in, not an opt-out. They could show a dialog box the first time you use it.

Whenever your location data is accessed, an arrow will appear on the menubar, and it will stay there for at least 30 seconds or longer. If you have Yosemite installed and you'll know that.

In fact, that is not true for Spotlight Suggestions, unless you have activated the obscure option "Show location icon in menu bar when System Services request your location" which is well hidden in the "Details" under Security&Privacy/Privacy/System Services and is turned off by default.

 

[ulyssesric]

So how should it work then?

Google just associates all your data together. When you open Google Map, your current location is transmitted back to Google so that they can send you map data. And that's how Google gets your habits. So next time you search Pizza, they can provide "suggestions" according to your statistic data. And you'll pay Google if you're the Pizza house owner and you'd wish to have your customers see your name prior to your competitor.

And that means Google knows where you live, where you work, where you shop, where you walking the dog, if you have an Android phone or let Google map refresh in the background on iPhone. Your routine schedule can easily be extracted from statistic data.

If you have no comments about this, then why do you have issues with Apple ?

 

[scottwaugh]

Nice to hear from Apple and I'll turn it off, but frankly I'd be alot happier if they didn't have that iAd division working away….more, focused, data will always look more profitable to a division like that despite good intentions to begin with.

 

[ulyssesric]

In fact, that is not true for Spotlight Suggestions, unless you have activated the obscure option "Show location icon in menu bar when System Services request your location" which is well hidden in the "Details" under Security&Privacy/Privacy/System Services and is turned off by default.

No, it's turned on by default. At least in the official Yosemite release.