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

[Tech198]

So, does this mean users will freak out now ?

Hasan't Apple already been doing this, just not notifying the user about search suggestions ?

If so, then it would make sense, and proves i'm right, that if users are told something they don't like, everyone will have issues.. However if they're never told what's going on 'behind the scenes' then users won't worry too much, since u can't worry about something you don't know

iOS8 keyboards a good example of this warning.

I recon this is the same in 10.10. *waits for the flood of shocks*

Either way, it may make us think twice now, we are alerted to this, but will all still use it, just like anything 'privacy related''

It may draw attention to us now, but what are we going to do exactly ? Nothing.

 

[Porco]

I feel like every time there's a new version of OS X the thing I have to do the most is turn off all the stuff I never wanted in an effort to get it as close to back to how I had it before.

 

[catplusplus]

IP address + search query is not "minimum data"

This is well within NSA's definition of metadata and can be combined with ISP logs to determine who has suspicious files on their hard drives. There is no need for me to be sending that to Apple when the actual query is handled by Bing. If I lived in another country, I would expect an option to use a local service that follows the law of the land, not foreign spooks. Since Spotlight didn't used to send searches to the cloud, first time users should see a link to enable this feature and a clear description of what information is collected and who is going to receive it.

 

[x34]

It doesn't actually send your full email address, only the domain name. So if your email is iloveponiesandpandas@seriousbusiness.com, Apple will only see seriousbusiness.com.

The purpose of that feature appears to be one-click configuration of server settings for common email providers, e.g., Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook.com, Aol, etc. Also I don't think that feature is new to Yosemite, I remember setting up Hotmail in Lion and it configured all server settings automatically.

Honestly, I don't see how this is a big deal. Not requiring users to choose between IMAP and POP3, type in separate servers for sending and receiving email, port numbers, authentication and SSL/TLS encryption settings is a very useful feature with minimal privacy impact.
In fact, just connecting to a public wifi with your email client open (even if it's configured to use TLS everywhere) every time leaks as much if not more information than is sent to Apple just once (when setting up the email account).

What I find interesting, if not hypocritical, is when the self-proclaimed privacy aficionados freak out over a non-issue and then open Facebook, Google Maps, play Angry Birds, Candy Crush, use a fitness tracking app or any of over 90% apps on the App Store that send their usage patterns and behaviors to Flurry, Google Analytics, Crashlytics, Localytics, Mobile App Tracking, Fiksu, Chartboost, Crittercism, Mixpanel, RevMob, MoPub, Tapstream, New Relic, Kontagent, AppsFlyer, Apptimize, Amplitude and dozens and dozens of other companies most people have never heard of. That information is then processed in a "big data"-y way, correlated with online (web browsing history, ad clicks, social networks) and offline data (public records, magazine subscriptions, loyalty schemes, credit reports) and then sold to a highest bidder, or even to criminals directly, see https://krebsonsecurity.com/2014/03...rvice-to-access-200-million-consumer-records/.

"only" the domain name? well, while i appreciate the extra infos you provide on this, honestly i dont think it's a big deal to set up an email account without "apple's help" like this. if you cant set up an email account, then i guess you're lost on a computer anyway.

and you know, then there's those people who don't use facebook and all that crap you've mentioned. and those people dont even use apple's nsa-cloud. now what? fact is apple's behaviour is not acceptable.

 

[inpinotveritas]

Where's the outrage towards the service provides over the NSA-tapped data connections being used to shuttle the data between the phone and apple? Seems like the privacy-prudes are picking the easier target, regardless of true 'societal' benefit.

 

[kd5jos]

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

Not if you're planning to use iTunes you won't. Then there's iCloud (which I'm guessing you're not using either). So no Apple TV either... Hum, maybe now is the time to migrate to Windows? Save yourself the hassle later? Oh wait, yeah Bing and Microsoft...

I have a nice abacus if you are interested.

 

[Tech198]

Apple will only see seriousbusiness.com.

I've love an domain like that.

 

[0000757]

That is not how google works. But nice try with the FUD.

Google doesn't sell nor forward personal information to anyone. Google is an analytics machine that takes your information and calculates data based on that.

GOOGLE knows that you like X and Y, so google then turns and sells X and Y advertisement space. Google serves up the ads to you.

how this works from a sales standpoint. Google knows that out of all their users, X amount like and have searched for product Y. They then tell company B, that they can ensure that Company B's advertising will hit X amount of views and then charge that company accordingly. Google then serves that ad to you.

this FUD that google sells your personal data to other companies is pure BS. it's similar to a lot of the pure BS you get on this site too from people who hate apple.

I'm exaggerating they don't sell your data, but it isn't as safe as it is with other companies.

Facebook though, they do give out (limited amounts) of you data.

 

[Tech198]

....And lets not forget those one who freaked out user questions that Google reads you email, when they go through their ISP

I couldn't really care that much if Apple collects this stuff , since Google does it already when u search.

Apple's just catching up..

 

[iososx]

Use duckduckgo for default search engine.

I have since it's inception years ago. It's great.

Here's a tip for fast access simply enter: ddg.gg

Cheers

 

[NY Guitarist]

I have since it's inception years ago. It's great.

Here's a tip for fast access simply enter: ddg.gg

Cheers

I've got it set up as my default search engine.

 

[Sleepwalker71]

Works fine for me in the UK. Command-space, enter a name of someone reasonably famous, and spotlight shows a short article right there and a link to the wikipedia article. It's not always the first; for musicians it tends to show songs in the iTunes library first.

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So how do you suggest is Spotlight supposed to look for stuff on the Internet without sending out what you are looking for?

Seems that it is localised. Here in Singapore no trace of Wikipedia results. Weird as Wikipedia is not banned in Singapore, lol.

 

[pickaxe]

I have since it's inception years ago. It's great.

That's silly. DuckDuckGo is an American company with servers on US land. They cannot refuse the NSA or FBI if any of those asked them for any kind of user metadata.

The notion that DuckDuckGo is significantly more secure than Google is an illusion.

 

[blackboxxx]

That's silly. DuckDuckGo is an American company with servers on US land. They cannot refuse the NSA or FBI if any of those asked them for any kind of user metadata.

The notion that DuckDuckGo is significantly more secure than Google is an illusion.

DuckDuckGo, unlike Google, doesn't track its users, so it can't give NSA or FBI the data it doesn't have.

 

[ProfessrHenry]

Not collected... along with your finger prints. Yeah, right.

 

[NY Guitarist]

DuckDuckGo, unlike Google, doesn't track its users, so it can't give NSA or FBI the data it doesn't have.

That's my understanding.