>In the meantime, Apple continues to work with ad tech vendors it trusts — or rather, those with stated policies it approves of — particularly when it comes to a cornerstone of the iPhone maker’s brand: user privacy.
>However, a key question remains: how will Apple ensure user privacy as its ad ambitions expose the iOS ecosystem to a sector of the media landscape with a chequered record when it comes to a cornerstone of its brand promise?
>Earlier this year, it unveiled a tool it will use to police user privacy in the guise of Privacy Manifests (see video above), a measure that many interpreted as Apple’s attempt to (finally) stamp out illicit user-tracking, a.k.a. fingerprinting.
Apple has a vested interest in user privacy and talks about it constantly. Facebook has an interest in selling every piece of information they have about you to the highest bidder and has talked about how stupid users are to give them personal information.
Apple's "privacy" is really privacy from people that are not Apple. Apple has access to location logs via maps and location services, the contents of your photos, iMessage contents, the history of every app usage, etc as the default settings set for most things via iCloud backup, which the vast majority of users leave on. They were almost going to deploy on device scanning that you couldn't opt out of with the few photos that don't end up on iCloud.
All of their devices don't work if they don't constantly phone home to Apple. For the devices to be anywhere near useful, you need an apple id which requires KYC payment methods attached for them or a KYC phone number.
> Apple's "privacy" is really privacy from people that are not Apple.
Sort of, but misleading…
> Apple has access to location logs via maps and location services
There are published policies about how this data gets aggregated+anonymized and then used. Care is taken to ensure data is not linked to individuals.
> The contents of your photos, iMessage contents, the history of every app usage, etc as the default settings set for most things via iCloud backup
Most people want these things backed up. Apple doesn’t just dive through data. Anything that even approaches the description of dealing with user data is carefully vetted. A big difference between Apple and other large tech companies is the internal boundaries for access to any data. It’s strict and limited by design. Apple has fought back against law enforcement for access to personal data or technology to allow governments to carte blanche access devices.
> They were almost going to deploy on device scanning that you couldn't opt out of with the few photos that don't end up on iCloud.
You are referencing the CSAM scanning for known child pornography based on international databases that was tuned for highly unlikely false-positive rates with a small group of reviewers to further reduce any chance of false-positives? Yeah, total travesty… wouldn’t want to do anything about THAT problem. (/s)
You're both right. Apple believes (as do many) that one way to achieve great shareholder profit is to differentiate yourself and perhaps get some pricing power is by truly prioritizing consumer privacy. They're both true.
This is a tired trope. They have a clear interest in user privacy, as evidenced by their actions. You're either just trolling or being intentionally ignorant to the state of the market if you're claiming their only focus is "shareholder profit". Apple isn't Boeing.
>Must be true then. Definitely not marketing.
I mean, there are countless examples. From the default encryption in messages, to the ability to double encrypt icloud backups, to a literal lockdown mode in IOS to protect against nation state actors.
>Nothing you've said suggests any different of Apple.
You've provided absolutely nothing of substance beyond a link where Apple literally states they have hard requirements around user privacy for any advertising partners.
I'm done engaging in the conversation unless you've got something of substance to provide. The low effort one liners don't really have a place on HN.
If you pay attention to the marketing, Google, and Samsung, and Qualcomm, and Sony, and Microsoft make most if not all the same claims. I haven't seen one that operates in a way that can prove it. All have some level of custom silicon involved. All could provide hardware documentation, source code, and installable or transparent keying. Barring the legal agreements between them, of course. I commend Apple for their amazing effort to uniquely ID each individual sensor and storage device in the world and tie it permanently to phone's unique ID, but again, it would be nice if the details of how that worked were published such that folks like Louis Rossmann could repair folks broken phones and laptops.
> The low effort one liners don't really have a place on HN.
Maybe you just didn't think about them long enough.
