Why Apple Takes Your Privacy Seriously – Today and Always

 

Apple has been talking about privacy a lot lately. They created a video on YouTube, discussed it in the latest Apple event, and put up big signs about privacy on iPhones. This contrasts with companies like Google, Facebook, and Amazon, which rarely bring attention to their privacy policies. So why is this such an essential subject for Apple? Now, I'll explain this. Apple's primary reason for caring about privacy is to do the right thing for its customers.

They care about privacy, not just because they're nice, but because it helps them make more money by selling their devices. One of the main things people like about Apple is how they keep things private. They talk about it a lot to show they're better than companies like Google, which collects and sells user data. But Apple has always been serious about privacy.

Listen to what Steve Jobs said back in 2010. Just by how he talked about it, you can see how important privacy was to Apple even more than ten years ago. The example Jobs gave about apps potentially following users was pretty accurate because online stalking has been happening in digital advertising for a long time.

That prompted Apple to implement the App Tracking Transparency feature in iOS 14.5. They even added a feature to prevent stalking with AirTags. But there are more important reasons why tech companies should care about privacy. Think about how our lives have shifted from physical to digital. Most of us don't keep our health records in file cabinets anymore. Our health data is in apps like the health app or third-party apps like MyChart. And our banking info is in apps like PNC or Chase.

You might also have location information in the Find My app, where your friends or family share their location. And remember your personal text chats, work emails, and internet history that almost everyone has on their device. This massive amount of sensitive, personal information has never been in one place before. But with the advent of the smartphone, that's changed. Getting hold of that information is like a giant treasure chest for hackers and bad people. They use it to steal your identity, sell your passwords, or even threaten you by saying they'll reveal your private stuff unless you pay them money. The FBI says this is happening more and more.

While we can only be sure that some of our digital data is entirely safe, Apple has shown that it's more active in safeguarding user data than other companies. Here's an example: the FBI publicly pushed Apple to make a particular version of iOS that could get around a device's passcode and let them access all the stored data. This is a unique request because Apple products, in particular, use encryption whenever they can and avoid using unique device IDs when dealing with data in the cloud. This means that Apple can't access things like your iMessage conversations or iCloud Keychain and hand them over to the FBI if they ask.

This happens because of a thing called 'end-to-end encryption.' It stops anyone except the person sending and receiving from getting at the content. This differs from standard encryption, which a company like Apple can unscramble because they have the secret code. But Apple said no to making the unique software that the FBI wanted. They said that making a key to unlock just one device was impossible. Creating a master key that could unlock all iPhones everywhere would make everyone who uses an Apple device less safe regarding privacy and security.

Apple isn't all praise in this regard. They abandoned their idea to secure their users' iCloud data with end-to-end encryption completely. The reason? They wanted to avoid the bad publicity from repeatedly challenging the US government. A former Apple software engineer explained, 'The legal department stopped the plan to bring in end-to-end encryption for reasons you can guess. They chose not to provoke the situation further.' So, even though no company is flawless, Apple stands out as one of the few tech companies that doesn't profit from users' data.

Companies like Google, Amazon, and Facebook, along with others, earn billions by selling user data to third-party companies and advertisers. Data has become even more valuable than oil worldwide. So, it wouldn't make sense for these companies to support user privacy. This is why Apple is emphasizing its dedication to user privacy.

Apple not only attracts customers by promoting its commitment to safeguarding user privacy but also indirectly questions the motives of its competitors like Google. Google, which generates more than 80% of its income from selling user data, is also the maker of Android, the iPhone's top rival. So, Apple prioritizes privacy due to real concerns about public safety, identity theft, extortion, user tracking, and data trading and because it's good for their business.

Apple earns its money by selling devices, and if it can draw in or keep more customers by offering better privacy protection, it will make more money.

So that is why Apple takes privacy so seriously, I'll see you in the next blog.