“Three years ago, a common human being interested in the privacy policy of a gadget or service it was using was a rare bird,” Matthew Panzarino reports for TechCrunch. “With the revelation that a large amount of the communications and private data of both foreign nationals and native residents of the U.S. were being collected and scrutinized by the government, all of that prototypical fine print came home to roost.”
“Since then, privacy has become a war cry among tech companies, and none so vociferously as Apple. It has amplified a well-aligned stance on user data being owned by the user to global proportions, taking a very public stance whenever possible. And that continues today,” Panzarino reports. “Apple is updating its privacy site with new information about iOS 9 and the latest version of OS X. It’s also expanding the page with additional sections and information about a wide array of Apple services and features provided to users.”
“Privacy is something everyone should care about. But studies continue to indicate that people either aren’t aware of what they’re giving up, or they don’t understand the implications. Part of the reason for this is that the privacy policies of most major corporations (Apple included) are written by lawyers, not by someone whose purpose it is to make the companies policies actually clear to end users,” Panzarino reports. “Apple is blowing that up a bit today by expanding on its privacy page and presenting its policies in clear language, with extensive supporting data.”
Much more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple is drawing a stark line in the sand that Google cannot cross without immolating itself.
SEE ALSO:
Apple selling targeted ads, but their new privacy policies shows they think different about tracking – September 29, 2015
Apple: Hey Siri and Live Photos data stays only on your device to ensure privacy – September 12, 2015
Apple issues iPhone manifesto; blasts Android’s lack of updates, lack of privacy, rampant malware – August 10, 2015
Edward Snowden supports Apple’s stance on customer privacy – June 17, 2015
Mossberg: Apple’s latest product is privacy – June 12, 2015
Apple looks to be building an alternative to the Google-branded, hand-over-your-privacy ‘Internet Experience’ – June 11, 2015
Understanding Apple and privacy – June 8, 2015
Edward Snowden: Apple is a privacy pioneer – June 5, 2015
Edward Snowden’s privacy tips: ‘Get rid of Dropbox,” avoid Facebook and Google – October 13, 2014
Apple CEO Tim Cook ups privacy to new level, takes direct swipe at Google – September 18, 2014
A message from Tim Cook about Apple’s commitment to your privacy – September 18, 2014
Apple will no longer unlock most iPhones, iPads for police, even with search warrants – September 18, 2014
People are funny. It’s hard to get them to care about their freedoms and liberties let alone their privacy. “…people either aren’t aware of what they’re giving up, or they don’t understand the implications…” This is true of almost every situation in which personal information is shared with governments and corporations but if you try to warn folks, their eyes glaze over and they start picturing you with a foil hat.
But let some Chinese people eat dogs, and the TLDR/hashtag generation springs to life.
That’s so racist! Americans aren’t the only people who should get to eat dogs!
People *are* funny.
I work with a guy who preaches privacy with me all day, yet he uses the Chrome browser on his computer, has an Android phone, Googles everything… (Thanks to the good folks here for pointing me to DuckDuckGo.) I called him on it one day, and he said he opts out of everything. While that my work for him, it sets a very poor example for the masses who won’t do that but watch what he uses while hearing him bemoan the evils of private info sharing.
You can’t really “opt out” of Google. If you make a concerted effort, then you can curtail Google’s day-to-day data gathering to some degree. But Google is deep and pervasive in the internet and Google will gradually aggregate and refine your personal data over time and through statistical cross-correlation with other datasets.
You did your best to educate the deluded fool. But we are probably deluded, too, if we believe that we can keep our data out of the hands of Google. Despite our best efforts, it is likely already too late to do much about it.