this post was submitted on 02 Nov 2023
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Android

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[–] somegadgetguy@lemdro.id 249 points 1 year ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (8 children)
[–] skuzz@discuss.tchncs.de 8 points 1 year ago

And that's just the last three years!

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[–] TheGrandNagus@lemmy.world 125 points 1 year ago (5 children)

Apple is 100% correct. It's the entire reason Android exists.

Then again, Apple also does a fair bit of data collection. I hate that Apple has been able to market themselves as some kind of bastion of privacy. They aren't.

[–] woelkchen@lemmy.world 49 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Apple is 100% correct. It’s the entire reason Android exists.

Then again, Apple also does a fair bit of data collection. I hate that Apple has been able to market themselves as some kind of bastion of privacy. They aren’t.

So Apple is not 100% correct. They are 50% correct because the second half of their claim is that Apple is somehow different and not tracking its users...

[–] Jolteon@lemmy.zip 11 points 1 year ago

When the pot calls the kettle black, it is technically correct.

[–] skuzz@discuss.tchncs.de 16 points 1 year ago

Actually, the reason Android exists isn't so one-dimensional.

  • The company Android was initially concerned more with Microsoft dominating phones like they did computers at the time, before being bought by Google
  • They created two prototype chains initially, one touch, one that was more akin to BlackBerry
  • iPhone came out, they ditched the BlackBerry-esque one and focused on what became now Android

Google was mostly just doing what all tech companies were doing at the time, trying to compete in a mobile arms race for dominance. The data tracking was just a bonus. Appeasing shareholders is paramount. Look at how Apple created an Alexa speaker just because they had to as another example of this type of behavior.

Also, Apple actually has a long history of tracking user behavior that predates both Android and the iPhone.

Apple apps since some time shortly after the inception of OS X would (and likely still do) phone home to configuration.apple.com to send apple metrics on usage. Earlier variations of LittleSnitch could actually block this collection behavior.

Apple has since reconfigured the network stack to guarantee that direct encrypted connections to Apple are always possible above any VPN, or other type of network filter connection. So there's no way to prevent communication with Apple on an Apple product at all now short of keeping it off the Internet or blocking DNS to 17.* IP addresses, which would only work on a network one has control over.

[–] Eldritch@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

All cell phones are tracking devices. Unless you faraday cage them. But yes, both apple and Android phones give out way more information than just that. And I definitely would not say that I would trust Apple more with data that I would Google.

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[–] Anti_Weeb_Penguin@sh.itjust.works 80 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Yeah yeah, wake me up when you can unlock the bootloader on apple phones.

[–] brax@sh.itjust.works 7 points 1 year ago

Yup, the logic people use to call Apple phones secure would put Fisher Price toy phones at the S-Tier of security.

[–] Substance_P@lemmy.world 63 points 1 year ago (5 children)

Is Apple trying to convince me that the Health app, Apple maps or Siri doesn't track me?

[–] woelkchen@lemmy.world 26 points 1 year ago

Is Apple trying to convince me that the Health app, Apple maps or Siri doesn’t track me?

No, they are trying to convince themselves. It's an internal brainwashing presentation after all, not for external PR.

[–] ijeff@lemdro.id 19 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Their slide seems to list Siri, Maps, and iAd not being tied to the user's Apple ID as a pro. I didn't realize this was the case.

[–] Uprise42@artemis.camp 17 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Apple has very explicitly stated in very clear terms that the health app does not share data with other apps or devices unless you give permission. And as someone who has given that permission (twice, once to give a meal tracker write permission and once to link to my doctors office’s application for read and write) it’s for every application. It’s not a “hey you need to let everyone have access or no one”. You can get fairly granular.

There’s always the possibility of lying but usually when a company goes that hard on saying the same thing is so many different ways it’s legit. They don’t commit like that unless they know they won’t get in trouble. Those kinds of statements could open them to false advertising claims if it got out they were taking your health data.

Here’s a link to their privacy document which reviewed a good bit of info: https://www.apple.com/privacy/docs/Health_Privacy_White_Paper_May_2023.pdf

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[–] kokesh@lemmy.world 39 points 1 year ago

One damn iPhone in my home network makes most calls home out of anything in my home network. I cn see it in AdGuard Home log.

[–] GrammatonCleric@lemmy.world 37 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Yeah, but Android doesn't make me constantly enter my password to do basic things. Also, Apple takes away a lot of control from their consumers.

I'll take the phone that isn't dumbed down tyvm

[–] ijeff@lemdro.id 33 points 1 year ago (6 children)

Ideally you shouldn't have to compromise. GrapheneOS without Google is an option.

[–] 520@kbin.social 10 points 1 year ago (3 children)

It literally isn't - Graphene only supports Google Pixel phones.

[–] TrickDacy@lemmy.world 16 points 1 year ago (7 children)

You've apparently missed the point. Graphene exists solely to harden security and privacy by disabling the googly parts of the phone. That is clearly what was meant by "without Google"

[–] BaroqueInMind@kbin.social 7 points 1 year ago (13 children)

You can do that without Graphene though

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[–] 30p87@feddit.de 34 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Buying or updating an app requires system-wide sign in

Only if one uses the official play store. Which apple does not understand, ofc.

[–] possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 8 points 1 year ago

~~does not understand~~

Does not want to understand

[–] Etterra@lemmy.world 32 points 1 year ago

Oh irony, thy name is Apple.

[–] spaxxor@lemmy.world 29 points 1 year ago (1 children)
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[–] Auzy@beehaw.org 21 points 1 year ago (4 children)

I used to sell apple gear at a reseller. They literally used to send messages to our customers for applecare.

The difference is that Apple simply uses the data for it's own benefit and competes against everyone (including people developing for their system)

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[–] jet@hackertalks.com 19 points 1 year ago

They are not wrong

[–] pineapplelover@lemm.ee 19 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yes, but if you put graphene on a pixel it's miles beyond an iphone

[–] mindlight@lemm.ee 7 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Congratulations to you and the other 0.000000001% of Android users then.

[–] Collatz_problem@hexbear.net 10 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

0.000000001%

This implies the existence of 100 billion Android users, that is roughly 13 times the number of people alive.

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[–] books@lemmy.world 17 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Google, the famous advertising company is using its hardware,software and infrastructure to watch everything we are doing?

I'm shocked.

[–] TrickDacy@lemmy.world 9 points 1 year ago (7 children)

Apple, ruthlessly opposing standards any time it can make them a buck no matter how many people have to suffer the consequences.

I'm shocked.

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[–] possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 14 points 1 year ago (3 children)

They're not wrong. Its just they aren't the perfect solution

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[–] JWBananas@startrek.website 11 points 1 year ago

Clearly this was before Apple became one of the largest advertising companies.

[–] UlyssesT@hexbear.net 10 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

:spidermanpointing1: :spidermanpointing2:

[–] cupcakezealot@lemmy.blahaj.zone 9 points 1 year ago (2 children)

was this old (the google logo is the old one so i'm not sure) or was apple just uninformed?

you can have all sorts of multiple accounts in the control panel, mail and calendar all have on device log ons, you can update apps outside of the app store or use the google play store with your google account the same way you do with your apple account.

[–] Snowplow8861@lemmus.org 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Five words into the article says

Apple’s internal presentation from 2013

Literally at the top under TL;DR

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[–] UltraMagnus0001@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (6 children)

Don't forget our vehicles are also tracking us. Soon our Ai trainers will have enough data to guide us in their path and we'll love what they tell us we should do.

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[–] smileyhead@discuss.tchncs.de 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The difference is that Google is collecting everything, while Apple can collect everything.

Also, Android is not a "device".

Android and iOS are a massive tracking operating systems. Stick to deGoogled Android and Linux on mobile.

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[–] FuckyWucky@hexbear.net 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] 420stalin69@hexbear.net 8 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

They’re not wrong.

Apple has a better stance on data privacy than google because their profit model is being a premium consumer device whereas googles profit model is being a provider of ads.

Apple’s incentives are closer to the consumer since they want to make the consumer happy while googles incentives are aligned with the trackers because that improves ad revenue.

This changes the DNA of the OS.

Plus the integration of googles data insecure services with android mean that as a matter of actual reality then discussing the security of android really means discussing the data security of those integrated services. It’s unavoidable.

Don’t trust either of course but I simply do have more confidence my apple data isn’t being exploited as much as my google data simply because Apple doesn’t stand as much to gain and stands more to lose from being embarrassed on the issue.

And pointing to custom android roms that replace google services with FOSS alternatives is a technically correct but still wrong answer to this because it doesn’t reflect the reality of the overwhelming majority of android users.

[–] bluGill@kbin.social 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

That is what they publicly say. However more than one company has discovered they can double dip: sell their premium devices and still track them. So long as they are not caught they get more $$$. I don't know if Apple is, but it is a risk.

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[–] mojo@lemm.ee 6 points 1 year ago

Closed source is always privacy invasive by default.

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