this post was submitted on 25 May 2025
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[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 week ago (2 children)

but at least Apple has a track record of respecting privacy.

...to keep the same amount of data for themselve.

Don't kid yourself. Apple collects the same amount as everyone else does. And if either get hacked, it doesnt matter if they keep it or sell it.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)
  1. There is absolutely no possible comparison between the colossal scale of data collected by Google throughout routine operation of their products and the anonymous diagnostic data users can optionally send to Apple.
  2. The entire point of E2EE is that it remains encrypted in storage and transit. No one wants to buy encrypted consumer data right now unless it’s a very old protocol and guaranteed sensitive.
[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

Yes, in fact. That’s a good example.

The API for the ads allowed on-platform (only in their “App Store” and “News” products to my knowledge) is also used internally, which you can verify yourself by simply inspecting network traffic. The component instrumentation is obviously meager compared to the rich analytics and user behavior tracking data offered by virtually every other platform.

But the foremost restriction is granularity. Neither internal analytics nor advertisers are ever provided a persistent user identifier. The advertising ID is generated on-device and doesn’t persist with device reset. That’s unheard of on platforms like Google, Meta, Amazon, etc.

In-app tracking is allowed but subject to item by item opt-in user permission and is similarly restrictive, audited with package submission (they will reject the submission if you attempt to circumvent the API to extract more/better data from the user). What I’m describing is draconian compared to most platforms, especially carrier-manufacturer Android distributions in many countries.

I mostly use custom roms and distros personally, and I’m not even trying to convince you Apple is in some way more ethical than other big tech cos. I just don’t like seeing misinfo and hearsay spread around for any purpose, especially when that purpose is apparently bullying other users for upvotes.

[–] Flames5123 -3 points 1 week ago (2 children)

They say they don’t associate the data they collect with anyone. There’s no way to trace back to my device.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

That doesn't work. Data can and has been deanonymized previously. It's still very much unsafe if it falls in the wrong hands

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago

"Oh yeah we collect data. Anonymously."

That has literally the same energy as some other user pointed out here about Valve and Gaben with their brain implant.
Gaben is the harbinger of light for many but us still a billionaire that got the money from somewhere. Thus is also evil. Just not as much as, for example, Bezos.
Apple is evil. At least equal to Google in different aspects.

Stop cheering for anti-consumer companies.