this post was submitted on 10 Jun 2023
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I mean as far as privacy goes, Apple products are generally quite good. Certainly an iPhone has a lot more privacy than any mainstream Android device with Play Services enabled.
With Linux, you could get a lot more privacy and control (obviously) but with the expense of, perhaps, less actual personal security. iPhones and Macs are generally quite theft-resistant in terms of protecting your data.
I would not recommend a stock Apple or Android phone. I use GrapheneOS at the moment which is Android without Google and additional security options.
Apple does not publish their source so you have to trust that their privacy policy is more than just public relations without any proof. Trust, but verify.
GrapheneOS+Debian is probably your gold standard. But it's also not at all a mainstream choice.
Among the mainstream consumer products, I tend to agree with others here who say that Apple has the best features and track record. Safari has better privacy than Chrome, iPhone has better privacy than Samsung Galaxies or Google Pixels, macOS has better privacy than Windows, etc.
Now, sure, Firefox+Graphene+Linux is better than all of them, but then you're giving up a lot. You're giving up what most consumers are not willing to give up. Can you hail Uber? Can you use your banking apps? Are your favorite games available?
And besides, your biggest privacy problem with your cell phone is, frankly, your carrier, which is most likely selling all the data they can get from your tower pings and account details, if not also your actual internet traffic (dns lookups etc).
And for that matter, even on Linux, there are privacy features I don't get that are available on my Apple stuff: most notably for me, a very usable dropbox alternative that's end-to-end encrypted (iCloud Files). Yes, there are end-to-end encrypted options on Linux that work like Dropbox, but they aren't very well polished.
If you're able to go all-in on Open Source and free software, you'll truly control your own destiny. That's all the better. But for the average consumer, Apple is a big upgrade over the direct competition from Google and Microsoft.
I believe Apple provides a false sense of security which is often worse than no security at all. Edward Snowden showed that privacy policies are useless documents and that is much of what Apple has going for it. They make a big press while fighting with the FBI. When the NSA asks Apple to provide backdoors to iCloud, iOS, and MacOS, they don't amend their privacy policy. They comply.
When a user knows that they are being watched, they will self-censor. When a user thinks they are free on a non-free platform, they will make mistakes that cannot be erased.
You can take control of your DNS. You can encrypt your traffic and communication. You cannot hide your location from your carrier, but you can disable the hardware modem. With the Pine64's PinePhone/PinePhone Pro, you can even take over the user space of the modem. Not all of these steps are necessary for everyone, but every little piece that is improved helps.
The NSA's ability to compel private entities to modify their products is spurious. The FBI famously bullied Lavabit out of existence, but they would have a much more challenging time with a company that has lawyers and throngs of fans. I'm sure you heard of the FBI tried to have Apple develop an exploit and Apple successfully refused. And that's the FBI: the NSA has broad surveillance power, but their ability to tell a private company to modify their products is basically non-existent.
But again, doing something like disabling the hardware modem is just not a realistic step most people would even consider.