this post was submitted on 24 Aug 2023
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Technology
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Yeah saying Apple is anti-privacy is like… what? Compared to who? Apple is consistently fighting against meta and google (and governments) in favour of user privacy
Is it far fetched to say that they fight against Meta and Google because they want to be the only ones who have your data?
They also only fight for privacy as a marketing differentiator from Google in the US. Their privacy stance varies from country to country.
If Apple had the same capability to harvest and mine user data as Google, there's no doubt in my mind they would already be doing so. Their inability to produce a viable cloud service and major security and update issues with iCloud imply it's a lack of ability and not any pro-user/privacy-oriented sentiment in the company.
What about saying that their entire business model is exploiting stockholm syndrome?
A bit. You can download your data from them, it’s not much.
Even if they didn't sell any data, that doesn't mean they don't collect a bunch.
You can tell me all you want, but personal data being so incredibly valuable paired with the fact that Apple was the first trillion dollar company...
Their overpriced hardware doesn't play the only role here.
I think Apple is better out of the box than most other companies in terms of privacy, which comes from a lot more of their profit coming from hardware rather than data harvesting (ie Meta, Google). Although the EFF has said that’s more an indictment of other tech companies than saying Apple is particularly good.
I do think the lack of customization in macOS makes it more difficult to harden your security settings. PrivacyGuides lists their concerns along with their recommended configuration here.
At a quick glace ....
Most of the recommendations apply to all the major OS e.g. turn off Bluetooth, do not share location, keep admin account but use standard account for daily use, keep firewall on, etc.
A lot of privacy thing can also be opt-out.
OSCP, SIP and multi layer security hardening are where users could not customize.
in summary, Linux > macOS > Windows.
For sure, I think that's a good rule of thumb and lines up pretty well with "how much this OS relies on your data to make a buck."
I was reading there too that most of the privacy and security concerns in macOS are in iCloud, but with Advanced Tracking Protection you can make that E2EE now, or just go with an alternative cloud service.
Ah, ok interesting take on that. I see your point