Update 2: I didn't know this, but it turns out Apple...

mcc

Update 2: I didn't know this, but it turns out Apple Safari is *also* spying on what ads you view and click on, and sending that info (with some anonymization) directly to advertisers via a backchannel?

https://www.apple.com/legal/privacy/data/en/safari/#:~:text=You%20can%20disable%20Privacy%20Preserving,off%20Privacy%20Preserving%20Ad%20Measurement.&text=When%20you%20are%20in%20an,Pay%20enabled%20on%20that%20device.

It's worse documented than the Firefox/Chrome versions, and like Firefox (unlike Chrome) there is no clickthrough consent. I don't expect better of Apple, but this *grates* given they're running big "A browser that's actually private." billboard ads in my neighborhood.

Like 14 July at 20:34 | Open on mastodon.social

16 comments

Reiner Jung

@mcc Well it is privately spying on you. The others do it publicly. Or something like that. I would like to have a law that makes tracking illegal.

14 July at 20:39 | Open on norden.social

mcc replied to Reiner

@prefec2 Unlike Chrome it doesn't disclose to you that it's spying on you, so that makes it "private".

14 July at 20:40 | Open on mastodon.social

Don Marti

@mcc lol I just checked on Apple Safari and it turns out you have to go to Settings, Safari, then scroll all the way down to "Advanced" to find and turn off "Privacy Preserving Ad Measurement"

(TIL participating in a market economy without leaking an information advantage to counterparties is considered "Advanced" now)

14 July at 20:39 | Open on federate.social

Hugo Mills replied to Don

@dmarti @mcc I think "advanced" is just another name for "don't you worry your pretty little head over it, darling".

14 July at 20:42 | Open on mstdn.social

Nazo replied to Don

@dmarti @mcc I always found it weird that people think Apple is an exception to all these things. They're just less open about it. Eventually they'll have a leak and it's going to be *BAD*, I guarantee it.

14 July at 20:45 | Open on mastodon.social

mcc replied to Nazo

@nazokiyoubinbou @dmarti You see, Apple can be trusted because unlike Google and Facebook, they are not an ad company

https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkoetsier/2021/10/19/apples-ad-network-is-the-biggest-beneficiary-of-apples-new-marketing-rules-report/

https://searchads.apple.com/

https://digiday.com/media-buying/apples-expanding-ad-ambitions-a-closer-look-at-its-journey-toward-a-comprehensive-ad-tech-stack/

???

14 July at 20:47 | Open on mastodon.social

Nazo replied to mcc

@mcc @dmarti The key difference, as far as I can tell, is that Apple tells people they can trust them more than the others. So obviously it must be true.

14 July at 20:58 | Open on mastodon.social

mcc replied to Nazo

@nazokiyoubinbou I mean, it might in fact be you can trust Apple more than the others. But that is not the same statement as "you can trust Apple".

14 July at 20:58 | Open on mastodon.social

Nazo replied to mcc

@mcc It might be. Or it might not be. With all the closed source obfuscated binaries, locked down systems, and unknown stuff going on on their servers, I trust them even less until proven otherwise.

14 July at 21:01 | Open on mastodon.social

Don Marti replied to mcc

@mcc @nazokiyoubinbou looks like someone over there is still mad that people complained about the "Chaos Monkeys" guy and they're taking it out on users (the "App Store" has turned into the "deceptive ads for crappy clones of the app you're looking for" store)

14 July at 21:24 | Open on federate.social

Zimmie replied to Don

@dmarti I hadn’t noticed that anti-feature. Hiding it like that is ridiculously trashy behavior on the part of Apple and the Safari team.

14 July at 20:50 | Open on infosec.exchange

axat

@mcc
Apple has always been Google with better PR.
We need some alternative in OS for phones, I know there are few like Graphene but the hardware limitation makes it difficult for mass adoption.