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Apple’s research secrecy hurts industry and academic research

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Re: Apple’s research secrecy hurts industry and academic research

#21
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google did nothing of the sort. They opened only a single feature of chrome to this kind of inspection. Do you have any idea what kind of data google collects from Android users and stores as part of their profile? I thought not.

They opened up the feature that they claimed used "differential privacy".

Sure but it is in no way comparable to what Apple is doing or claiming.

Apple makes some bold claims about how they respect user privacy and don't create profiles across their whole system.

Could there be bugs in that causing it to be imperfect? Sure.

Could they just be deceiving their customers? Very unlikely given the number of employees who would need to collide in such a fraud.

Asking Apple to open their systems to enable this to be audited is as reasonable as asking Google to open-source the search algorithm so it can be audited for political bias.

Are you calling for that too?

And just to be clear - Google doesn't make any claims about not creating a detailed identifiable profile on each user, incorporating all the data across all their services as they see fit.

If you are going to accuse Apple of lying, the burden of proof is on you.

Re: Apple’s research secrecy hurts industry and academic research

#22
post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They opened up the feature that they claimed used "differential privacy".

Sure but it is in no way comparable to what Apple is doing or claiming. Apple makes some bold claims about how they respect user privacy and don't create profiles across their whole system. Could there be bugs in that causing it to be imperfect? Sure. Could they just be deceiving their customers? Very unlikely given the number of employees who would need to collide in such a fraud. Asking Apple to open their systems…

"extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence."

If Apple like Theranos claims to have developed "Novel Differential Privacy algo" / "finger prick blood testing", it ought to have its claims examined via peer review. The burden of proof lies on the entity making ground breaking claims.

Re: Apple’s research secrecy hurts industry and academic research

#23
post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure but it is in no way comparable to what Apple is doing or claiming. Apple makes some bold claims about how they respect user privacy and don't create profiles across their whole system. Could there be bugs in that causing it to be imperfect? Sure. Could they just be deceiving their customers? Very unlikely given the number of employees who would need to collide in such a fraud. Asking Apple to open their systems…

"extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence." If Apple like Theranos claims to have developed "Novel Differential Privacy algo" / "finger prick blood testing", it ought to have its claims examined via peer review. The burden of proof lies on the entity making ground breaking claims.

So then you'd agree that Google, who claims that their search algorithm is not politically biased, should have its claims examined via peer review?
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