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Keeping your data from Apple is harder than expected

aalto.fi

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Re: Keeping your data from Apple is harder than expected

#61

Post by alias_neo »

danielheath wrote: post #12
Traubenfuchs wrote: post #7

Is the whole point of all this data collection nonsense really just to serve me irrelevant ads I never click? What are they doing with all this worthless information? I downloaded a shitty freemium mobile game once and now 80% of my Instagram ads have been ads for shitty mobile games for more than a year. Is this really the best the 500k+ a year ad magicians at Meta came up with? Is this what gives Meta its trillion…

> Amazon serving me ads for washing machines, right after I bought one Counterintuitive, but there’s a chance that the one you bought didn’t work out - and that’s high enough to make you much more likely than the general population to buy a washing machine. Consider: in the past 20 years there have been about two weeks (total) where an ad for a washing machine could be relevant. That’s about 0.2% of the time. If the…

I don't buy this; because it always happens when I've bought something from them, not from elsewhere.

Amazon knows if the one I bought worked out or not because I RMAd it or didn't; yet, every time I buy something, I'm inundated with suggestions for the same thing until I've searched or bought a sufficient number of other things, to replace them, and the cycle begins again.

Don't get me wrong, they have some fairly decent suggestions based on the things I browse and purchase, or browse and didn't purchase, but showing me dozens of things like the thing I just bought is hilarious.

Re: Keeping your data from Apple is harder than expected

#62

Post by madeofpalk »

klausa wrote: post #10
walterbell wrote: post #9

Apple should provide an option to opt-out of Siri "learn from app" for ALL applications. At present, this must be done individually for every app, https://www.imore.com/how-stop-siri-learning-how-you-use-app... . When you later install new apps after setting up the device, you have to remember to go into Settings and opt-out again, for every app, forever. How many people know that iOS devices will default to Siri rea…

You can just disable Siri if you're that concerned? Edit: Turns out — you can't! See the reply below.

The problem is that 'Siri' is a pretty ill-defined term that Apple sprinkles onto a bunch of unrelated features if they have anything that sort of looks like 'learning' if you squint hard enough.

Re: Keeping your data from Apple is harder than expected

#63

Post by tremarley »

lrvick wrote: post #50

I remain shocked anyone trusts Meta, Google, or Apple marketing on privacy. These companies are all fundamentally similar in that their proprietary software collects an insane amount of data that will end up in the hands of your enemies either by sale, court order, or security compromise. It is relatively easy to opt out of all of these companies and take some actual control over your privacy.

Apple’s PR team is remarkable. They get away with nearly everything

Re: Keeping your data from Apple is harder than expected

#64

Post by wasmitnetzen »

throwaway290 wrote: post #28
threeseed wrote: post #8

[flagged]

You have to make it sound bad or no one would read it and earn you ad revenue (edit: donations?)

Aalto is a public university, and there's no ads on that page.

So it's rather: You have to make it sound bad or no one would read your press release.

Re: Keeping your data from Apple is harder than expected

#65

Post by madeofpalk »

lrvick wrote: post #55
fh9302 wrote: post #48

This article is highly misleading, making it sound like Siri is collecting data from apps and sending it to Apple. This is not the case, Siri Suggestions are fully on-device, though they can sync accross devices with mandatory E2EE. Apple never gets access to any of this data.

Apple can remotely execute code on any internet connected device running an proprietary Apple operating system. It is only a matter of time before courts realize this. The CCP controls the Apple software signing HSMs in China for a reason.

But if this is your threat model - that you have no trust of the operating system or the vendor - then all of this is pointless because at any time they can just backdoor themselves. Apple could just never ask or collect this, but still they're one update away from starting to collect it.

Of course that's always a threat with any computer, but you must place some amount of trust somewhere.

Re: Keeping your data from Apple is harder than expected

#66

Post by wkat4242 »

threeseed wrote: post #43
walterbell wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Excellent. Then Apple can provide one-click, one-time opt out for all apps, instead of consuming CPU cycles, battery life and hundreds of avoidable and unwanted user actions over the lifetime of a phone. > It never gets sent to Apple and no other application can read it. Malware can read it. See the list of Apple iOS Security Updates. If Apple doesn't receive the data and the user doesn't want the data, let's avoid c…

Users want to be able to search for apps, contacts, mail etc which is why it’s a standard feature of every operating system. The idea that there is this demand to fully disable it is bizarre to me. And if you have malware that can access the entire file system then reading a Siri search index is the least of your troubles.

I never use this on Android really. If I look for a mail I search within outlook. And in fact emails in outlook don't show up in the global search, I just looked.

Same with contacts in the phone app. If I look for an app I just find the icon in the list because I don't have so many.

A global search is a cool feature for people who don't know where to look but it's not something that everyone would want.

Re: Keeping your data from Apple is harder than expected

#67

Post by gruez »

walterbell wrote: post #9

Apple should provide an option to opt-out of Siri "learn from app" for ALL applications. At present, this must be done individually for every app, https://www.imore.com/how-stop-siri-learning-how-you-use-app... . When you later install new apps after setting up the device, you have to remember to go into Settings and opt-out again, for every app, forever. How many people know that iOS devices will default to Siri rea…

>How many people know that iOS devices will default to Siri reading plaintext for all apps, including E2EE messengers?

Is there more on what Siri "learn from app" actually does? Does it scrape entire screen contents? Or just metadata? Or only what the app developer decides to send?

Re: Keeping your data from Apple is harder than expected

#68

Post by lrvick »

devaiops9001 wrote: post #40

https://grapheneos.org/features

Remember that this too ships a huge number of privileged binary blobs and kernel modules from companies like Qualcomm and Google in the vendor partition.

Whoever compiles these binary blobs, and the OS images themselves, and anyone capable of coercing them, has god access to your device.

I suggest getting to know someone before giving them that much power over your life.

Re: Keeping your data from Apple is harder than expected

#69

Post by simonbarker87 »

Traubenfuchs wrote: post #7

Is the whole point of all this data collection nonsense really just to serve me irrelevant ads I never click? What are they doing with all this worthless information? I downloaded a shitty freemium mobile game once and now 80% of my Instagram ads have been ads for shitty mobile games for more than a year. Is this really the best the 500k+ a year ad magicians at Meta came up with? Is this what gives Meta its trillion…

To you they are irrelevant ads you never click.

To millions of small business they are the only viable way to reach their customers.

As tech focussed people we often ignore this or play it down. Facebook (as it’s the most used example) being blocked in a country or region (EU for example) would be devastating thousands/tens of thousands of businesses.

The usual reply is “those businesses shouldn’t be so reliant Facebook etc” which misses the point that these business only have a viable route to market thanks to these platforms.

Some of the most useful things I have bought have been thanks to “shitty Facebook and Instagram ads” including home gym equipment I use daily, DIY and wood working products, kitchen utensils, etc

Re: Keeping your data from Apple is harder than expected

#70

Post by lrvick »

wkat4242 wrote: post #53
Am4TIfIsER0ppos wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't purchase the surveillance device.

And get locked out of 80% of modern life :(

That is just not true.

I have not carried a phone or an Google/Apple controlled device in 3+ years and exclusively use FOSS on a personal basis.

I live in Silicon Valley, run a b2b tech company, have a huge group of local friends, and have never been excluded from anything I wanted in my life for not having a phone.

Paper menus are available if you ask, sms can be converted to VoIP, you do not need Genie Plus to navigate Disney, there is always a way to pay with cash (or cash purchases gift card), paper tickets still work fine everywhere, your bank actually cannot force you to use an app, and internet comments and notifications can wait until you are back home at your desk.

Sure, it is a bit like having a dietary restriction, but it is not the life fulfillment blocker everyone makes you think it is.

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