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Safari is sending every search query to Apple

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Re: Safari is sending every search query to Apple

#61

Post by cmelbye »

This is inaccurate alarmism. It shouldn't be surprising that the search bar makes autocomplete requests to Apple as you type. The address, phone number, and map link that popped up when you typed in the name of a local business, for example, didn't just appear out of thin air.

However, it seemed suspicious to me that Apple would make it impossible, as the author claims, to type in the Safari address bar without sending queries to Apple. So, I fired up Charles proxy to confirm my suspicions.

When using Safari default settings, typing in the address bar resulted in a few requests to Apple and Google autocomplete APIs. Then, I turned off "Include search engine suggestions" and "Include Spotlight Suggestions" in Safari search preferences. (Safari -> Preferences -> Search)

As I initially believed, no requests were sent whatsoever when typing in the address bar after those settings were disabled. Can we put out our pitchforks yet, or am I missing something?

Re: Safari is sending every search query to Apple

#63

Post by miles »

chockablock wrote: post #59
miles wrote: post #24

Here's a tweet from Edward Marczak back in June about this behavior: https://twitter.com/marczak/status/481818945318428673 with a recommendation to block api.smoot.apple.com.

That seems to be about Spotlight searches, not web searches using Safari. (And arguably seems like a worse behavior to me, as my Spotlight search terms are often for private info I'm trying to locate on my disk.)

Thanks, chockablock - I missed that. Same URL to block for both though, apparently: api.smoot.apple.com.

Re: Safari is sending every search query to Apple

#64

Post by [deleted] »

thought_alarm wrote: post #56

The author of this post is confused about Safari and Spotlight privacy settings. Spotlight search suggestions are a major new advertised feature in OS X and iOS. To disable Spotlight Search Suggestions in Safari, open the Safari preferences and de-select "Search > Include Spotlight Suggestions". To disable Spotlight Search Suggestions in the system Spotlight search menu, open the System Preferences and de-select "Spo…

[deleted]

Re: Safari is sending every search query to Apple

#66

Post by cscurmudgeon »

threeseed wrote: post #50
adamcarson wrote: post #22

Tim Cook last month: “Our business is not based on having information about you. You’re not our product ... I think everyone has to ask, how do companies make their money? Follow the money. And if they’re making money mainly by collecting gobs of personal data, I think you have a right to be worried.” “We take a very different view of this than a lot of other companies have. Our view is, when we design a new service,…

And ? Is there ANY evidence that Apple is collecting data. Because it seems to me that all that is happening is that Safari is contacting an Apple service which searches Wikipedia, news, articles etc. Pretty sure it's easy to disable by switching off Smart Search Field in Safari.

Weekly Outrage Time on HN.

Have any of the commentors used the latest Safari? Safari does not passively collect data. It is doing much more. It has what can be called search actions.

Example

Type in a Nissan dealer's name => Brings up with an Icon a clicky that would take you to the nearest Nissan dealer location on Maps.

Type in wiki X => Brings up with wiki page for X.

Pray tell how would they accomplish without processing the results?

I agree that they should have informed users before. But let us not assume something nefarious is happening.

Re: Safari is sending every search query to Apple

#67

Post by thought_alarm »

Sir_Cmpwn wrote: post #55
thought_alarm wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sending your searches to DuckDuckGo is OK because they're committed to protecting your privacy. Sending your searches to Apple is bad because... they're also committed to protected your privacy but they're Apple so it's a big conspiracy.

You may have missed the point. Sending them to DDG is OK because the user _intended to send them to DDG_. That was the entire purpose of the user's searching experience to begin with. Apple being strung into it is different - the user doesn't need Apple's involvement to complete the search.

DuckDuckGo Search Suggestions and Spotlight Search Suggestions are separate features in Safari. Either can be enabled or disabled by the user in the Safari settings.

Re: Safari is sending every search query to Apple

#68

Post by declan »

cmelbye wrote: post #61

This is inaccurate alarmism. It shouldn't be surprising that the search bar makes autocomplete requests to Apple as you type. The address, phone number, and map link that popped up when you typed in the name of a local business, for example, didn't just appear out of thin air. However, it seemed suspicious to me that Apple would make it impossible, as the author claims, to type in the Safari address bar without sendi…

FWIW, the Github page says search terms in their tests were sent to Apple's API even "with all privacy options enabled": https://github.com/fix-macosx/yosemite-phone-home

Re: Safari is sending every search query to Apple

#69

Post by metastart »

pserwylo wrote: post #16
lostlogin wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who's products would you suggest as an alternative?

For browsing, Mozilla is probably the least likely to want to do this sort of logging. There are probably more niche browsers that focus on privacy that I'm unaware of too. As for other Apple products, you can run Linux on a MacBook quite happily (Linus does, after all) and there are some nice Android ROMs which focus on freedom, such as Replicant.

Epic Privacy Browser - private browser built on chromium for Mac & PCs -- epicbrowser.com (one such niche privacy browser)

Re: Safari is sending every search query to Apple

#70

Post by axotty »

pserwylo wrote: post #14
orng wrote: post #4

Simple workaround: don't use safari. Long term solution: don't by Apple products. Or at least don't run their software.

Not quite sure why you got down voted. I bought an iPod nano several years ago, because I quite liked the hardware/software that Apple made. However when I found out that they intentionally broke compatibility with 3rd party music software that isn't iTunes, I made the decision to never buy Apple products again. I don't feel that I'm particularly missing out by making this decision (although I am aware that many othe…

So the 2007 version of the iPod refused to work with some random 3rd party software you had, and you've sworn off all Apple products for life?

That's just childish. Not only can companies change but one product doesn't necessarily reflect everything a company has to offer. You should stop being such an ideologue and learn to use the best tool for the job. Which is sometimes an Apple product.

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