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Oh, the Places Your Apple ID Will Go

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Re: Oh, the Places Your Apple ID Will Go

#31
post #16
post #2

Good to see somebody talking sense. Lots of journalists jumped on this, framing Apple as evil. At a high level, the whole thing is no different to a website using a cookie to keep you logged in.

A cookie is not a PII identifier, it is an "identity discriminator". In other words cookies let them tell you the _same_ person 104898 that was already here in March, welcome back!, and not any other person e.g. 298472, but without telling them your actual name etc. In contrast, a PII identifier is a unique ID that is linked to personal attributes in real life like a person's name ("John Doe"), address ("6400 Bouleva…

Apple ID is still a cookie and that is enough for me to avoid them like the plague.

Re: Oh, the Places Your Apple ID Will Go

#32
post #2

Good to see somebody talking sense. Lots of journalists jumped on this, framing Apple as evil. At a high level, the whole thing is no different to a website using a cookie to keep you logged in.

Except there's no opt-out or prompt to inform you. Quite a difference I'd say.

Re: Oh, the Places Your Apple ID Will Go

#33

Reason x why I'm rooting for Zack and his metaverse bet! I love the iPhone & Mac but I dislike apples approach to "privacy" feels hypocritical

Not sure if sarcasm, but just in case...

My friend you need to open a window and see the rest of the world that exists outside that binary choice...

Re: Oh, the Places Your Apple ID Will Go

#34

Can someone explain why the App Store doesn't show the "Ask App Not To Track" dialog? Why do 3rd party apps have to ask for permission to track, but Apple's apps do not?

Why don't apps show the EU cookie banner? It seems that apps have an unfair advantage over websites.

Re: Oh, the Places Your Apple ID Will Go

#35

> I may be getting something wildly wrong here, but I am not sure I see the presence of this Apple ID proxy in Apple’s services logs to be a violation of either its own policies or users’ expectations for using internet services in general. I strongly disagree that the iOS App Store should be treated as an "internet service" rather than a part of the device. The iOS App Store only comes on iOS devices, it comes on al…

Devil's advocate:

Contrary to explorer.exe, App Store is an internet service in the sense that it requires sending requests to backend for pretty much any user action. There is zero functionality without a data connection.

Re: Oh, the Places Your Apple ID Will Go

#36
post #34

Can someone explain why the App Store doesn't show the "Ask App Not To Track" dialog? Why do 3rd party apps have to ask for permission to track, but Apple's apps do not?

Why don't apps show the EU cookie banner? It seems that apps have an unfair advantage over websites.

App do not have an advantage here. the EU 'cookie law' doesn't mention cookies at all. All it says is that you cannot track users without permission, and that this permission must be freely and explicitly given. It's just that this is usually done using cookies on websites, but the specifics don't matter. Apps absolutely have to ask for permission before tracking a user.

Now if this is actually enforced or not is a different matter.

Re: Oh, the Places Your Apple ID Will Go

#37

I see a lot of very intelligent people here unable to agree upon a matter that seems, in essence, simple enough. That is in itself troubling and partly answers a question. If developers on Hacker News cannot fathom whether Apple deceptively transmitted PII, or whether zealous journalists are over-egging the pudding, then we have another problem. Obfuscation is a form of deception through complexity. It can be hard to…

I think this can be explained by simple denial; Apple's reality distortion field, or some variation on "It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it." Maybe not salary, but a foundational world view, much like religion.

I mean, people on HN will argue that it's wrong to block ads, a point of view that only makes sense to me through the lens of the above quote.

But, yes, it's a big problem because people that don't factor in the inherent biases of those making the arguments will take on those biases without the salary that makes it make sense. Is that like a Stand Alone Complex?

Re: Oh, the Places Your Apple ID Will Go

#39
post #20

Can someone explain why the App Store doesn't show the "Ask App Not To Track" dialog? Why do 3rd party apps have to ask for permission to track, but Apple's apps do not?

I read somewhere (sorry can't remember where but it was quite recent) that Apple has defined "tracking" as "allowing third parties to monitor you over multiple sites and apps". My that definition, Apple, as a first party, is not tracking you (and likewise, I can monitor you over my apps but not allow anyone else access to that data) UPDATE: It was from AppStore Connect itself, when you fill out the privacy data form.…

Sounds exactly like Google’s definition. “Private” means “just between you and Google.”

Re: Oh, the Places Your Apple ID Will Go

#40
post #35

> I may be getting something wildly wrong here, but I am not sure I see the presence of this Apple ID proxy in Apple’s services logs to be a violation of either its own policies or users’ expectations for using internet services in general. I strongly disagree that the iOS App Store should be treated as an "internet service" rather than a part of the device. The iOS App Store only comes on iOS devices, it comes on al…

Devil's advocate: Contrary to explorer.exe, App Store is an internet service in the sense that it requires sending requests to backend for pretty much any user action. There is zero functionality without a data connection.

How does that justify logging user actions? Just because you can log customer requests does not mean it is morally right to do so.
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