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Apple is becoming an ad company despite privacy claims

proton.me

41–50 of 76 posts

Re: Apple is becoming an ad company despite privacy claims

#41

You can be an ad company and respect your users privacy. They’re not mutually exclusive as the headline seems to suggest.

Unsubstantiated claims can be responded to with unsubstantiated replies. Being an ad company and respecting user privacy are completely at odds. The incentives are misaligned.

Had anyone actually substantiated the claim about the unconfirmed non-disabling device ID beyond a single packet and theorizing about encrypted packets?

Because the whole article is based on this evidence and peoples’ desire to dog pile on apple.

Re: Apple is becoming an ad company despite privacy claims

#42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Duck Duck Go?

https://www.komando.com/security-privacy/duckduckgo-is-track...

That wasn't for their ads on their search engine, but their browser. Even that link says the ads from their search engine are private.

And iirc they have stopped doing that with the browser also.

Re: Apple is becoming an ad company despite privacy claims

#43

Lovely free advertising for Proton. Very smart blog post, since numerous employees and fans of Apple competitors, as well as anyone who dislikes Apple for whatever reason, has plenty motivation to upvote this post. Also: Calling someone an ad company when approximately 1% of revenue seems to be generated by ads would seem quite a stretch. Also: Being tracked while on someone’s property isn’t exactly the same as track…

Also: Yet I see many comments rushing to perform mental gymnastics on their behalf.

There are several attributes here that match up exactly with other companies that are somehow vilified. The blog post is on point, the user have been in denial for a long time and will continue to be.

Re: Apple is becoming an ad company despite privacy claims

#44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unsubstantiated claims can be responded to with unsubstantiated replies. Being an ad company and respecting user privacy are completely at odds. The incentives are misaligned.

How about companies that purely advertise via: * bill boards and similar * printed media ads * ads that respond to keyword searches - without relying on any other user data * display ads on topical websites (e.g. guitar ads on guitar related websites) - without relying on any other user data

The first two do not have low latency high bandwidth connections (or often any connection at all) to the user to collect data, so it's not a reasonable comparison. As for the third, I understand that duck.com claims this, but I don't buy their claims, considering their behavior. None of these sites that claim to not collect user data should be trusted until they submit to a transparent audit that exposes all their infrastructure. As for the fourth, this is a tiny exception to the rule held up by some individual with standards.

Apple doesn't fit the pattern of any of your examples.

Re: Apple is becoming an ad company despite privacy claims

#45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> be an ad company and respect your users privacy As an ad broker , you usually cannot. If you respect the users privacy, and another competing ad broker does not, then the competitor will make better ad placement decisions, get a higher click through rate, and give advertisers better ROI. Therefore, the ad broker that respects privacy will get less and less business and die. The only way an ad broker can respect pri…

I've always wondered how apple gets away with its monopolies when other companies don't/can't.

I think they point in the general direction of Google's Play Store, and exclaim, "Here's another app store, hence we're not a monopoly", and then proceed to enjoy their monopoly.

Re: Apple is becoming an ad company despite privacy claims

#46
post #17

Who is clicking on these ads? Or do companies pay for the ad to just show up? I have never in my life intentionally clicked on an ad.

Not all ads are about click-through. Impressions can be a goal by itself for some who are seeking brand recognition benefits in addition to or even as an alternative to clicks or installs.

Re: Apple is becoming an ad company despite privacy claims

#47

You can be an ad company and respect your users privacy. They’re not mutually exclusive as the headline seems to suggest.

Context matters. In an ideal, sane, and rational situation, Yes.

But not when Apple has themselves contributed, if not started the whole Ads, or Tracking is evil campaign.

Re: Apple is becoming an ad company despite privacy claims

#50
post #9

Please no. There is no refuge from the ads. Not for all the money in the world, apparently. This is the worst timeline. Can I pay 2x to get an ad-free iPhone? 3x? Surely there is some point where it makes sense to sell an ad free phone for those who _need_ to not see ads. They won't even take my money ;_;

Sir, have some self respect. If you're willing to pay several thousands USD for a phone, I don't believe the ads are the actual issue here.
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