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Tim Cook makes blistering attack on the “data industrial complex”

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Re: Tim Cook makes blistering attack on the “data industrial complex”

#531

Post by telchar »

krrrh wrote: post #517
telchar wrote: post #377

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Speaking about unblockable ads, I had to set up a pi-hole to block ads at the network level because I couldn't block them on my ipad on any browser. Why does Apple make it so hard? Am I missing something?

Safari has supported third party ad blockers for a few years. I use 1BlockerX and it works well. There are dozens of other options. Including Firefox Gocus which blocks ads by default and also functions as an ad locker for Safari. https://1blocker.com

Alright, thanks for the info. I'll look into those.

Re: Tim Cook makes blistering attack on the “data industrial complex”

#532

Post by CamperBob2 »

da_chicken wrote: post #529
CamperBob2 wrote: post #479

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And people wonder why I've argued that, at some point, IT needs to be a certified and regulated profession like lawyers, doctors, engineers, nurses, pilots, accountants, electricians, plumbers, teachers, etc. Awesome idea. The same governments who are sending RFPs to burtonator's company will then have the ability to decide who is even allowed to work in the industry.

How exactly do you think bridges and buildings are built? Who do you think operates the state bar for lawyers? Who do you think operates public school teacher certification?

Looking around the room, I don't see any bridges or chalkboards or courtroom paraphernalia. I see a personal computer. How exactly do you think the machine you're typing on was built?!

Do you want to go back to the 1970s? Because this is how you get back to the 1970s, when only a rarefied priesthood had access to computing power.

Don't expect to accomplish that without encountering strong opposition.

Re: Tim Cook makes blistering attack on the “data industrial complex”

#533

Post by krrrh »

EastSmith wrote: post #208
robocat wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another price point: "Seeing as Google pays Apple $12bn to be the default search engine on iOS devices" divided by number of devices Google paid for. The $40 should just be a number that would pass the lowest threshold the antitrust regulators will accept. My guess is that $40 doesn't have much to do with lost advertising revenue.

12bn divided by 1,3bn devices sold according to this [1], 2018 not included, gives roughly $10. So now we have another data point. Not sure about the contract length though. [1] https://www.statista.com/statistics/276306/global-apple-ipho...

That's also only for value they extract from being the default search engine (which probably means they are used by 95+% of users). On Android they can also count on being the default for maps, mail, browser, and app distribution (not to mention that Youtube is usually pre-installed, and that they have been forced to admit that they collect location data from Android devices even when location services are turned off). So they have the opportunity to collect vastly more data and target vastly more advertising.

Re: Tim Cook makes blistering attack on the “data industrial complex”

#534

Post by krrrh »

writepub wrote: post #402

And how would this announcement have looked if Apple's iAd platform actually succeeded? While the weaponization of data is a legitimate cause for concern, Apple - the company that maintains a score on you - is hardly the one to be believed as a defender of your data or privacy

"Why iAD failed"

> Advertisers grew increasingly frustrated with Apple’s unwillingness to grant them access to the wealth of data the company possessed from its customers and Apple’s hundreds of millions of iTunes accounts. Every decision in advertising is born in data — 70 percent of agencies and 73 percent of brands use data to target the desired audience. Strong analytics tools are becoming ever more important as advertisers strive to keep ads relevant.

From: https://techcrunch.com/2016/03/28/the-downfall-of-the-walled...

Re: Tim Cook makes blistering attack on the “data industrial complex”

#535

Post by kapad »

ux-app wrote: post #516
kodablah wrote: post #486

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can I waive the company's liability for my data? Regardless of the answer, herein lies the problem.

> Regardless of the answer, herein lies the problem. don't pursue damages?

I think the point being made was companies would add a statement in their terms of service. As always, you would likely agree to this without reading it and one the clauses would have you waive your right to sue for damages. and then we're back to square one.

Re: Tim Cook makes blistering attack on the “data industrial complex”

#536

Post by kapad »

leereeves wrote: post #181
mark_l_watson wrote: post #32

I like Tim Cook, I think his heart is in the right place and as much as a corporation can, Apple generally does the right thing. I was having lunch with several lawyers at my company a few weeks ago. One of them was talking strongly about quality devices and Apple’s strong privacy stance. He literally said that we as a society should be grateful for having Apple.

Apple sells a walled garden that controls what software you can use, forces upgrades by forbidding repairs and slowing down old phones with software updates, and sells more dongles by eliminating features and changing ports in every generation of their products. I admit they are better than Google on the privacy issue, but should we be grateful for having an alternative that abuses us in different ways?

Then use open source. if there's a hardware manufacturer that you trust, then that's all you need. you can install a version of android i.e. open source and without play services (eg. LineageOS) and then download apps from a store like f-droid. (all these apps as well as the f-droid app are all open source).

Your functionality though, will be severely compromised. So the choices are:

1. Apple - hurts your wallet and your choice of apps (only the walled garden and nothing else). 2. Google - you're the product. not the phone. 3. Something else like the open source solution. You'll spend a lot of time here and will be restricted to the limited choice of apps on the the f-droid store.

So take your pic. I'm mostly in #2, with a billion or so others. I'm fully aware that me and my data are the product here, and whenever I start feeling that I made a deal with the devil, I simply tell myself that they can't know what's happening in my head. I then quickly shift focus and start thinking about something else. :P

Re: Tim Cook makes blistering attack on the “data industrial complex”

#537

Post by kapad »

orbifold wrote: post #23

It's sad how the introduction of a new class of devices "smartphones" brought along with it a surveillance software platform in the form of Android. Where it is clear that the only incentive for google to develop it is exfiltration of as much personal data as they can. In contrast in the case of Apple you have a customer relationship with the company that sold you the device and they have an incentive to keep you as…

and knowing that google will track and use their customers' data apple went ahead and made google it's default search engine for a couple of billion $ a year. from bing, who was their previous search provider. but not duckduckgo, the only privacy centric search provider.

Re: Tim Cook makes blistering attack on the “data industrial complex”

#538

Post by brokenmachine »

s3r3nity wrote: post #460
reacharavindh wrote: post #420

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, I agree that there is a nuance to it. But, if they said "We'd like the United States to stand up for the privacy of its citizens and create a law like that if GDPR. Apple is in full support of it because it helps our business too(it is our competitor's weakness)" I'd agree that they are talking the truth. But, writing that we "absolutely" care about your privacy, and that "caring for privacy is in our DNA" and s…

I'm not sure I agree that it IS hypocrisy: if you want to operate in a place for business, and you have no choice (i.e. my point about Apple's Board + Shareholders,) you can rail against the policies in public as much as possible and hope that the law favors your principles. That's what Tim Cook is doing here: hoping the US doesn't go in the direction of an authoritarian government, and lobbying as much as he can to…

> hoping the US doesn't go in the direction of an authoritarian government

> Imagine if the US adopted a similar law or set of policies that required "backdoors,"

That's what they're trying to bring in in Australia now.

I feel that it's a test-case for the other 5 eyes countries to learn from.

I'm hoping that the way they're going about it in such a ham-fisted and causeless way ensures their power-grab falls flat on its face.

Re: Tim Cook makes blistering attack on the “data industrial complex”

#539

Post by writepub »

krrrh wrote: post #534
writepub wrote: post #402

And how would this announcement have looked if Apple's iAd platform actually succeeded? While the weaponization of data is a legitimate cause for concern, Apple - the company that maintains a score on you - is hardly the one to be believed as a defender of your data or privacy

"Why iAD failed" > Advertisers grew increasingly frustrated with Apple’s unwillingness to grant them access to the wealth of data the company possessed from its customers and Apple’s hundreds of millions of iTunes accounts. Every decision in advertising is born in data — 70 percent of agencies and 73 percent of brands use data to target the desired audience. Strong analytics tools are becoming ever more important as…

This is an opinion, not a fact.

It's likely that the incumbents, Google & Facebook, were both much further ahead and entrenched for Apple to break through. Apple also tried social networking (ping) and failed. And self diving cars. I don't see any real evidence for Apple not sharing data out of some moral high ground. If they could actually boost their bottom line and not drive away existing customers, they'd do it. They rolled over like a timid puppy when China asked for all, that's ALL of China's iCloud data. They could've walked away from the China business if they had a sliver of moral turpitude, but they obviously don't, which is also evident from their tacit tolerance of child labor and unreasonable working conditions from their suppliers in China

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