The privacy of Apple apps in question
The plot exploded on Twitter in early November. Tommy Mysk and Talal Haj Bakry, two experts in cybersecurity and application development, analyzed in depth what data was being collected by certain Apple apps: App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV, Books and Stocks. In a thread posted on the social network, they explained that these apps sent real-time information based on every tap users made on their screens. This information included apps searched for, which ads were displayed, how long each point on the screen was looked at and also all the technical specifications of the device used: screen resolution, keyboard language, etc. The most striking thing about this analysis is that it didn't matter what the device's privacy settings were; all this data was collected anyway. As Mysk explained to the technology website Gizmodo: "Disabling the customization options did not reduce the amount of detailed analytics data sent by the app. I disabled all possible options, i.e. personalized ads, personalized recommendations, and sharing of usage and analytics data."
Following this initial report, Gizmodo commissioned Mysk and Bakry to extend their investigation to other apps. The conclusions were clear: while the first apps analyzed collected search, browsing and preference data and stored it on a specific analytics website, it wasn’t possible to confirm that Health and Wallet did the same.
The consequences came fast, a few days after Mysk and Bakry's first publications, a class action lawsuit against Apple, led by Elliot Libman, a New York citizen, was filed in the California federal court. The plaintiffs stress that Apple is a powerful brand whose respect for privacy is in theory one of its hallmarks, while it engages in contradictory and invasive tracking activities. They also point out that much of this information (relating to political or religious inclinations, sexual orientations, etc.) delves into aspects of people's lives that should not be exposed.
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The two analysts had already published an interesting report last year regarding Facebook in which they showed that this network stored information, such as the location or IP address based on the iPhone's accelerometer activity, right after Apple announced that it was reinforcing the privacy settings of its new operating systems. It is clear that privacy policies are far from being as respectful as they should be, with the big tech companies compromising the freedom of citizens' with their left hand while controlling criticism with obscure measures and domination, with their right.