Apple’s One Last Thing: Privacy
Category
Privacy, News, Awareness
Risk Level
Last week Apple announced its latest software updates for iPhone and iPad, iOS 14.5. And, like we’ve said time and time again in other ACT posts, it’s critical you update and not just for the security patches this time.
“OK, big deal. There’s new emojis.”
Well yes, there are a few new and refreshed emojis, which is great. But here the big news is privacy and it gives users (and this is the crazy part) unprecedented control over how their behavior is tracked. We know there have been third-party and open source attempts to help limit tracking across devices in the past. This, however, is the first time a company has made it centerstage for its users hard coded into the operating system.
“What about this ‘pop-up’ everyone’s talking about?”
No this isn’t one of your childhood books. You’ll likely to see a new alert pop-up when you open an app for the first time after the update. It’s a simple question with two options - but oh boy is it powerful.
“Ask App not to Track” prevents apps from, well, being able to track your behavior across other apps you use and have installed on your devices. And, as a result, stops data from being shared, leaked, or sold to third-party advertisers and data brokers.
“Allow” this is business as usual (and we don’t think you should choose this option).
As you can imagine, some services—whose sole source of revenue is profiting off its users data—are against the new restrictions. Facebook even went so far as to take out full page ads against Apple’s December announcement in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post citing why it thinks it will “cause devastating harm to small businesses. “ It’s odd to think that a company would so openly advocate for the continued profiteering off its users’ data - but that’s a different story.
Here’s Apple to explain
“So I’m all set?”
Well, no, but you’re off to an extremely good start to controlling and regaining your privacy across the web. We recommend you go one step further and disable the identifier for advertisers, or IDFA. So if you don’t want to be asked for every app, you can turn off the pop-up by going to Settings > Privacy > Tracking and turn off the “Allow Apps to Request to Track” switch. Depending on your prior privacy settings, this toggle may already be turned off.
p.s. we think you should pour a second cup of coffee and scroll through the rest of the privacy settings to better control your data.
“What else can I do to protect my privacy?”
Well, we would be remiss if we didn’t first direct you to any of our past ACT posts about privacy.
If you want an ever broader umbrella, we’ll let you in on a secret about internet advertising. The major online advertising industry groups are required to offer tools to limit how cookies are used for advertising purposes by participating third parties. We know, it’s shocking that the don’t…advertise…this feature. You can find more information on from the Network Advertising Initiative, the Digital Advertising Alliance.
Finally, if you’re worried about staying on top of the latest privacy news, make sure to subscribe to the ACT Digest, where we’ll tell you about what’s going on in the cybersecurity world, and how you can protect yourself, your friends, your family, and your organization.
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