Apple's Latest Transparency Report Includes Geofence Requests From U.S. Government

[DailySlow]

MacRumors, home of the “Pro Tip.“

 

[Expos of 1969]

Doesn't the government know that Apple does not collect this data, especially after being told so? Or does the government keep asking for it anyway just to have the requests on record?

Apple CLAIMS not to collect this data....

 

[CarAnalogy]

Perfect Apple spin. Collecting the minimum data possible actually makes their job easier in many ways. As pointed out by many others, Apple is often the worst party to go to for information and there are many alternatives. But Apple gets to announce it as a good thing (and it is.)

 

[I7guy]

Wording matters, there is a difference between the words 'receiving' and 'collecting'. I have no doubt Apple servers 'receive' everything from an iphone, Apple just chose not to do anything with certain aspects of it. It would be very naïve of people to take Apple at it's word.

I take apple at their word rather than going into a cognitive dissonance loop - parsing words and making assumptions.

 

[MrTemple]

LE needs people's permission take their data without a search warrant. And by the time they have enough on someone for that, it's too late to go back and track them. However, people click "agree" on terms and conditions that give companies permission to collect their data. And now when LE has reason to get a search warrant there is already a treasure trove of data to retrieve.

If only that were the reality!

LEOs don’t have to wait for a search warrant to buy the data collected by these corps.

They can and regularly do look up people’s detailed location tracking history, without even suspicion of a crime, let alone a court-ordered warrant.

 

[MrTemple]

Perfect Apple spin. Collecting the minimum data possible actually makes their job easier in many ways. As pointed out by many others, Apple is often the worst party to go to for information and there are many alternatives. But Apple gets to announce it as a good thing (and it is.)

Hang on there. Very important distinction here…

Calling this “spin” indicates this is some sort of silver lining shone on the problem of less insightful data.

The opposite is true.

This is one of the primary stated GOALS of Apple’s philosophy that CAUSES the problem.

There isn’t any other reason why Apple is the “worst party to go to for information”. That is a tradeoff for choosing not to collect.

And that choice is a major selling feature for many of us.

 

[JamesHolden]

Hang on there. Very important distinction here…

Calling this “spin” indicates this is some sort of silver lining shone on the problem of less insightful data.

The opposite is true.

This is one of the primary stated GOALS of Apple’s philosophy that CAUSES the problem.

There isn’t any other reason why Apple is the “worst party to go to for information”. That is a tradeoff for choosing not to collect.

And that choice is a major selling feature for many of us.

I think there's a lot of spin when it comes to privacy. Apple has done a great job of convincing the public that the iPhone is more secure, which is superficially true, but quickly becomes untrue as the user loads third party apps from the App Store.

The platform itself is wide open to data harvesting and plenty of apps do it, with Apple's blessing, so there's something hypocritical about their stance in my opinion. If Apple cared about privacy as much as they claim, they would not allow apps to collect data, but let's face it, if they did that, the App Store would become a ghost town overnight.

While the privacy report card is a step in the right direction, I also think it's absurd that Apple bans apps like Little Snitch that give users better control over their network traffic and allow them to block unwanted traffic. What possible motivation does a privacy-oriented company have for not allowing such apps?

I do appreciate their privacy stance, however, and am glad they advocate publicly for more privacy. It's important for someone to draw - and hold - the line.

 

[I7guy]

I think there's a lot of spin when it comes to privacy. Apple has done a great job of convincing the public that the iPhone is more secure, which is superficially true,

Remove the word superficially to go from opinion to fact.

but quickly becomes untrue as the user loads third party apps from the App Store.

Incorrect. Third party apps are an agreement between you the user and the app developer.

The platform itself is wide open to data harvesting and plenty of apps do it,

Apple can’t control what people type into apps.

with Apple's blessing,

No, apple definitely doesn’t give its blessing. The end user gives their blessing.

so there's something hypocritical about their stance in my opinion.

No, it’s not hypocritical. You’re just choosing to blame apple for users giving up the PII.

If Apple cared about privacy as much as they claim, they would not allow apps to collect data,

Sorry that’s pure hyperbole.

but let's face it, if they did that, the App Store would become a ghost town overnight.

Sure let’s allow third party apps but contrain the heck out of them.

While the privacy report card is a step in the right direction, I also think it's absurd that Apple bans apps like Little Snitch that give users better control over their network traffic and allow them to block unwanted traffic. What possible motivation does a privacy-oriented company have for now allowing such apps?

You’d have to ask apple.

I do appreciate their privacy stance, however, and am glad they advocate publicly for more privacy. It's important for someone to draw - and hold - the line.

Yep, better control over what you willingly give 3rd party apps would be a good stance jn the right direction.

 

[TheDailyApple]

If only that were the reality!

LEOs don’t have to wait for a search warrant to buy the data collected by these corps.

They can and regularly do look up people’s detailed location tracking history, without even suspicion of a crime, let alone a court-ordered warrant.

That's the caveat. Most companies have clauses in their terms & conditions allowing for the sharing of data (without a warrant). Sometimes with anyone, sometimes with select parties, but almost always with LE.

As a result, you've already opted-in to allowing LE access to your data the moment you selected the checkbox and clicked agree.

 

[JippaLippa]

Is Apple 100% privacy oriented? Of course not!
Is Apple better than other companies in that regard? Definitely!

One of the many reasons I stick with Apple; even if it's just an illusion it still makes me feel more at ease.

 

[crawfish963]

It’s materially the same.


Unknown, depending on hardware and iOS. Doing so will be via exploits, and those are patched over time. New ones sometimes show up and are used.


This is speculation, as for current devices and iOS.


Speculation, see above. This has definitely been done in the past.

Keep in mind that the other person is speculating. We don’t have that information. Apple isn’t interested in such access, obviously, so the means used to get it are closed with updates.

You don’t know what you’re talking about. It’s not speculation. I’ve used these tools.

 

[CarAnalogy]

Hang on there. Very important distinction here…

Calling this “spin” indicates this is some sort of silver lining shone on the problem of less insightful data.

The opposite is true.

This is one of the primary stated GOALS of Apple’s philosophy that CAUSES the problem.

There isn’t any other reason why Apple is the “worst party to go to for information”. That is a tradeoff for choosing not to collect.

And that choice is a major selling feature for many of us.

True. I guess my point is just that Apple never misses an opportunity to point out their positives, or says nothing at all.

And also that it's just good practice to collect and keep as little information as necessary. It's a win/win for Apple.

 

[Trusteft]

I am not sure if it counts as an answer to your question but I am heard that there are proprietary mobile OS's that are being used usually by the government officials.

I don't know anything about that, but I highly doubt that changes anything. Thanks for the info.