Reports that came out over the weekend cast a shadow over Apple, a company that has prided itself in being better than the rest when it comes to handling user data in a fair manner. These reports basically stated that Apple’s bad website warning system uses a Google database as well as one provided by Tencent, and that in order to utilize these databases the terms of use stated that Apple sent information to Google as well as Tencent.
Apple is now refuting these claims, saying that it only sends a list of bad websites to these companies and that no actual user data is sent to any of these outside corporations. This only happens in situations where a user stumbles upon a website that might be a little dangerous to use, and in some such situations Apple may even blur out the address of the site in question in order to further protect user privacy.
That being said, Apple did admit to sharing the IP of the user that attempted to access the site that has been marked as risky to visit. However, if a user does not want this information being shared with Google or Tencent then they can turn the feature off by going into their browser settings.
Apple has been taking quite a few steps in an attempt to further secure the privacy of its users and also prevent other companies from being a little too handsy with user data. However, this is a potential lapse in Apple’s judgement that could lead to a lot of users feeling like the tech giant has betrayed their trust in some way, shape or form, and these users are definitely going to want more options when it comes to controlling what data Apple is able to send to whoever they want.
Photo: Kārlis Dambrāns / Flickr
Read next: Tim Cook’s New Speech Touches on Variety of Hot Button Issues, Including Fake News and Data Mishandling By Tech Companies
Apple is now refuting these claims, saying that it only sends a list of bad websites to these companies and that no actual user data is sent to any of these outside corporations. This only happens in situations where a user stumbles upon a website that might be a little dangerous to use, and in some such situations Apple may even blur out the address of the site in question in order to further protect user privacy.
That being said, Apple did admit to sharing the IP of the user that attempted to access the site that has been marked as risky to visit. However, if a user does not want this information being shared with Google or Tencent then they can turn the feature off by going into their browser settings.
Apple has been taking quite a few steps in an attempt to further secure the privacy of its users and also prevent other companies from being a little too handsy with user data. However, this is a potential lapse in Apple’s judgement that could lead to a lot of users feeling like the tech giant has betrayed their trust in some way, shape or form, and these users are definitely going to want more options when it comes to controlling what data Apple is able to send to whoever they want.
Photo: Kārlis Dambrāns / Flickr
Read next: Tim Cook’s New Speech Touches on Variety of Hot Button Issues, Including Fake News and Data Mishandling By Tech Companies
