Apple has made a name for itself as a company that cares about privacy more than other companies in the same field. In spite of the fact that this is the case, it turns out that some of its default apps that come pre-loaded with brand new versions of phones might track you regardless of whether or not you have actually consented to this tracking. This information comes from a study conducted by researchers at Aalto University in Finland, and it involves apps such as Safari, iMessage, and Find My among others.
If we were to take the example of Siri, users have the option of setting it up later if they so choose. With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that Siri will still be collecting data in the background even if you haven’t set it up in the first place. It bears mentioning that this isn’t just an issue that has to do with Siri alone
Safari can collect information that is as sensitive as your credit card details, and iMessage along with Facetime both have the ability to access your call logs. As if that wasn't enough, they can also take a look at any and all apps that you have used at this current point in time. Some might read this and conclude that they can simply turn this tracking off in Settings, but that’s not quite how things work.
Even when a user switches off data sharing for particular apps, the information will still be sent to them with all things having been considered and taken into account. This data collection is happening in secret which is dangerous because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up compromising on something as basic as privacy.
The Family Sharing feature is yet another aspect of Apple products that might infringe on privacy. Your location and purchase history can be shared with family members, and this might be a serious privacy violation between partners as well as between children and their parents.
Image: DIW-AIgen
Read next: Meta's Active User Data Gap: Instagram's Individual Numbers Remain a Mystery
If we were to take the example of Siri, users have the option of setting it up later if they so choose. With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that Siri will still be collecting data in the background even if you haven’t set it up in the first place. It bears mentioning that this isn’t just an issue that has to do with Siri alone
Safari can collect information that is as sensitive as your credit card details, and iMessage along with Facetime both have the ability to access your call logs. As if that wasn't enough, they can also take a look at any and all apps that you have used at this current point in time. Some might read this and conclude that they can simply turn this tracking off in Settings, but that’s not quite how things work.
Even when a user switches off data sharing for particular apps, the information will still be sent to them with all things having been considered and taken into account. This data collection is happening in secret which is dangerous because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up compromising on something as basic as privacy.
The Family Sharing feature is yet another aspect of Apple products that might infringe on privacy. Your location and purchase history can be shared with family members, and this might be a serious privacy violation between partners as well as between children and their parents.
Read next: Meta's Active User Data Gap: Instagram's Individual Numbers Remain a Mystery
