"Privacy. That's iPhone." – and Other Things That Need an Asterisk

19 hours ago

Apple's privacy claims are often undermined by their business interests and design decisions.
The default Google search deal conflicts with Apple's anti-surveillance branding, showing financial ties to a surveillance capitalist.
Apple's ad business is exempt from its own tracking restrictions, effectively monopolizing user data internally.
Third-party AI integrations, like ChatGPT, have privacy limits Apple can't fully audit, relying on trust rather than verification.
Meta's tracking bypasses Apple's permissions and App Store rules, suggesting lax enforcement when revenue is involved.
iCloud's free tier hasn't kept up with Apple's promoted high-capacity media, pushing paid storage while limiting third-party backups.
Security updates are issued quietly, and full protection requires constant hardware and software upgrades, linking security to upgrade pressure.
Apple cooperates with law enforcement on iCloud data unless encrypted on-device, with features like Hide My Email not providing anonymity from Apple.
Promised privacy features, like encrypted RCS for cross-platform messaging, are delayed or removed before public release.
Apple's brand benefits from curated truths that imply comprehensive privacy, but protections are partial and stop where business interests begin.

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