Apple Launches All-in-One Web Page With Privacy Labels for Its Own Apps

[Spindel]

Summary

Apple today updated its privacy website with a new "Labels" section that brings privacy labels for all of Apple's apps together in one place, making it easier for users to learn about how Apple apps handle their personal data.

 

Quotes

Quote

Apple already provided privacy labels for its apps since the feature launched last year, but on individual support pages, so this new "Labels" section makes it easier to view the labels all in one place, and in alphabetical order. Privacy labels are available for Apple's apps across iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS, so some apps like GarageBand appear more than once. Apple has also included labels for developer tools like Xcode and even the App Store itself, providing a very comprehensive level of privacy information.

Quote

Apple introduced privacy labels on the App Store in December, providing users with a broad overview of the data types an app may collect, and whether the information is used to track them or is linked to their identity or device. These labels appear in App Store listings for third-party apps and downloadable Apple apps like Apple Podcasts, while built-in apps that cannot be removed like Messages have labels on Apple's website.

My thoughts

Thank you apple, while other big tech companies makes moves to obstruct and/or obscure these things you bring it to the front row. Now I'm just waiting for the onslaught of companies like Facebook trying to make Apple the big anti competetive meanie...

 

...oh wait they already has tried this route. 

 

 

Sources

https://www.macrumors.com/2021/03/11/apple-launches-privacy-labels-page/

[zeusthemoose]

Link to the website:

https://www.apple.com/privacy/labels/

[Bombastinator]

13 hours ago, Grand Admiral Thrawn said:

Why would they need a whole page dedicated to a single sentence "You better buy new because we are gonna charge you more than you paid for it. And that is just to replace the screen. We plug lose battery cables for 500 USD if you fancy aswell."

Sounds a bit too much like “I will now make shit up”.  I’ve been to an Apple store a total of 3 times for stuff for my phone.  I was never charged.  I’m not saying your statement is false, but instances are needed for that level of accusation, and if it’s skewed partial descriptions that rely on people making false assumptions as is often the case with these things you may be called on it. 

[Arika]

16 minutes ago, Grand Admiral Thrawn said:

 

 

holy shit.....

[thechinchinsong]

Apple is such a dichotomy of ideas and services it really makes me conflicted on any Apple product. On one hand, things like this are great and the lengths they go to ensure privacy and quality are quite nice. On the other hand, their stance on right to repair and reparability are quite anti-consumer.

[Guest]

On 3/13/2021 at 2:51 AM, Grand Admiral Thrawn said:

Why would they need a whole page dedicated to a single sentence "You better buy new because we are gonna charge you more than you paid for it. And that is just to replace the screen. We plug lose battery cables for 500 USD if you fancy aswell."

Two experience don’t make a company bad. I’ve had Apple fix my old laptop, full keyboard and top panel replacement, even though they said it was ‘accidental damage’. All free. 
 

When I went to fix my phone, yes it was a replacement, but that was cheaper than the fix. Even though they didn’t make my phone anymore, they still had a replacement in an hour. Replacement was 1/3 of the cost of a new one. 
 

Sometimes you do need to argue and you should know what you can get, but really I’ve had nothing but good service from Apple. 
 

Third-party service providers on the other hand can be scum. 

[Bombastinator]

On 3/13/2021 at 3:39 AM, thechinchinsong said:

Apple is such a dichotomy of ideas and services it really makes me conflicted on any Apple product. On one hand, things like this are great and the lengths they go to ensure privacy and quality are quite nice. On the other hand, their stance on right to repair and reparability are quite anti-consumer.

I don’t think many people like their stance on right-to-repair for all sorts of reasons.  There just isn’t much that is good about it.  It’s kind of odd really since they actually gain from the long lifespan of their systems.  Repair ability should only enhance that.  There is a real environmental aspect to right to repair which I’ve seen focused on a lot and I don’t see a corporation caring about much (unless made to care) but the idea of longer life products should appeal. 

[Commodus]

20 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

I don’t think many people like their stance on right-to-repair for all sorts of reasons.  There just isn’t much that is good about it.  It’s kind of odd really since they actually gain from the long lifespan of their systems.  Repair ability should only enhance that.  There is a real environmental aspect to right to repair which I’ve seen focused on a lot and I don’t see a corporation caring about much (unless made to care) but the idea of longer life products should appeal. 

I see it just as a matter of Apple wanting to avoid compromise in its designs. That doesn't mean it's always right, but I can see the rationale: it doesn't want to have to sacrifice battery capacity, chassis thickness or other traits just so that a DIY enthusiast can replace a part themselves.

[Bombastinator]

7 minutes ago, Commodus said:

I see it just as a matter of Apple wanting to avoid compromise in its designs. That doesn't mean it's always right, but I can see the rationale: it doesn't want to have to sacrifice battery capacity, chassis thickness or other traits just so that a DIY enthusiast can replace a part themselves.

There is that I suppose, as well as designing something for repairability is more difficult than simply throwing everything into CAD.  The military designs things for repairability.  There used to be contests on how fast a couple guys with nothing but basic hand tools could totally strip, rebuild, and drive away in a willy’s Jeep.  THAT was designed in repairability.  They don’t have to go that far.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Grand Admiral Thrawn said:

Well do I have a treat for you.

 

Put yourself in a situation of someone who has a valuable data on their device. Apple will just say it is impossible to recover it even if it actually is.

Jessa Jones got banned from Apple discussion forums for saying that the data recovery was possible and has shown how to do it. Straight out banned for telling the customers how to retrieve their data.

I would agree that keeping your valuable stuff in the cloud is reasonable more often than not, but censoring people who want to help those in need is not what should be expected from this sort of company.

There’s literally free cloud backup and very easy local backup. It’s even protocol for any workplace or education facility to backup your data.

[Fnige]

So guessing from this, you can either have good or bad scenarios with the genius crew or whatever theyre called now

[Bombastinator]

On 3/13/2021 at 1:28 AM, Grand Admiral Thrawn said:

ok

 

 

 

 

First example is interesting.  He did have to pull the logic board.  What could I suppose  appear o be a logic board fix was a loose connection.  How does a loose connection happen in a sealed device?  It would be totally reasonable in a whitebox PC, but that’s a laptop with security screws.  Under normal circumstances it wouldn’t have ever been opened in the United States before.  How does a device old enough to no longer be under warranty have a loose connection that could only have happened at the factory, in which case it would be a warranty issue, or if the thing was opened up and messed with which the Apple person could t have known about? At that point the question becomes “why is Apple assuming these devices aren’t played with?” 
 

Second example is something of a classic.  This CBC thing is how many years old by now? Over 10 I think. Without watching that video all the way through I’m going to bet it’s about liquid detection marker tabs and Apple limiting what people are allowed to do if they see one turn pink.   A classically misleading thing.  The problem the right-to-repair movement has is it’s not a new argument, it’s a very very old one.  All of this was gone over long ago with auto manufacturers and independent repair shops.  It’s even still going on. 

[Spindel]

The haters in this thread truly are ridicolous. 

[RejZoR]

1 hour ago, Spindel said:

The haters in this thread truly are ridicolous. 

It's actually the same everywhere. The way how passionately some shit on Apple is just astounding. Even when they are doing good things. And they'll always go out of their way to throw things totally unrelated to the discussion just to make Apple look bad in any way possible. And if you go and defend it in any way you'll instantly be branded as fanboy. It's shit like this I've been reading for years and sticking with shitty ass Android with its dumb updating schemes and creepy uncle Google. Until I had enough and just jumped to Apple's iPhone. And realized 90% of shit people say about Apple is literally that. Shit. The experience is basically the same as on Android, with some limitations, but also with some extras cool perks Android apparently won't ever offer. One being timely and long term OS updates and secondly, the way how Apple does privacy and how they generate profit. Which is still by selling products and services directly to users. Which is a lot different than Google's creepy gymnastics. Hell, even the way how Apple treats and manages apps on their App Store is contributing to quality and privacy. Just look how they pissed off Facebook. They must be doing something right. And general same apps on GooglePlay and App Store, they are always much more tamed and more privacy friendly on App Store than GooglePlay. Sometimes tightly controlled app store also has its perks and it's not always "its just everything shit" as so many are propagating around...

 

And I can't shut up about all this until people realize iPhones and iOS are perfectly viable option that's far from this horribly limited closed ecosystem where you can't do anything (which is really the biggest lie of them all) and that people shouldn't be afraid to try just because bunch of loud idiots on the internet are "warning" you not to go with it. I fell into that trap and believed it for years and managed to see through it when I tried it anyway despite "warnings".

[Spindel]

17 minutes ago, RejZoR said:

It's actually the same everywhere. The way how passionately some shit on Apple is just astounding. Even when they are doing good things. And they'll always go out of their way to throw things totally unrelated to the discussion just to make Apple look bad in any way possible. And if you go and defend it in any way you'll instantly be branded as fanboy. It's shit like this I've been reading for years and sticking with shitty ass Android with its dumb updating schemes and creepy uncle Google. Until I had enough and just jumped to Apple's iPhone. And realized 90% of shit people say about Apple is literally that. Shit. The experience is basically the same as on Android, with some limitations, but also with some extras cool perks Android apparently won't ever offer. One being timely and long term OS updates and secondly, the way how Apple does privacy and how they generate profit. Which is still by selling products and services directly to users. Which is a lot different than Google's creepy gymnastics. Hell, even the way how Apple treats and manages apps on their App Store is contributing to quality and privacy. Just look how they pissed off Facebook. They must be doing something right. And general same apps on GooglePlay and App Store, they are always much more tamed and more privacy friendly on App Store than GooglePlay. Sometimes tightly controlled app store also has its perks and it's not always "its just everything shit" as so many are propagating around...

 

And I can't shut up about all this until people realize iPhones and iOS are perfectly viable option that's far from this horribly limited closed ecosystem where you can't do anything (which is really the biggest lie of them all) and that people shouldn't be afraid to try just because bunch of loud idiots on the internet are "warning" you not to go with it. I fell into that trap and believed it for years and managed to see through it when I tried it anyway despite "warnings".

Best thing was when a user on this forum "explained" to me that MacOS sucks because it's a closed OS not at all open like Windows...

 

...the level of mental gymnastics blew my mind. 

[captain_to_fire]

Expectation: Apple’s privacy labels

Reality: People whining about right to repair 

Edited March 15, 2021 by captain_to_fire

[RejZoR]

2 minutes ago, Spindel said:

Best thing was when a user on this forum "explained" to me that MacOS sucks because it's a closed OS not at all open like Windows...

 

...the level of mental gymnastics blew my mind. 

The whole "closed ecosystem" and "walled garden" is just such a massive lie and everyone is eating it with a god damn biggest spoon.

 

So, iOS is closed source and has some restrictions in place like forbidden use of 3rd party extensions inside apps and forbidden use of own browser engine. Sideloading of apps is not possible. BT and NFC is also restricted. You can't use 3rd party ROM's either. And that's about it.

 

iOS being closed source is a non issue. Windows is also closed source and Linux's open source-ness hasn't proven me to be superior because so much stuff around it is still shit. Like, I can't install ANY distro on my laptop because it seems to have some weird ass exotic Realtek WLAN module that not a single distro supports. All this open sourceness and it's utterly useless. Never came across a device that wouldn't have Windows drivers built in, especially something as critical as WLAN driver on device that absolutely requires wireless connectivity. Closed source stuff within tightly controlled ecosystems is often beneficial in more ways than open ones. Particularly with new standards and speed at which they get adopted. M1 and ARM MacOS is a proof of that. Thanks to closed ecosystem Apple has done transition which would take a decade on Windows just because it's not in tightly controlled ecosystem. Microsoft depends on so many 3rd party providers and services they just can't pull it off. Apple has done it in less than a year, with Adobe taking the longest to go with native apps.

 

Then there is 3rd party app/browser extensions and browser engine. While I admit I'd prefer to see Firefox run its own engine on iOS too, I perfectly understand why Apple doesn't allow either. It's a security and privacy liability. They control the WebKit engine and they make sure its doing things it should and shouldn't. And not allowing 3rd party extensions just does away with another risk vector. What good is to have an approved safe app just to load an unapproved data hoarding extension into it. And in the end people would most likely blame Apple for a fuckup.

 

Sideloading can be useful sometimes, but in general it's stupendously overrated and mostly used and praised by people who only want it so they can sideload pirated apps. I'm on iPhone for over 2 years now and not once it crossed my mind to sideload anything. I did that on Android out of curiosity and boy all 3rd party app stores are horrendous. Filled with straight up malware and junkware and every single app that I know is safe by name could never be sure if whoever uploaded it there didn't modify it. Would you use a banking app or mail app fro such source? Apple does that away by just not allowing it. One massive security vector gone.

 

One thing I do slightly miss is use of BT to transfer files between different devices. Sure it's slow or whatever, but my mom uses older smartphone without any data plan. And I can't send her a simple photo directly. One can only do that by AirDrop which she can't do as it's Samsung with BadaOS. But this is really the only scenario where I needed it and couldn't. For the rest I just use my cloud storage and e-mail. It's a workaround, but it's so seamless it doesn't bother me. NFC restriction is another mild annoyance, which ultimately isn't that annoying. Sure, I can't use my banking app to use NFC to do payments. But even when I did have that on Android, it was absurdly unreliable to a point I absolutely had to carry credit/debit card with my anyway. Or end up looking like a total spanner in stores on checkout with massive shopping cart and not being able to pay it. Happened more than once and I had to pull the physical card out. Imagine if I didn't have one...

 

And lastly, the big one. The over-glorified ROM's. Shit I get served under my nose every single god damn time there is any discussion about phones and you mention iPhones. This shit is so overrated and only one who hasn't tried and is ignorant would believe it. I've been flashing ROM's on my phones since beginning of time years ago. Basically from Android's beginnings. It was a lot more stupid back then, but some things haven't really changed since then. HTC Wildfire requires some bizarre ass bootloader unlocking and I don't even want to go describing nightmare I've gone through with Galaxy S2 and its custom retarded partitions. People think installing ROM is a matter of few clicks, but as an advanced user who has done it several times I hate it so much I just don't want to ever deal with it until it becomes as simple to do as it is installing Windows. Or desktop Linux. Assuming you can even get a ROM for your device anyways. Most of them don't even have one and those that do are usually one of broken ROM's on XDA that literally have zero support and bunch of stuff broken. And even when you do get one from reliable source like LineageOS, its longevity is questionable at best as supporters often stop working on them and you're left with broken, unfinished OS. Yay. And even with supporters on board, on most the best I could get was nightly builds. Which means regular random glitches and updates delivered daily. Ugh. The whole ROM's argument is so stupid and useless yet always presented like the best shit ever. Oh and did I mention using custom ROM means most banking apps and streaming services will refuse to work unless you fiddle with Magisk even more? And not using Google Services just makes it even less useful. I wanted to go that route for privacy reasons just to realize it's an absolute nightmare to live with. With iOS, I don't have to deal with any of that, shit just works and because it's closed tightly controlled ecosystem I also get updates much faster and with better privacy without stupid compromises. Meaning for 90% of users, it's just a better way. Hell, I'd even advise Android users to just not bother with stupid ROM's unless they can code things and they can build one themselves. Just look for a vendor that offers longest support with major OS versions. It's why I'm raving about this so hard everywhere and dumb people shoot down my efforts by all sorts of moronic arguments like "Android is so far ahead of iOS it doesn't even need updates". The logic of these people. I want vendors to adopt Apple's long term OS support and they straight out don't want it. Heh.

[Spindel]

BTW when will AMD aknowlege my right to repair?

 

Many moons ago I dropped the heat sink on my Athlon Thunderbird and chipped the edge of the die killing the CPU (for the kids, back in the days CPUs came with exposed dies). 

 

I DEMAND TO BE ABLE TO SWITCH THE DIE ON THE SUBSTRATE BY MYSELF FOR THE ENVIRONMENT!!!!

 

#evilAMD #AMDsux #fightclimatechange

[captain_to_fire]

13 minutes ago, RejZoR said:

-snip-

Android now has nearby share just like AirDrop in iOS. Not sure if that will soon work on all Android phones other than Pixels and Samsung.

 

Samsung greatly advertised NFC file transfers back in 2012-2014 as if you really transfer videos fast by touching two phones, and the reality is that it was slow.

[Video Beagle]

1 hour ago, Grand Admiral Thrawn said:

my colleagues and I in the repair shop business

Oh, a buggy whip salesman.

You really should lead with so your arguments can be understood with what your biases are.

 

[lboolaka_33]

16 hours ago, Commodus said:

I see it just as a matter of Apple wanting to avoid compromise in its designs. That doesn't mean it's always right, but I can see the rationale: it doesn't want to have to sacrifice battery capacity, chassis thickness or other traits just so that a DIY enthusiast can replace a part themselves.

That would be fine, but Apple seems to go out of their way to make replacement parts hard to get. 

 

 

[Spindel]

13 minutes ago, valdyrgramr said:

Pointing out facts isn't ridiculous.  It's just the fanboys don't like legitimate criticism of a corporation they, the fanboys, put on a pedestal.

And how is the right to repair discussion related to app privacy?

 

go away anti-fanboy 

[Commodus]

19 hours ago, valdyrgramr said:

They also lie, send people into lie, and sue people for dare questioning it.   So, no there's no rationale to it.   It's just Apple being greedy/scummy, and that's just what a corporation does for profit.   People need to stop putting companies on a pedastal when all they care about is money.   Apple has gone far and beyond to prove that they abuse things to get their way for profit.   Then their defenders go, "well, wouldn't you?" Nope.   Even for profit I wouldn't do half the shit they, Nike, and several others do because it's fucked up.

No, sorry, I'm not going to buy into a simplistic view of Apple as a mustache-twirling villain that does things purely out of spite.

 

Is money a major factor? You bet. But this is the company whose CEO also raged against an investor group that insisted Apple avoid doing anything that won't turn a profit, like accessibility or the environment (the legendary "I don't consider the bloody ROI" response). There are areas where Apple does stand on principle; it's just important to remember this is far from a charity,  and that Apple can do unsavoury things along with the good.

[SurvivorNVL]

I like the concept of Apple being private or having a "privacy-focus" even if it is a lie on their part.  Given that Apple logs and watches every app that is downloaded and opened on the iPhone, not to mention Mac with their newest OS update.  Or the fact that iPhone is constantly using network scanning for keeping up with where your device ID is located at any given time, and allows them GPS tagging no matter where you are; sure it is great if you, y'know, need to locate your device if it was stolen, but not great if you're interested in your privacy.  And remember, that networking scanning "feature" isn't something you can ever turn off.  It's on the motherboard, built in-to the broadcom chip for every phone.

If a phone for privacy is warranted you should be de-googling an old Android, getting an Ubuntu-touch phone, getting a flip-phone with a burner sim-card or eliminate a cell-phone from your life.  The latter being the hardest but most rewarding thing in the world.  I went back to an old PDA and a Pager.  Never been happier.

[Commodus]

7 minutes ago, valdyrgramr said:

Money is the primary factor of any corporations logic.  However, Apple goes out of their way to lie to public officials, they intentionally lie to customers to milk money out of them, and even intentionally try to make it hard for the customers being taken advantage of to repair their own device then lie about why.  Where exactly does Apple stand on principle, though?  I don't follow them as religiously as some, and I prefer Wozniak's original intent of Apple, and I agree with him on the problems of the current Apple, but I dont really follow them as much as many do.  I also take some annoyance with Rossmann as I do agree with him on the right to repair, but at the same time I side with Apple when he's putting things up on screen that he's technically not supposed to.  That and the fact that he goes out of his way to bash them for views.  The point isn't about good and evil, but companies don't give a fuck about their customers.  They only do the buddy buddy act for sales.  In fact, plenty of corporations hire psychologists and artists to push their products.  That's the reality of it.  It's not just Apple it's their rivals too.  Heck, even Woz will tell you that Steve never was creative in the sense of engineering he was more of a genius when it came to marketing.  Woz was the one doing the actual engineering.  His biggest complaint is that they hold the engineers back and put far more money into marketing.

I wouldn't say they're lying, because that implies intentional deceit and malice. It spins and distorts things, to be clear, but lying is a pretty audacious thing to claim.

 

Apple stands on principle in a number of ways. There are areas where it pours money into efforts that will offer little return besides slightly burnishing the company image, like its environment, accessibility and social justice campaigns. Admittedly Apple has the money to burn in those areas, but you just have to look at some of its peers to see how disproportionately less they do.

 

Privacy is another area. Yes, Apple undoubtedly uses privacy as a marketing angle, but it's also leaving a lot of money on the table by refusing to monetize much of its data and deterring others from doing the same. I always find it odd that people make Apple out to be some horrible money-craving beast yet run into the waiting arms of Google, which only recently discovered that people don't like being tracked all the time. (I'm not even that mad at Google, but there's no question its business revolves around monetizing user data.)

 

Design-wise, Apple often has an absolutist approach where it pursues a certain ideal even if it limits the audience for a product. This is also the company that refuses to slap ugly stickers on its machines or include third-party bloatware. Yes, part of this is Apple's focus on premium customers, but some of it stems from Steve Jobs' "paint the back of the fence" mindset where he refused to sully a product just to boost profit margins.

 

I'd also contend that Apple is much more invested in long-term software support for its mobile devices than its rivals. Even now, the Android world is practically defined by the race to abandon support as quickly as possible — just ask anyone "punished" for buying a budget phone by getting one OS update at best. Apple hasn't always been good about supporting phones at the tail end of their lifecycles, but it clearly doesn't have to support iPhones and iPads for five years or more, let alone pour resources into optimizing performance for those older devices. Hell, even "throttlegate" came about because Apple was trying to keep those old phones running longer, not to force early upgrades.