Apple wants to provide better information about data protection
Apple is stepping up its game when it comes to data protection and wants to better inform its customers about how to safeguard the privacy of its devices and services. On Thursday night, the iPhone company launched a new website with details on various offers.
There, Apple particularly emphasizes the difference to other online services that earn money with advertising - and obviously targets Google in particular. For example, Apple emphasizes that it does not record any location information of users in its own Maps app - in contrast to "other companies" that create profiles for their advertisers. "We have no interest in doing that. And we couldn't do it even if we wanted to." Users of Apple's Maps service are not identifiable, he said.
Apple CEO Tim Cook had already addressed the issue of data protection in a TV interview a few days ago and now distanced himself from the rivals in an open letter. Users of free online services now understand that they are not customers there. "They are the product" that is marketed to advertisers. Apple, on the other hand, makes its money by selling devices. "We don't build a profile based on your email content or Internet behavior to sell to advertisers."
Apple's own negative headlines
Cook reiterated Apple has never left a backdoor open in its devices and services to any government agency in any country. "Nor have we ever granted access to our servers. And we never will." Such allegations against U.S. Internet companies had been made since the NSA scandal broke in June 2013. The information in services such as the short-message chat iMessage was encrypted and not accessible even to Apple, he said.
Apple has had some negative privacy headlines of its own in recent years. A few years ago, for example, computer researchers discovered that some of the information about users' movements could be read out of the iPhone software at the time.
Recently, private photos of celebrities were stolen from their Apple profiles and published on the Internet. Apple emphasized that the attackers had specifically spied out their passwords, but had not cracked open the company's servers. As part of the new campaign, the company also wants to inform users about how they can better protect their profiles, it said. (SDA)
